Hi everyone! Just wanted to share some tips for your exchange program. See below!
Top 10 Tips for Studying Abroad in South Korea – Jessica Matsuda
1. Buy a T-Money Card: Subways and buses (which will be your primary mode of transportation) all require you to pay using your T-money card. Right when you land, head to your nearest convenience store and tell the cashier you want to buy a T-money card. Then, hand them a 50,000 won bill to load up your card. It should last you about a month and a half before you refill it again. You can only refill using cash. You can also refill the card at the subway station at the machines. This, too, is cash only.
2. If you’re shopping for clothing to bring back to Hawaii, shop primarily during the summer. I made the mistake of doing a lot of my clothing shopping near the end of my study abroad (winter season) where all of the clothes were jackets, sweaters, long pants, etc. Korea sells very cute and fashionable clothing, so if you want to bring back cute clothes to wear in Hawaii without it being super hot, shop during August-September.
3. Take advantage of the 1+1 deals. A friend and I prepared for the freezing Seoul winter about a month or two in advance by buying puffy winter down jackets from Top Ten. They were being sold “1+1,” which is basically buy-one-get-one. My friend and I took advantage of that deal and got our jackets for around 50,000 won each when it was originally 100,000 won each.
4. Buy heat tech/down jackets to prepare for the winter. The cold hits you out of nowhere so it’s best to be prepared. The first time I stepped outside, I was so thankful I bought heat tech and my down jacket way in advance because I could not have even walked to the convenience store without shivering from the cold. Heat packs are also life-saving. All the convenience stores except GS25 sell hot packs. Daiso has the best deals.
5. Exercise. You will gain weight from eating all of the good food in Korea. Food is cheap, so it’s hard not to gain weight. Take advantage of the Yonsei fitness center gym. They had a deal running at the beginning of the semester where you could pay 112,000 won for the entire semester to use their large gym. Also, you can join clubs such as taekwondo club and work out while learning a sport.
6. Download KakaoMaps, KakaoTalk, and Naver Maps. My primary method of communicating with the Korean friends I made was KakaoTalk since everyone has it downloaded. KakaoMaps and Naver Maps were also very useful and list different ways to get to a certain destination, such as by train or bus. I relied entirely on the apps to figure out which bus to take and how long until the next bus arrives since I’m pretty sure they have a GPS on each bus.
7. Pack lightly. I wish I had only brought two shirts and a pair of pants to Korea. Clothing is very cheap, and Korea is very fashionable and trendy. I rarely wore any of the clothes I brought from Hawaii, and there are so many clothing stores and boutiques for women. There were also trendy options for men, but not as plentiful.
8. Travel early. Prior to starting school, my friends and I spent about two weeks simply exploring and traveling. We managed to hit all of the tourist locations and took a train to Busan all in that short period of time, but we had so much more time to enjoy our traveling and didn’t have to stress about planning our travels during the school year.
9. Try new food. I didn’t eat much Korean food prior to studying abroad, but after going to many Korean restaurants with my friends, I was encouraged to try new dishes. Some of the dishes I tried turned into my favorite foods. I also ate food from different countries/cultures and discovered I loved Indian food. Their Chinese and Western food is also amazing, so try everything!
10. Try your best to make friends. I was lucky enough to have arrived in Korea with three friends, but because we went out of our way to meet new people and make friends, we ended up meeting three more people abroad who turned into our best friends. I heard stories about other students who didn’t bother to make friends and simply stayed in their rooms every day. But the people you meet and the friends you make are what truly make or break your study abroad experience. Because we made these friends, we had so much fun eating dinner together almost every night, traveling to new places, playing arcade games, and simply enjoying each other’s company. Don’t ever be afraid to reach out to someone on Discord or in your classes, or to say hello to that person who lives across from you, because you never know who you might meet.