Tefl in South Korea

kraggy

Hi guys some more questions:

For a public school...
1. When in summer and winter is vacation? Do you have to take your leave on specific dates or do you pick your own dates within a certain timeframe?

My understanding is that the students are on holidays for a few weeks but that Foreign Teachers have to stay in the school desk-warming and can decide when during that timeframe they take their 2 weeks off. Is that correct?


2. My agency advised taking my original degree with me. Did you bring yours?

3. When does each semester actually start? I know the beginning of March is the start of one of them, but when do the others start?

4. What airlines did ye fly with and what baggage allowance did they allow?

5. Working for EPIK, should I bring a suit? Are there occasions that it might be needed?

6. Lesson Planning in an EPIK School: Do you have to do a lesson plan for each individual lesson?


Waiting on visa package to come back from Korea as they'll be getting my docs tomorrow. So I think I'll be leaving in around 2 weeks.

7. Looking forward to it but trying to figure out what I'm missing. I've a feeling I might be missing obvious items.

What are the absolute necessities?

Thanks!

---

cloneslad

virmilitaris wrote: »

Lads I'm not been smart but it's available for much much cheaper if you plan it right.

First thing I'll say is avoid 'English' travel agents / tour operators / ski trip etc planners like the plague. They are robbing you blind make no mistake about it.

Second thing I'll say is get a Korean to do it / help you do it (unless you speak the lingo of course). The basic price for 5-6 hours snowboarding + renting the gear should not be more than 60 - 70,00 and that's without any of the discounts readily available.

Third thing I'll say is get on to some of the Korean e-commerce sites such as GMarket. They always have coupons available for everything which will take anything from 20 to 40% off the basic price. I've never paid more than 40,000 to go snowboarding and thats for everything.

And lastly if you have a Korean mate or you can get it yourself, get a point card. Just by using a particular kind of credit card you can get up to 40% off.

Mine was booked by a Korean. One of my co-workers and our principal organised it. It's as cheap as you'd get down here for it. The bus itself would usually cost about 40,000won return to Muju before you do anything there.

Geoje is much more expensive than the larger cities. There is pretty much zero unemployment thanks to the Samsung and Daewoo shipyards. Being a smaller place like Geoje also means you have less competition trying to sell you a trip, so you take what you can get.

virmilitaris

cloneslad wrote: »

Mine was booked by a Korean. One of my co-workers and our principal organised it. It's as cheap as you'd get down here for it. The bus itself would usually cost about 40,000won return to Muju before you do anything there.

Sorry man keep forgetting you're not in Seoul.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

Hi guys some more questions:

For a public school...
1. When in summer and winter is vacation? Do you have to take your leave on specific dates or do you pick your own dates within a certain timeframe?

My understanding is that the students are on holidays for a few weeks but that Foreign Teachers have to stay in the school desk-warming and can decide when during that timeframe they take their 2 weeks off. Is that correct?

You are pretty much correct. The kids get about 6 weeks off and you get to take your holidays sometime between that period. Not all schools make you deskwarm, though it does seem like it is becoming the norm these days.

2. My agency advised taking my original degree with me. Did you bring yours?

You won't need it. They have a copy and immigration doesn't accept the original. You can take it, but it will be a hassle to carry it over and then you have to worry about losing / destroying it.

3. When does each semester actually start? I know the beginning of March is the start of one of them, but when do the others start?

The beginning of March is the start of the new school year, when kids move up a grade. They get their summer breaks near the end of July and then go back again at the end of August / start of september.

I can only speak for my area, but it's strange how they work it. The kids might get their breaks from the end of december until the middle of february, go back to school for a week, then change grade. This seems pretty pointless, especially for those moving from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school.
4. What airlines did ye fly with and what baggage allowance did they allow?

5. Working for EPIK, should I bring a suit? Are there occasions that it might be needed?

I don't teach public, but I'd definitely suggest taking shirts, smart pants and perhaps a few ties. Not sure if you'll ever need a suit though.

6. Lesson Planning in an EPIK School: Do you have to do a lesson plan for each individual lesson?

Not sure.

Looking forward to it but trying to figure out what I'm missing. I've a feeling I might be missing obvious items.

What are the absolute necessities?

Thanks!

Brown sauce.

some spices to add to the vast amount of chicken you are going to end up cooking because beef is stupidly priced.

If you like tea, bring some of that again it's crazy expensive.

You won't need any dvds / cds or anything like that. Download everything, torrents will become your life.

A towel, you'll need to shower as soon as your arrive to help make yourself feel better.

Colgate, it's hard to find, though toothpaste in itself is easily purchased at a cheap enough price.

One for the guys

condoms, I know your g.f is going to come out to you after a short while so I guess she could bring them. You don't want to try korean ones, they aren't comfortable at all, in fact it's one sure way to stop the blood circulating down there.

cloneslad

virmilitaris wrote: »

Sorry man keep forgetting you're not in Seoul.

I'm not even in Korea anymore

kraggy

cloneslad wrote: »

You are pretty much correct. The kids get about 6 weeks off and you get to take your holidays sometime between that period. Not all schools make you deskwarm, though it does seem like it is becoming the norm these days.







You won't need it. They have a copy and immigration doesn't accept the original. You can take it, but it will be a hassle to carry it over and then you have to worry about losing / destroying it.



The beginning of March is the start of the new school year, when kids move up a grade. They get their summer breaks near the end of July and then go back again at the end of August / start of september.

I can only speak for my area, but it's strange how they work it. The kids might get their breaks from the end of december until the middle of february, go back to school for a week, then change grade. This seems pretty pointless, especially for those moving from elementary to middle school or middle school to high school.
4. What airlines did ye fly with and what baggage allowance did they allow?



I don't teach public, but I'd definitely suggest taking shirts, smart pants and perhaps a few ties. Not sure if you'll ever need a suit though.



Not sure.




Brown sauce.

some spices to add to the vast amount of chicken you are going to end up cooking because beef is stupidly priced.

If you like tea, bring some of that again it's crazy expensive.

You won't need any dvds / cds or anything like that. Download everything, torrents will become your life.

A towel, you'll need to shower as soon as your arrive to help make yourself feel better.

Colgate, it's hard to find, though toothpaste in itself is easily purchased at a cheap enough price.

One for the guys

condoms, I know your g.f is going to come out to you after a short while so I guess she could bring them. You don't want to try korean ones, they aren't comfortable at all, in fact it's one sure way to stop the blood circulating down there.

Thanks Clonesland. That clears a lot up.

Just supposing one gets appointed to a school that doesn't make you desk-warm, does that mean that you'd get the 6 weeks off?

Also, my best friend's wedding is on around the 18th August, do you reckon it would be possible to make it? i.e does the 2nd semester start at the VERY end of August?

And is the winter vacation the same i.e you decide which 2 weeks you want withing the several weeks the kids are off?

I'm definitely bringing as many tea bags as I can. Love me tae!

Finally, with a salary of 2 million, what would that work out at net per month, after tax, medical, pension?

And in Seoul, how much of that would it be possible to save (assuming one night out per week) and a trip to the cinema 1 or 2 times per week.


Thanks again

SpatialPlanning

kraggy wrote: »

Hi guys some more questions:

2. My agency advised taking my original degree with me. Did you bring yours?

3. When does each semester actually start? I know the beginning of March is the start of one of them, but when do the others start?

4. What airlines did ye fly with and what baggage allowance did they allow?

5. Working for EPIK, should I bring a suit? Are there occasions that it might be needed?

6. Lesson Planning in an EPIK School: Do you have to do a lesson plan for each individual lesson?


Waiting on visa package to come back from Korea as they'll be getting my docs tomorrow. So I think I'll be leaving in around 2 weeks.

7. Looking forward to it but trying to figure out what I'm missing. I've a feeling I might be missing obvious items.

What are the absolute necessities?

Thanks!

---

Cloneslad answered most of them.

4. I flew with Emirates and was allowed 30KG. But, stupidly, I flew from London and got a Ryanair flight over which I could only take 20KG on...

5. You will probably never need a suit but it's handy to have just in case. Public schools are pretty lax in general about the dress code. I could (but I don't) wear tracksuit bottoms and a GAA jersey if I wanted and nobody would say anything. I stick to jeans/trousers and a shirt/jumper for the most part.

6. Every school varies when it comes to lesson planning. If you are in a big school then you might only need to make 2 lesson plans per week and just repeat them with each class. If you get a small school, like me, you might have anywhere between 10-20 of them (I come in at around 17 because I teach 7 different grades and most of it is after school)! It's the luck of the draw. It will depend on the size of your school, number of native teachers (usually only 1) and number of grades you teach...

The best part is - you wont find out until you get here! :pac:

7. iPod, shoes/runners/football boots if you have big feet..

kraggy

SpatialPlanning wrote: »

Cloneslad answered most of them.

4. I flew with Emirates and was allowed 30KG. But, stupidly, I flew from London and got a Ryanair flight over which I could only take 20KG on...

5. You will probably never need a suit but it's handy to have just in case. Public schools are pretty lax in general about the dress code. I could (but I don't) wear tracksuit bottoms and a GAA jersey if I wanted and nobody would say anything. I stick to jeans/trousers and a shirt/jumper for the most part.

6. Every school varies when it comes to lesson planning. If you are in a big school then you might only need to make 2 lesson plans per week and just repeat them with each class. If you get a small school, like me, you might have anywhere between 10-20 of them (I come in at around 17 because I teach 7 different grades and most of it is after school)! It's the luck of the draw. It will depend on the size of your school, number of native teachers (usually only 1) and number of grades you teach...

The best part is - you wont find out until you get here! :pac:

7. iPod, shoes/runners/football boots if you have big feet..

Thanks SP.

Could you get away with wearing runners at school? I don't mean sporty, running shoes, but smarter runners. jeans and t-shirt?

Where do you get time to write all them lesson plans? Do you have to do them at home in the evening? I'm just wondering as the lesson plans I have done here in Ireland as a Primary Teacher are detailed enough and to have to do up to 20 of them a week over there suggests to me that there wouldn't be enough time at school to get them done.

Looking at flights at the moment but going to have to ring the airlines and ask them what's the deal with bringing a hurl and guitar. Would that be included in the baggage allowance I wonder. I'll ring them anyway.

What's the net pay SP? I know that you're with EPIk so I'm presuming you're on the standard salary?

livinginkorea

I don't know if anybody has said it yet but deodorant is pretty hard to come by even in the cities (usually Homeplus, i.e. TESCO but they don't always have it). Especially with the summer approaching you will certainly need it. Bring the roll-on ones, don't think the sprays would be allowed on the plane.

Other have mentioned shoes, tea, spices, etc but there are becoming more and more available in Korea via in store or online.

About contraception, Korea does not require a doctor's subscription to purchase the pill (unlike Ireland) and it is available over the counter (one or two are not but most of them are OTC). Other medicines is readily available here except for Calpol, which I know will upset some people

kraggy

Is it hard to find size 9's in footwear? Are shoes/runners expensive?

livinginkorea

kraggy wrote: »

Thanks SP.

Could you get away with wearing runners at school? I don't mean sporty, running shoes, but smarter runners. jeans and t-shirt?

Where do you get time to write all them lesson plans? Do you have to do them at home in the evening? I'm just wondering as the lesson plans I have done here in Ireland as a Primary Teacher are detailed enough and to have to do up to 20 of them a week over there suggests to me that there wouldn't be enough time at school to get them done.

Looking at flights at the moment but going to have to ring the airlines and ask them what's the deal with bringing a hurl and guitar. Would that be included in the baggage allowance I wonder. I'll ring them anyway.

What's the net pay SP? I know that you're with EPIk so I'm presuming you're on the standard salary?

A lot of public schools use slippers so you can buy a pair when you get here (probably the school will have a good few pairs around for visitors so you could use those).

In the public schools it would be best to be semi-casual. Your contract will have more specific details on this. I generally used to wear a nice shirt and pants and kept a jacket and tie(s) in the office for special occasions. You will be amazed by how many times you will have to put on a tie (photos, special meeting by the educational supervisor, open classes, etc) and your co-teacher will have forgotten to tell you so it is BEST to have one ready. Appearance is very important in Korea. Remember that you are representing the 'western world' in your class so dress smartly for it! :P

You would not have to develop many lesson plans per week, of course it depends on the school but you will be teaching the same lesson a couple of times. For me, when I was in GEPIK, it was one lesson per day - basically one lesson per grade taught 4 times a day.

I assume that your contract would have the basic pay outlined already and that you will be on the scale. A quick search for GEPIK got me this:

http://www.teachaway.com/content/public-schools-gepik

Here is EPIK:

http://www.teachaway.com/?q=node/11

I used to be on 2.0 back in the day which was 100 hour cert., with one year teaching experience but naturally they have changed it a lot during that time. Once you know your number on the scale then you will have a better idea. Make sure you bring your documents with you too to prove that you took those TEFL courses (if you did).

livinginkorea

kraggy wrote: »

Is it hard to find size 9's in footwear? Are shoes/runners expensive?

I can't remember what size 9 is but I think I was 11 or 12 back in Ireland. It's all cm here. Seriously Korean guys (people in general) are a lot taller than before. I have one undergrad class and nearly half of them are easily my size (6 foot). I never had trouble getting shoes in Korea. It will probably depend where you are but a trip to one of the bigger cities/towns should help you out. Two pairs of shoes should be enough for the plane (one for work/one for play) and you can buy shoes here (hiking, football, running, etc). Certainly a lot cheaper than Ireland, especially if you use decent Korean brands. You will be surprised by how decent some of the Korean clothes / brands are here (I still have my pair of hiking shoes, over 7 years old). When it comes to clothes Koreans definitely do a good job once you spend a little money (i.e. the clothes come from Korea, not China).

kraggy

Thanks LivinginKorea.

Great info as always.

I'm going to be on 2 million per month. Probably about 1.8 million net?

livinginkorea

kraggy wrote: »

Thanks LivinginKorea.

Great info as always.

I'm going to be on 2 million per month. Probably about 1.8 million net?

I think 1.7~1.8 would be more realistic but don't you have to pay some sort of deposit for housing for the first couple of months? Will the school be paying your bills (electricity, gas, water, cable, mobile, internet, etc)?

SpatialPlanning

Could you get away with wearing runners at school? I don't mean sporty, running shoes, but smarter runners. jeans and t-shirt?

The way it works in my school - we wear slippers in the classroom so my shoes spend all day in my locker anyway! Don't know about other places, I'm in an elementary school. Yeah, smart runners should be grand. You'll be able to suss it out after the first day anyway..

Where do you get time to write all them lesson plans? Do you have to do them at home in the evening? I'm just wondering as the lesson plans I have done here in Ireland as a Primary Teacher are detailed enough and to have to do up to 20 of them a week over there suggests to me that there wouldn't be enough time at school to get them done.

Well, last semester, waygook.org was a life saver! Any lesson plan you will ever want is on there if you spend enough time looking. I don't know anyone else who has to do as many as me though. The lesson plans themselves don't have to be that detailed. All the co-teacher wants to see it a basic outline. 2 or 3 activities to go with the general theme of the lesson will do. In the beginning, I wrote detailed plans but that changed pretty quick. I have 22 classes and 18 free periods so there is more than enough time to get it done if you set your mind to it and stay off facebook!:D You will rarely, if ever, have to take work home with you.. If you are used to writing them from home then you will have no trouble whatsoever.

Looking at flights at the moment but going to have to ring the airlines and ask them what's the deal with bringing a hurl and guitar. Would that be included in the baggage allowance I wonder. I'll ring them anyway.

Yeah, ring them up and they'll tell you. You can pick up a basic guitar out here for about 140,000-160,000, so about 100 euro. I know a few people who brought theirs over with them too..

What's the net pay SP? I know that you're with EPIk so I'm presuming you're on the standard salary?

Yeah, bottom of the ladder in Busan is 1.8million. Then it goes up with qualifications and experience. I'm on 2.1 (2.0 base with 100,000 for teaching in a rural location) and my net pay works out at 1.85ish after tax/ins/school lunches...

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

Thanks Clonesland. That clears a lot up.

Just supposing one gets appointed to a school that doesn't make you desk-warm, does that mean that you'd get the 6 weeks off?

You may not have to desk warm (in the sit around do nothing sort of way) but there is a good chance the school will run some summer / winter camps during this vacation time and you will have to teach in them. You don't get bonus pay for these as they tend to fall within your normal working hours.

If you don't have any of that to do and your principal doesn't mind you not coming in and EPIK are okay with that too, then yes, I'd imagine you can just have the 6 weeks off, though you may be limited to the amount of time you can spend outside the country during those 6 weeks off.

I say that because my mate's school gave him 4 weeks off at winter but he was only allowed to spend 3 weeks of that out of country as the school board told the principal that it would void his contract or something like that. Apparently he should have been desk warming but he gets on with the principal so he didn't have to desk warm when there was no camp on, but to get around this and the whoever is over him (GEPIK, EPIK etc) they had to have him back in country for the week he should have been in sitting on his ass doing nothing.

Also, my best friend's wedding is on around the 18th August, do you reckon it would be possible to make it? i.e does the 2nd semester start at the VERY end of August?

It starts around the end of August, I think our lot went back to school on August 30th last year. You would be able to make the wedding no Problem, especially if you went home a week or week and a half before it and came back whatever time you had left after it. Flights will be very expensive around that time though and you would really need to be booking sometime around now to get any decent price. You'll be looking at over a grand for return flights.

And is the winter vacation the same i.e you decide which 2 weeks you want withing the several weeks the kids are off?

Same as summer

I'm definitely bringing as many tea bags as I can. Love me tae!

So does my g.f, she brought over a big bag of 700 or something like that and then her mum sent her over another one of them halfway through the year. She was drinking them on her own too, cos I can't stand the stuff.

Finally, with a salary of 2 million, what would that work out at net per month, after tax, medical, pension?

Pension is 4.5% and Medical for 2011 is 2.82% so for your 2million that's

P and I = W90,000 + W56,400 = W146,400

Tax - this is an interesting one for hagwon workers as a lot pay 3.3%, which is what a private contractor should pay, not an employee of a company, which is what an E2 holder is. I think you should pay something along the lines of 1.4%.

If you are a hagwon worker reading this and you are paying 3.3%, you are being screwed over, at least make sure with the tax department that your total deduction is making its way to them so you can claim a refund, rather than lining your bosses pocket.

As a public school teacher you can also be exempt from paying tax for the first 2 years, but you will have to get provide information from the Irish tax authority to show that you've informed them of it (or something like that), It doesn't make sense to do this as you will most likely have to pay tax on your earnings on the Irish tax band when you come home which yould be up at 20% or whatever the hell our tax bracket is. I know I'd rather pay 1.4% myself.

Tax = 28,000

You may also have to pay a residence tax, not sure if this is only for someone who has been in Korea more than 12 months though. In any case, it's only about 3,000 or 4,000 (from memory).

Total deductions: W146,400 + 28,000 + 3,500 (average) = W177,900 (give or take a few thousand)

so your total net income will be: W1,822,100

And in Seoul, how much of that would it be possible to save (assuming one night out per week) and a trip to the cinema 1 or 2 times per week.

Cinema is quite cheap, about 8,000 - 10,000 won or so for a movie, double that for a 3D movie. Then it all depends what you want to spend while out on Saturday night.

You could easily save 1million per month, probably not for the first month or two though, they are always the most expensive.

even if you saved 600k per month for the first 2 and then 1million for the next 9 that would give you 10,200,000won. Then for your 12th month you would spend very little of it, just really paying your last month's bills. So you'd get your W1,822,100 salary, minus 150k or so for leaving expenses plus your contract bonus month wages / severance pay (which is pension and insurance free) so W1,972,000.

Public school teachers also get a 1.3million exit allowance to cover the cost of their flight, assuming you just spent this on your flight, I won't add it to your savings.

So for the year you could save about W14million won. This is a very realistic target to reach, one of my friends in my school (though earning 2.2million) was able to save pretty much that amount and he drank 2-3 nights a week until the early hours, went to mongolia and Japan, did a 4 day stint skiing in Muju, and was pretty useless with money.

Where do you get time to write all them lesson plans? Do you have to do them at home in the evening? I'm just wondering as the lesson plans I have done here in Ireland as a Primary Teacher are detailed enough and to have to do up to 20 of them a week over there suggests to me that there wouldn't be enough time at school to get them done.

I don't think they have to be as detailed and I think you can find a lot of lesson plans online, as far as I know. I don't have to make lesson plans but I've seen and heard people taking about grabbing them from different sites.

Looking at flights at the moment but going to have to ring the airlines and ask them what's the deal with bringing a hurl and guitar. Would that be included in the baggage allowance I wonder. I'll ring them anyway.

Not sure about the Hurl. Seeing as your starting the trip in Ireland, they must have previous dealings of allowing people to take them with them. you can actually pick up guitars easily enough in Korea. I think I'd leave it behind if I was you, then if you go travelling next year, you'll not have to worry about carrying it/ shipping it home or having to sell a guitar you really like.

kraggy

livinginkorea wrote: »

I think 1.7~1.8 would be more realistic but don't you have to pay some sort of deposit for housing for the first couple of months? Will the school be paying your bills (electricity, gas, water, cable, mobile, internet, etc)?

Yeah, think it's 300,000 each month for the first 3 months.

How much of 1.7 would be needed to live on per month? Could you get by on 800,000?

(I'll be in Seoul).

Thanks for all the help guys. Heading over in 2 weeks so trying to get as much knowledge and organising done this week as possible.

Edit: Posted this before I saw Cloneslad's info on savings above. Thanks guys.

cloneslad

size 9 shoe in Korea is 280. I know this because it's my size.

I bought quite a few pairs of asics while in Korea. These were all for running, not casual wear. The last pair I bought cost me 140k.

I bought a pair of adidas football boots, you can get lots of different types but I got short rubber blades for playing on astroturf. They set me back 120k. The damn things busted on my right foot after about 8-9 wears, but I persisted with them our of ignorance and used to tape them up. Another one of the lads bought the exact same type (different colour) at the same time in the same store and his never had a problem....príck

You can get a pair of converse shoes for about 40k or so.

Everywhere will have a size 9, it was at the higher end of the shoe market a few years ago, but most places are going up to size 11 now.

cloneslad

oh, and if it ever stops raining here, I'm not helping anyone until I get back to Ireland.

kraggy

It will stop soon. Never lasts more than 2 or 3 days there.

Go for a swim in the sea anyway. It's nice to go swimming in the rain.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

It will stop soon. Never lasts more than 2 or 3 days there.

Go for a swim in the sea anyway. It's nice to go swimming in the rain.

only about 4 days of the last three and a half weeks have been rain free. I'm in Hoi an now, got 2 suits being made. Might rent a scooter and go out around the area tomorrow, but it's giving more crap weather. It's been fricking cold, long sleeves are being worn, and if I had them I'd be wearing long pants too.

kraggy

cloneslad wrote: »

only about 4 days of the last three and a half weeks have been rain free. I'm in Hoi an now, got 2 suits being made. Might rent a scooter and go out around the area tomorrow, but it's giving more crap weather. It's been fricking cold, long sleeves are being worn, and if I had them I'd be wearing long pants too.

Jaysus. Doesn't sound like the VietNam I was in. Hopefully it will improve.

Thanks for all the help.

kraggy

2 more if that's ok guys...

1. I see from google images that the pins of the plugs are round, but are the plugs themselves those round ones that go into a kind of socket like so:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ipohchai.com/upload/1538-10-korea-power-plug-photo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ipohchai.com/korea-trip-day-1-going-nowhere.php&usg=__fD2_YMh6-o9UyZ1G5DUYs8o-B-o=&h=356&w=475&sz=45&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Cf5NN1t114HJPM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=203&ei=XiCSTc3TBonChAfrmZiHDw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkorea%2Bplug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D795%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=341&oei=XiCSTc3TBonChAfrmZiHDw&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=91&ty=61

If so, can you get an adapter in Argos or somewhere? You can get ones for the States and South East Asia but looked up Argos.ie and couldn't find one that would suit the above sockets.

2. What's grocery shopping like? Did you have to bring your Korean English dictionary with you the first few times?

Thanks.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

2 more if that's ok guys...

1. I see from google images that the pins of the plugs are round, but are the plugs themselves those round ones that go into a kind of socket like so:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ipohchai.com/upload/1538-10-korea-power-plug-photo.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ipohchai.com/korea-trip-day-1-going-nowhere.php&usg=__fD2_YMh6-o9UyZ1G5DUYs8o-B-o=&h=356&w=475&sz=45&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=Cf5NN1t114HJPM:&tbnh=144&tbnw=203&ei=XiCSTc3TBonChAfrmZiHDw&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkorea%2Bplug%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1276%26bih%3D795%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=341&oei=XiCSTc3TBonChAfrmZiHDw&page=1&ndsp=23&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=91&ty=61

If so, can you get an adapter in Argos or somewhere? You can get ones for the States and South East Asia but looked up Argos.ie and couldn't find one that would suit the above sockets.

yeah, that's them. you won't need a converter, just the adapter.

you can get them in the airport. I'd suggest bringing over 2 of them with you anyway, even though you'll probably find them when you arrive, it saves the hassle of trying to locate them, especially when you are jet lagged.

I brought over a couple of extension cords. They allowed me to stick 4 irish plugs into them, then I had the adapter stuck on the end of that plug. It allowed me to have 4 things into one plug. I bought them in ASDA for about £2, they had a power surge protecter on them too, which is nice to have.

2. What's grocery shopping like? Did you have to bring your Korean English dictionary with you the first few times?

If you go to homeplus, you'll pretty much be going to a Tesco. It's 88% owned by them and they sell lots of Tesco own brand products from back home, although a little but more expensive. The area I was in had a lot more Tesco own brand products and foreign products than most other homeplus supermarkets due to the large number of foreigners in such a small area.

Most phones that you buy will have a dictionary on them so you will be able to use that if you need it. You will however stuggle to use it and understand how it all works for a while plus will you could spend a hell of a lot of time trying to translate a few words only to find out it's the brand name or it's not in the dictionary...or worst of all, that if you had turned the package around you would have seen it all in English anyway

Most products have English on them, you'll be able to know everything you want to buy. Anything that looks strange or you haven't a clue what it is...avoid it for a few weeks until you have a better idea.

kraggy

cloneslad wrote: »

yeah, that's them. you won't need a converter, just the adapter.

you can get them in the airport. I'd suggest bringing over 2 of them with you anyway, even though you'll probably find them when you arrive, it saves the hassle of trying to locate them, especially when you are jet lagged.

I brought over a couple of extension cords. They allowed me to stick 4 irish plugs into them, then I had the adapter stuck on the end of that plug. It allowed me to have 4 things into one plug. I bought them in ASDA for about £2, they had a power surge protecter on them too, which is nice to have.





If you go to homeplus, you'll pretty much be going to a Tesco. It's 88% owned by them and they sell lots of Tesco own brand products from back home, although a little but more expensive. The area I was in had a lot more Tesco own brand products and foreign products than most other homeplus supermarkets due to the large number of foreigners in such a small area.

Most phones that you buy will have a dictionary on them so you will be able to use that if you need it. You will however stuggle to use it and understand how it all works for a while plus will you could spend a hell of a lot of time trying to translate a few words only to find out it's the brand name or it's not in the dictionary...or worst of all, that if you had turned the package around you would have seen it all in English anyway

Most products have English on them, you'll be able to know everything you want to buy. Anything that looks strange or you haven't a clue what it is...avoid it for a few weeks until you have a better idea.

Argos don't seem to have that kind of adapter. I'll look elsewhere but just get one when I arrive there probably.

Kind of concerend about eating out and shopping. I'm vegetarian (quite strict) and understand that there's a lot of fish and meat in what initially appear to be vegetarian dishes. Have a feeling I'll be cooking at home a lot, which is a pity as I like the idea of meeting people and having a meal.

Do any of you know any vegetarians over there? How do they find it?

Also, are foods like Indians and Pizzas a lot more expensive than Korean food?

squeakyduck

Had my phone interview with ATC about an hour ago. All went well. Hoping to get all my documents scanned in on Friday. Will be a big weight off my mind, hope my police clearance comes soon.

virmilitaris

kraggy wrote: »

Kind of concerend about eating out and shopping. I'm vegetarian (quite strict) and understand that there's a lot of fish and meat in what initially appear to be vegetarian dishes. Have a feeling I'll be cooking at home a lot, which is a pity as I like the idea of meeting people and having a meal.

Do any of you know any vegetarians over there? How do they find it?

You're in trouble.

Regarding Korean food, there's very little I can think of off the top of my head that hasn't got meat, fish or has been cooked with meat or fish juice or bones. Even if you find a Korean dish that is vegetarian friendly in one restaurant the next place you go might cook it with pork bones or something for flavour.

Are you ok with dishes cooked with bones / meat juices ?

As for pizza's and indians etc. Again, if it's staffed by Koreans and you see the word 'Vegetarian' on something, take it to mean the main ingredients are vegetables, not that it doesn't contain meat / fish stuff.

Then again Koreans eat a lot of vegetables so you will probably be able to survive by eating the vegetables part of the meal and just not eating the meat.

Oh and yes, foreign food is much more expensive than Korean food. You can get a decent meal in a Korean cafe type place for one person for dinner for as little as 3,000 - 4,000 won. A (crap) small pizza will set you back at least 9,000. Over 20,000 if you want Dominoes. I know you are a vegetarian but for comparisons sake, a (crap) steak in TGIF, Outback Steakhouse etc is at least 20,000 (and it's really ****).

If you do Korean restaurants in a group it's really cheap. I had steamed shellfish and a feed of beer last weekend for 6 people and it cost us about 6,000 each.

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

Argos don't seem to have that kind of adapter. I'll look elsewhere but just get one when I arrive there probably.

Buy at least one in the airport before you arrive anyway, it will allow you to charge your laptop when you arrive and keep in contact with people at home. It's much easier to find american-korean plugs than it is to find out three pinned ones. Try a local hardware store or electrical shop, they are bound to have them.

Kind of concerend about eating out and shopping. I'm vegetarian (quite strict) and understand that there's a lot of fish and meat in what initially appear to be vegetarian dishes. Have a feeling I'll be cooking at home a lot, which is a pity as I like the idea of meeting people and having a meal.

Do any of you know any vegetarians over there? How do they find it?

If you eat fish you wil have an abundance of food to keep you going. You can also get tofu quite cheap as well, if that's what floats your boat.

Koreans seem to think that ham is not meat, it is put into vegetarian salads and stuff like that. You just have to keep an eye on your food and if I was you I'd get learning hanguel right away and also the different types of food and meat.

The local gimbap naras have a large enough menu and you'll be able to get quite a lot of meatless dishes on it. The most popular type of restaurant in Korea is a sam gyup sal / Galbi restaurant. This is when meat is bbq'd on your table in front of you. You'll struggle to get anything in these without meat, with the exception of a kimchi jiggae (which contains fish) or a scgrambled egg and some rice / cold noodles.

I cooked a lot when I was in Korea anyway, if you want western food you're better off making it yourself, because 'fusion food' is just an excuse for koreans to make tasteless food, cover it in tomato ketchup and tell the locals that's what westerners like.

If you don't eat fish or meat, then yoou're probably best off avoiding eating out. I had a friend who was a vegan, so was his girlfriend. He said his g.f was a good cook, and I can't imagine there were too many restaurants they could visit.

Also, are foods like Indians and Pizzas a lot more expensive than Korean food?

The indian restaurants where I lived were owned by Indian people and the chefs were all indians. They had two of them on the island and both had good quality food. The third one on the island had a different owner but I never ate there so can't talk about it.

With regards to price etc, the prices are pretty comparable to back home, which, in comparison to Korean food in korea, is about 3-4 times as expensive to eat out.

kraggy

Right. Looks like cooking at home most evenings so. Shame as I believe that eating out in the evening is a big social norm over there.

Don't eat fish or any seafood. Don't eat meat or chicken. And a lot of other things because of animal ingredients.

Don't mind cooking though. And I will find SOMEWHERE that understands my needs. Seoul has a big expat community and from what I've read on the internet in the last while, there are a couple of chains of vegetarian and even vegan restaurants.

For other establishments, I'll get the co-teacher to write out a card stating precisely what I can and can't eat if need be. That's before I try and learn the necessary phrases myself (even though there is no term in Korean for "vegetarian").

cloneslad

kraggy wrote: »

Right. Looks like cooking at home most evenings so. Shame as I believe that eating out in the evening is a big social norm over there.

Don't eat fish or any seafood. Don't eat meat or chicken. And a lot of other things because of animal ingredients.

Don't mind cooking though. And I will find SOMEWHERE that understands my needs. Seoul has a big expat community and from what I've read on the internet in the last while, there are a couple of chains of vegetarian and even vegan restaurants.

For other establishments, I'll get the co-teacher to write out a card stating precisely what I can and can't eat if need be. That's before I try and learn the necessary phrases myself (even though there is no term in Korean for "vegetarian").

Most koreans will know the word vegetarian, the problem is they don't fully understand it. Ham is not meat, sure you can eat fish, ah I just made the soup with cows tail, you can drink that, can't you??

I knew there was a word for it because one of my co - wokers (korean) is a vegetarian. Though I've often watched her eat dongas (pork cutlet), ham, chicken, pizza with meat etc etc. But she'll wtill insist she's a vegetarian, so I googled it.

The Korean for vegetarian is 채식주의 .

You'll find that koreans don't use a lot of korean words now, instead choosing to use a very poorly pronounced english version of the word, like Ka for car, pone for phone, ra-e-de-o for radio, ta-ee-bel for table etc etc. Even though they have their own historical vocabulary for it.

I found an interesting blog entry by a korean on the topic. He/she basically says the same thing, they know what a vegetarian is, but the entire concept of what one eats is lost on them. They also say that poor pronunciation and the fact that chae sik joo ee (채식주의) is not a widely used word in korean will not help them understand your diet.

In the blog entry they say the best way to explain what you can and can't eat to a Korean is to say that your diet is the same as a buddhist monk.

스님이 먹는 음식 같은거. ( 스님 Su-nim-i 먹는 muk-neun 음식 um sik 같은거ga-tun-gu-yo).

This should help you out a little bit anyway. Though I don't envy your diet over the next 12 months because seaweed is horrible horrible stuff. Also in Gyeongsangnam do (where I lived) our Kimchi was feremented with shrimp / shell fish and stuff like that, so although it's not served with the fish or anything like that, it was fermented using it.