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Pre-Departure Preparations

Hawaii -> Korea

Moving to a foreign country can be stressful and hectic. These are some tips and recommendations to help ease the preparation process. 

Pack very minimally! 

If you love to shop, Korea is every shopaholic's dream and nightmare. I am not joking when I say you can most likely buy everything and anything in Korea for such affordable prices. Especially for clothes, Korea is the motherland to shop. 

 

I highly recommend packing lightly! I brought only a few pieces of clothing (two shirts, two dresses, and three pairs of pants) and ended up leaving Korea with overweight baggage and an extra suitcase. I came to Korea with two medium-sized suitcases + one carry-on and left Korea with three suitcases (two medium suitcases + one large suitcase + one carry-on). It was recommended to bring a small carry-on suitcase for short travels around Korea. If I could do it all over again, I would bring two large-sized suitcases instead. On Hawaiian Airlines, the first two suitcases are free. However, a third suitcase cost an extra 100,000 won.

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This is what I recommend you prepare in advance prior to the flight in Korea. 

  • Adaptor (Korea has a different outlet than the US; it is the same as the European outlets)

  • Medication (I packed Tylenol and Tums) 

  • Toiletries & Skincare (this is my preference since I prefer to use my specific products. I tried various Korean skincare brands and almost all made my skin break out with acne). 

  • Bedding (I bought my bedding in Korea but I would recommend bringing it from home. My dorm room beds were twin sized). 

  • Copies of important documents (passport, ID, visa, university acceptance letter, health insurance card, housing information)

**Most of my living essentials I bought from Daiso or Olive Young. 

This was the day I was checking out of Ewha's dorm with all my belongings shoved into bags. Not even all my suitcases are pictured!

Get a credit card with NO foreign transaction fees

I highly recommend using a credit card with no international transaction fees! Over time, if your credit/debit card has foreign transaction fees, this can really accumulate and add up. Besides the street food vendors and outdoor markets, most places around Korea accept credit/debit cards. In my experience, it is better to pay with a card than cash. Some food establishments only accept credit/debit cards and not cash. EX: Hawaiian Airlines offers a credit card with no transaction fees. Just keep in mind, not all establishments accept foreign cards. Sometimes my credit card would get declined so I always kept extra cash/won on me at all times. 

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Open a Charles Schwab Account 

To get cash in Korea, I opted to get a Charles Schwab debit card. Charles Schwab debit card offers no foreign transaction fees and unlimited ATM fee rebates. It allowed me to use it at any ATM in Korea and refunded me the transaction fee. Start this process as early as you can as you have to wait to receive the card via mail. I started the process in late July and barely got my card in time for August.

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How much cash did I bring? 

The local currency is won. I brought about $500 USD in won. 

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Sim Card / Korean Phone Number

It is a necessity to have a Korean sim card/phone number to have the full international living abroad experience. The majority of the paperwork, delivery apps, and more required a Korean number.  I opted to get a sim card through Trazy (Premium Lite Plan). With the Premium Lite Plan, I had a Korean phone number with unlimited cellular data. You pay monthly to renew your service. Altogether, I spent around $180 on my sim card for the duration of my stay in Korea. If you want the convenience of already having a sim card prior to arriving in Korea, I recommend getting it from Trazy. However, there are several other sim card stores that offer better rates. My friends went to Chingu Mobile store and paid around $40 from August to December for their sim cards with unlimited data. 

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**The Trazy sim card does not allow you to make international calls, only domestic calls in Korea. If you have an Apple device (ie iPhone), you can use iMessage and Facetime to contact internationally. Just make sure your iMessage is set up to an email rather than a phone number

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