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Obstacles while living in Korea |
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Restaurants in Korea Korea could possibly have the most restaurants in the world per capita. Every street in the country tends to have numerous restaurants with affordable menus available. Korean Food is very unique and foreigners to Korea quickly fall in love with the diverse range of food options available. There is a wid variety of Restaurants In Korea and other eating establishments offering a range of meat and vegetable dishes. Street vendors (pojangmachas) are a common sight on almost all busy streets. You will find them selling such things as sushi roles, spicy rice, boiled eggs and fried vegetables. Small restaurants (shikdangs) are a smart choice for those looking to have a great meal at an affordable price. A general rule of thumb; the smaller the restaurant, the cheaper the food. You will also find a choice of upper scale, highly priced restaurants scattered around each city. Don’t be fooled into thinking the more expensive the restaurant the better the food will be. You will soon find out that the smaller “hole in the wall” restaurants will offer some of the best service and best tasting food in Korea. In between the small and the luxurious you will find many restaurants and eateries that offer many traditional Korean dishes as well as western dishes. Most medium to large cities also have many western franchise restaurants available, including; The Outback Steakhouse Korea, Bennigans Korea, TGI Fridays, VIPS, McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Hut, Burger King, Pop Eyes Chicken and Subway. You will also find lots of non franchised restaurants that offer Thai, Italian, Japanese, Indian, and Mexican dishes. Buying Groceries in Korea Shopping for groceries in Korea is much easier than most people assume. All Korean cities will have numerous outdoor markets offering fresh produce, seafood and other Korean favorites. The food within these markets is quite cheap and offers a decent alternative to the large franchise food chains. The large corporate grocery stores such as HomePlus and E-Mart have a wide range of products that will provide westerners with food options similar to western style supermarkets. It's sometimes difficult to find western spices in Korea, however, condiments such as Heinz ketchup, French’s mustard, relish, salad dressings, mayonnaise, hot sauce and other favorites are available in most of Korea’s large grocery stores. Internet in Korea Korea is the world’s most wired country (per capita) for broadband (high speed) internet. Having an internet connection installed in your apartment is very easy and your employer can arrange this for you upon request. Monthly internet rates vary depending on the service and the service provider you choose to go with. High speed internet services in Korea can cost anywhere from 25,000won – 45,000won a month. Currency Converter If you don’t plan on bringing or buying a computer for your apartment then there are lots of alternative options available. Korean’s are addicted to online gaming and pc bongs (internet cafes) can be located on every corner in every city. Internet cafes are also extremely cheap and hourly rates at many locations are under 3,000 won ($3) an hour. Phone Service in Korea - Mobile Cell Phones Landlines in Korea are becoming less popular by the year. Korean Cell phone technology and services are some of the best on the planet and many Koreans and westerners alike now use cell phones as their only telecom device. Some teacher apartments will come with a land phone in the apartment and others do not. Most schools now prefer to wait for the teacher to arrive to discuss the numerous options available before deciding on what option is best for that teacher. Shopping in Korea South Korea is the self pro-claimed shopping capital of the world! The major shopping districts in the major urban area’s will have hundreds of retail stores, trendy independent shops and unlimited outdoor market shopping options. Retail stores in Korea include; Nike, Adidas, Reebok, Roots, Banana Republic, Sunglass Hut, Louis Vuitton, Guchi, Prada, Chanel, and numerous department stores… just to name a few. Shopping In Korea - Various shopping options Namdaemun Market Seoul - One of the oldest and largest retail markets in Seoul (Not accessible by car) Dongdaemun Market Seoul - Currently the largest shopping market in South Korea Shopping for electronics in Korea: The Samsung and LG superstores carry lots of cool gadgets and products. These stores will sell the major product lines that can be found worldwide in addition to numerous items that are only available in Korea. Major brand names in Korea have price tags similar to the west although the smaller less known names will have lots of devices for relatively cheap prices. Mail in Korea There are lots of private international mail carriers in Korea. FedEx Korea seems to have the biggest name, but prices are expensive and using FedEx to send large parcels home is not cost effective. The best way to send letters and small parcels abroad is through Express Mail Service (EMS) which is the priority courier with the Korean Post. EMS is just as fast as Fedex, tracking numbers are provided, and costs are substantially lower. All Korean Post offices will have EMS services available FedEx Korea - Mail and monitor your pacel Korea Post - EMS Service Sending large boxes of items abroad is very expensive from Korea. If you don’t require specific items right away then using surface to surface mailing is the cheapest option available. Just be prepared for the wait because surface fees, although cheap, can take up to 3 months to arrive. Churces in Korea South Korea has lots of churches in every small, medium and large city. Churches offering services in English are also more common than you would likely expect. In order to locate Korean churches that provide English services, go to www.google.com and punch in any of the following search terms:
Taxes in Korea You are legally responsible for paying taxes in Korea. Your school will automatically deduct these taxes (3% - 5%) from your salary. This means you don't have to worry about filing taxes with the Korean revenue agency. For more information please view the taxation in Korea section of our website |
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| To get another perspective on what life is like in Korea, please follow this link: Life in Korea | ||||||||||||||||||
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