For six weeks this summer, I had the incredible opportunity to study abroad in South Korea. Excited and nervous, I boarded my plane, confident that I studied enough about the culture to adjust easily. Even with all that I prepared, there was still a learning curve outside of the classroom. If you are thinking of studying abroad in South Korea, or just traveling there soon, here are 10 things I wish I knew before becoming a student there.
Things are closed on Mondays
I did not have classes on Mondays, so I would explore the city. On my first Monday off, I went to a mall and spent the entire day there. On the way back to my Airbnb I started to feel hungry, so I searched on Naver Maps (their version of Google Maps) for someplace nearby my Airbnb to eat. However, every restaurant I clicked on displayed the same hours, “closed every Monday.” Defeated, I ate convenience store food that night. Similar to businesses in the States closing early on Sundays, businesses in South Korea are closed Mondays. High traffic areas like Myeongdong are an exception to this rule.
Lunch from Ikseon Chwihyang in Ikseon-dong (Leila Alarcon)
Iced Americanos happen after 10 A.M.
Most Cafe’s and breakfast places open at 10 a.m. You might be thinking, isn’t that a little late for breakfast? To which the answer is yes, it most definitely is late for breakfast. There were many days that I went to school without having eaten breakfast or having coffee because nothing was open yet. Just like with restaurants being closed on Mondays, I was saved by the convenience store on my campus.
Midopa Coffee House (Leila Alarcon)
You will be using A LOT of Hand Sanitizer
In the States, we cough and sneeze into our elbows to prevent spreading germs. They do not do that in South Korea. People sneeze and cough into their hands or into the air. This would not be an issue if public transportation was not so necessary to travel from place to place. Carry around hand sanitizer with you everywhere, because while you think you can wash your hands at the next restroom you come across, you will find that not all restrooms have soap.
The Foreigner Discount
At some large shopping centers, malls or tourist areas, businesses will offer what is called “Tax Free” services. Businesses that offer this service typically have a small sign near the register with a shopping bag that says “Tax Free” on it. You can then hand the cashier your passport and they can remove the tax from your purchase. Some stores can not do the tax removal on their register, so they print out a receipt that has a qr code on it. Then when you go to the Airport to return home, there is a machine that will give you money back for the taxes you paid. I always carried my passport with me, just in case.
StarField Coex Mall, a popular shopping mall (Leila Alarcon)
Be ready to change your phone number
My friends and I wanted to go to popular restaurants and cafes, but sometimes we would have to wait in an online queue, which required a Korean phone number to do. I recommend purchasing an Esim card as the installation process is typically easier. I purchased my Esim card through Chingu Mobile. The only issue with the Esim I purchased is that I needed to have completely paid off my phone to install it. I only had one phone payment left so I paid it off, but that is something to consider before purchasing an Esim card.
Photo Booth Addiction is Real
Everywhere you go there is sure to be at least one photo booth store. Each store has different photo cuts, different themes, different angles and you will want to do them all. South Korea really commits to photo ops with some larger photo booth stores having entire room setups. Photo booths are very cheap as well, which only makes it harder to not want to take a million photos with all of your friends. However, when you do take photo booth pictures, do not be surprised if you look a bit paler in the printed picture. South Korean beauty standards call for paler skin and the photo booths automatically edit the photo to make you paler. It can be off-putting at first, but you eventually get used to it.
A subway replica photo opportunity at HiKer Ground, one of many photo spots in the building (Leila Alarcon)
Myeongdong has the best Exchange Rates
You should always try and exchange your money prior to traveling, especially because you will need Korean won the minute you land. However, if you happen to run out of won, Myeongdong will be the place to go. It’s a high traffic area for tourist so they have many places that will exchange U.S. dollars for Korean won. Avoid ATM’s in subways as you will get charged conversion rates by your bank and by the ATM itself. If you are a Discover card user like me, you are in luck because Discover does not charge conversion fees.
Stores Come and Go
Pop-up Stores are very common in South Korea and they can range from being in a building for a couple days to a couple of months. I went to the Hyundai Seoul, a large shopping mall, and on the level B1 is where they have trendy pop-up stores. I bought a couple shirts from a store there and wanted to go back and get more. When I returned, just one week later, all but a couple of the stores had changed. Myeongdong, Seongsu, Common Ground and The Hyundai Seoul are known to house some pop-up stores, especially Seongsu. When shopping there check the pop-up store dates or else you might miss these stores completely. Pop-up stores often have free gifts for visitors as well.
You will be exposed to so many Different Cultures at Once
The study abroad program I participated in had people from all around the globe. I met people from Singapore, Indonesia, Germany, China, England and Australia. While I was excited to immerse myself in South Korea’s culture, it was interesting to learn about the countries that my classmates were from. What their school was like, what their food was like and what their weather was like. It’s a kind of experience you can only get from joining an international school program.
You are Going to Miss all the Friends you Made
The hardest part of the study abroad program was saying goodbye to everything. The Airbnb that became my cozy home shared with all my friends, the neighborhood that I knew like the back of my hand, the silly jingles that played to signal that the train was arriving, getting ice cream every single night, self check-out convenience store runs at two in the morning, the classroom I spent the first three hours of my day in at Hanyang University and all the friends that I made. Being that we are all from different countries, the goodbye was even harder. When I will get to reunite with all the amazing people I met, I do not know. But in my heart I believe that I will get to see them all one more time.
Some of the friends that I made during the program (Leila Alarcon)
