Planning (and Overplanning)
In advance of the immense trek that was moving from Florida to Seoul for a semester, I did my best to read up on past TEAN blog posts, YouTube vlogs, and general Korean travel content.
When doing all this research, I was fueled by excitement for travel but felt like I was spoiling myself, blocking myself from the pure excitement you can feel in the moment of having an unplanned experience. Regardless of when or where you study abroad, this is something I strongly recommend being weary of. There’s a healthy middle spot of arriving educated between knowing absolutely nothing and having already seen everything through the internet. One book I would strongly recommend reading to any study abroad curious person is Michael Crichton’s autobiography, Travels. It helped me work through a lot of thoughts I had about experiencing new things in South Korea and pushed me towards a mindset that has definitely improved the quality of my time abroad so far.
Now that I’ve been in Korea for over a month, I’ve learned all the basics I wish I had known sooner. So, to help educate you without spoiling your experiences, here are some general tips about packing, activities, and excursions that I wish I had known before arriving in Seoul.
Packing
There are many packing lists you can find online in blog posts, Reddit posts, study abroad guides, vlogs, etc. Most of these videos will have basic information about packing that is extremely helpful, like that they use different shower towels used in Korea, so it’s advised to bring one from home. However, don’t pack one that’s too bulky because it may have trouble drying, either by air or by the sometimes unreliable dorm drying machines.
There are a lot of small things that you might consider not worth filling up your luggage with, but if you’ll use it up while over here, it’s a no-brainer, especially if you already own it at home. Items like dryer sheets, masks, and stain removal pens. I also strongly recommend bringing lots of cough drops/cold medicine. Your body will be under a lot of stress adjusting to so many different factors, and the scream-singing at karaoke nights with friends won’t make it any better! Korean medicine can be weaker than what you’re used to back home, so better safe than sorry. You should also bring or buy a pair of beater shoes for rainy days, dirty walking paths and potentially exploring the club scene in Seoul.
Don’t bother packing items like school supplies. If you have a pen or pencil you like to use, that’s all you need. The rest can all be purchased here. Paired with a strong focus on education, Korea is very well-equipped with high-quality stationery. For my needs, I was able to easily find pens, pencils, markers, paper, folders, binders, and more at stores like Artbox, Daiso, and many others on every street.
Arrival & Settling in
When you arrive, it may already be night, which leaves you with almost no stores to get your essentials like toilet paper, soap, shampoo, conditioner, or body wash. You will likely resort to having to buy them from the nearby CU convenience store for a marked-up price, so it’s best to bring travel-size containers of everything you’ll need for the first night. After that, you can go shopping at stores like Daiso, Homeplus, and Olive Young to go shopping for all the essentials/skincare you’ll need throughout the semester.
Costco
Costco is another option for buying essentials and snacks if you happen to have a membership card. Membership works internationally, and they have great prices for buying bulk skincare, toilet paper, and American goods you might be used to seeing in the States. The food court is fully unique here as well, with delicious items like bulgogi pizza or the pork bake. It’s been really fun so far bringing my friends out to Costco and having a feast and a bit of a shopping spree. The one downside is that it can be a pain to navigate public transportation carrying the sheer amount of bulk that Costco offers, so pace yourself.
I was so surprised when I saw a Korean Costco for the first time!Researching Excursions and Activities
The first two weeks are the best time to get through as many tourist activities as you can possibly find, as once school starts, you’ll only likely have afternoons, evenings, and weekends. If you arrive and find that you haven’t done enough research and have no leads on what to do, consider visiting the Jogyesa Temple in Jongno-gu.
The entrance to Jogyesa Temple, the chief temple of the dominant branch of Korean Buddhism.After your visit to the Buddhist temple, walk for a few minutes to the Seoul Tourism Plaza, where you can find many free guidebooks with images, prices, addresses, and tips for traveling around Seoul. TEAN fortunately brought us to a restaurant right next to the building in the first week, but the location may vary between semesters.
Some other locations I’d personally recommend visiting in the first week between TEAN-organized activities are N Seoul Tower in Myeongdong, Dongdaemun Design Plaza (DDP), Changdeokgung Palace, and the Starfield Coex Mall. Depending on the weather, you can also consider going hiking!
Outside of Seoul
With so much time exploring Seoul, you might want a slight change of scenery. TEAN offers a weekend excursion to the coastal city of Busan, but you can take the KTX bullet train to other major cities like Gyeongju or take a flight or ferry to Jeju Island. South Korea has 16 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, with Changdeokgung Palace and the Jongmyo Shrine being located in Seoul. If you decide to explore outside of Seoul, consider visiting some of the other World Heritage Sites!
Haeundae Beach is the most famous beach in Busan and regarded as one of the best in Korea.If you choose a semester or even full-year program, you might even want to visit neighboring countries. TEAN offers a four-day Tokyo excursion with a curated itinerary during the semester, but I’ve heard others consider post-semester trips to Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, and other Southeast Asian countries. If you think you might be interested in planning this, do research in advance to ensure you have all the documents/tourist visa information you would need. Consider this far in advance so you can account for it when booking your return flight back home. You should also know that leaving the country cannot be done until you receive your Alien Registration Card, which can take around two months to get after arriving.
Andrew Bower, University of Central Florida, is studying abroad in South Korea with TEAN.
