Seriously. There is no better way to build your vocabulary,\u00a0excitement, and basic knowledge of this country than to watch a few popular K-dramas (the nickname for South Korean TV drama shows). While it\u2019s important to understand that things won\u2019t be exactly<\/em> as they\u2019re portrayed on television, the shows can provide insight into cultural norms and fun things to do while you\u2019re in the country that might not have occurred to you otherwise.<\/p>\n Whether you have time for cooking or not, rice cookers are an amazing\u00a0investment. You don\u2019t have to spend a fortune on them, either \u2013 you can find pretty cheap ones at places like E-Mart or GMarket. Depending on the make, you can even throw frozen vegetables in them along with your rice. Whip up some BiBimBop sauce (gochujang, sesame oil, water, and sugar) and fry a few eggs and you pretty much have an instant meal.<\/p>\n Ordering things online in South Korea was one of the best experiences of my life, because almost everything was delivered overnight. GMarket is an online store that you have to register for with your Alien Registration Card and bank account. It\u2019s fairly straight forward, but you can ask one of the staff at your school to help you, should you need it. Once registration is complete, you can pretty much order anything you like, and it is CHEAP! If your school allows it, simply set the shipping address to your school\u2019s address and you\u2019ll be all set to develop your online shopping addiction.<\/p>\n This is an app for your phone that provides the best underground\/subway\u00a0map I have ever used in all the places I\u2019ve been so far. Honestly, the South Korean subway system is a DREAM to navigate (even if it\u2019s a bit crowded at times) because everything is clearly marked in both English and Korean, and all the exits are numbered. But there are a lot of stops and a lot of neat things to check out, and Jihachul will allow you to plot your course, tell you the stops you need to take, and give you an estimate for the time of your arrival.<\/p>\n Once upon a time there was a website that you could use to buy a phone and have everything set up for you, but they don\u2019t seem to be in business anymore. Regardless, if you don\u2019t bring a smartphone overseas with you, then buy one while you\u2019re there. If you have one already, you can likely get a SIM card that would allow you to use it in South Korea. If you\u2019re in Seoul, there will be quite a few places that will have someone who speaks English in the store to help you, but if not, ask one of the staff at your school to help set up a plan\/contract. Having a smartphone where you can download helpful apps like Jihachul and Google maps will be almost essential if you want to do a bit of exploring in the beginning of your stay. It\u2019s a nice safety net to have, to be able to call someone if you get lost and have them direct you (although from experience, people in the street are exceptionally helpful if you ask them nicely for directions).<\/p>\n I cannot stress enough how important it is that you attempt to learn\u00a0some of the local language. You don\u2019t have to become fluent! You don\u2019t even have to learn to speak in full sentences. But learning to read the language will help you get your bearings, especially if you find yourself in a place that doesn\u2019t see a lot of English-speaking traffic. Learning the names of things, directions, and certain questions not only goes a long way towards endearing yourself to the people, but also means you don\u2019t have to constantly rely on others to do things for you.<\/p>\n There are many different lifehacks for getting the most out of\u00a0living and teaching ESL in\u00a0South Korea. People have been doing this for over a decade, and you certainly aren\u2019t the first to find things a little daunting. So relax \u2013 you\u2019ve got this! And remember – there will always be someone to help you through any<\/em> situation that arises while abroad.<\/p>\n Want to learn more about teaching ESL in South Korea, and many other exciting English teaching destinations? Sign up for a\u00a0free information session<\/a>\u00a0near you, or\u00a0download our course guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n [wp_social_sharing social_options=’facebook,twitter,pinterest’ twitter_username=’oxford_seminars’ facebook_text=’Share on Facebook’ twitter_text=’Share on Twitter’ googleplus_text=’Share on Google+’ pinterest_text=Share on Pinterest\\” icon_order=’f,t,g,p’ show_icons=’1′ before_button_text=” text_position=” social_image=’ \/blog\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-social-sharing\/static\/socialshare.png’]<\/p>\n Written by Ashley Marie Shuttleworth<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ashley is a graduate from Trent University with a degree in English Literature. She spent a year teaching English in\u00a0South Korea<\/a>\u00a0followed by a year Au Pairing in England, and both jobs have provided some of the most rewarding experiences in her life, to date. There are many more adventures planned for her future, (India<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Japan<\/a>\u00a0are next!) all with the hopes that this worldly knowledge will help to fuel her career as a published author.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If you\u2019re anything like I was before I went to South Korea to teach English, you\u2019ll have very little idea of what to expect when you arrive. While you\u2019re not moving off to a different planet, the considerable difference between South Korean and North American cultures can certainly make it feel that way. Even though […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":21,"featured_media":3644,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,348,343],"tags":[8,179,385,98],"class_list":["post-3054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia","category-bachelors-degree","category-travel","tag-culture","tag-life-abroad","tag-lifehacks","tag-south-korea"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/21"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3054"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3647,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3054\/revisions\/3647"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3644"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}2. Buy a rice cooker<\/strong><\/h2>\n
3. GMARKET!!<\/strong><\/h2>\n
4. Download Jihachul<\/strong><\/h2>\n
5. Splurge for a smartphone<\/strong><\/h2>\n
6. Buy a vocabulary book<\/strong><\/h2>\n
![\"Ashley](\"\/\/www.oxfordseminars.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Ashley-photo-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n