Friends

 An american, a japanese guy, and a korean were held prisoner by a very bad man.... 

a joke i read in a book about korea... re-told with my goofy classroom-style illustrations

Current Mood: amused

I'm going for two weeks to Korea starting Memorial Day. I'm living with my friend in Uijeongbu. I've got a few questions:

1. Is there anything to do in Uijeonbu? It doesn't seem very inhabited. It's close to Seoul though, so I suspect I'll be going there often.

2. How English-friendly is Korea and particularly Seoul? I know very little Korean. Few choice important words (hwajang shil!) and greetings. Is there a lot of signs (particularly the subway and public transportation because I don't have a car) in English?

3. My other friend wants me to look for amigurumi books. If you don't know what that is, they are crocheted little animals. Have you ever seen books like that for sale? They're mostly a Japanese thing, but I'm hoping maybe I can find some...

4. How expensive is public transportation? Particularly buses and the subway. I will be riding the subway probably every day.

5. Are there a lot of ATMs around Seoul?

Thanks a bunch!!

Current Mood: ecstatic

I’m escaping from moving out of Korea on June 26, and everything must go.  Well, everything I’m not shipping to Hong Kong, that is.  I need to get rid of everything by Monday, June 23.  The weekend of the 21^st/22^nd would be good, but I want to be out of this apartment on that Monday.  There are a few things I can part with sooner if anybody’s keen to have them; e-mail me and ask.

I live about a block and a half from the Byeongjeom subway station.  This would be most convenient for people in the Suwon/ Osan/ Hwaseong area, or farther up and down Line 1.  At this time, I haven’t sorted out transportation for the larger furniture items yet.  Ideally, the buyers will be able to figure that one out, but I’m looking into it.  There’s a Homever nearby, and there are usually van taxis there during the day, so that might be an option if anybody has the language skills to hire one and explain what you need.

Everything I’ve bought is basic and serviceable.  I didn’t plan on staying in Korea for the long haul, so I didn’t invest in expensive stuff.  That said, I’ve kept it in good condition, so you’re not going to stick to the chairs or detect bad smells wafting up from the mattress.  I have duplicates of some things (like kitchenware, clothes drying racks, and 3 irons) but it’s not an interesting story so we can skip the reason why.

To reach me, e-mail articulate.ink (at) gmail (dot) com.

For pix, go here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/84031257@N00/

Furniture:

Sofa: sleeper, beige, clean, comfortable (80)

Round armchair: blue, very comfortable (20)

Bookcases: 1 tall (10), 2 medium (10 each), 1 small (5)

Computer desk + matching filing cabinet: secondhand office furniture, generic but functional (20)

Computer chair: blue, good shape, pretty comfortable (15)

Bed: queen/double, less than 2 years old.  Frame + (clean, non-spooged) mattress.

Bedside table: matches headboard (100 for both)

Clothes drying racks: 2 (1 large, 1 medium) (5 each)

Clothes hanging rack: medium, free-standing, plus several million clothes hangers (10)

Storage shelves: 3, metal, on wheels (1 tall, 2 medium) (10/5)

Chest of drawers: small, 3 drawers (5)

Household items:

Kitchen supplies: plates, bowls, cups, cutlery, utensils, misc. pots and pans and cookware (ask me)

Blender (20)

Toaster oven: convection, big enough to roast a chicken (25)

Coffee maker: small two-cup Braun one (10)

Microwave (35)

Hot plate: one burner, electric (15)

Refrigerator: the miniature kind; I bought it while my uni was still deliberating whether to provide appliances (20)

Irons: 3 (5 each)

Ironing boards: 2 (small ones) (5 each)

Misc. towels, sheets, and blankets, if needed (ask me)

Humidifier: bought this year, still new-ish (10)

Electric kettle: just bought it (10)

Rice cooker: (10)

Space heaters: 2 (10 each)

Vacuum cleaner: small upright handheld (15)

Electric fan (guaranteed not to kill you if you sleep while it’s running) (5)

Electronics:

TV: 23” Samsung, less than 2 years old

DVD player: Silady (Chinese) multi-region.  It works but the remote doesn’t.

TV/DVD player stand (can sell all together for 100)

Desktop PC: generic tower, Pentium 4, Windows XP, 20 gig hard drive, DVD burner, flatscreen monitor, Samsung inkjet printer (100 for the lot)

Tabletop lamp: (10)

There are other things I can throw in, that I won’t be taking with me, like cleaning products (I’ve bought a lot of grey-market American stuff, like 409 and Pine Sol, in case anyone’s nostalgic for those familiar smells), some food (whatever’s left and unopened), possibly a couple of suitcases (I shop a lot when I’m out of Korea and end up needing extra ones), and whatever else is in the cabinets and lying around.

Hi,

Happy Buddha's birthday.

This dude:



What is he saying? Can someone please translate it for me? He didn't have any produce or fish on his truck and the Jesus trucks I've seen have been more decorated.

It's 3:18 AM, and I can't sleep because I'm hungry.  These are some of the things I'd like to eat right about now:

I saw pictures from someone's vacation to China. They had toilets built in the floor, and they just stood over them when they had to "go." Is it the same in Korea?
Also, do Koreans have diapers, or do they just have baby outfits with holes in the back like they do in China?

Hi, I'm new to this community but I came across when I was looking for some advice on dating a Korean guy.
I saw the old post from 2006 about a white girl dating a korean guy and I thought it was very helpful so I decided to ask myself lol.
I'm a black American dating a Korean guy and the relationship is getting a little hard these days. He's met my parents many times but he won't introduce me to his. I think I'm finally starting to understand that Korea guys only take the girl home to meet his parents when he's ready to get married. He's also the oldest of the family and he always tells me the pressure he's under by his family to do what they want.
I was wondering if you guys have any advice for me. I care about my boyfriend very much, so it doesn't bother me he won't introduce me to his family but I'm wondering if they're is any way I can help him get over the stress.
Any ideas would help :)

Current Location: My room
Current Mood: chipper
Current Music: Dir en Grey - Obusre

I am going to be in Korea for about eleven days and need to find ways to entertain myself while the friend I am visiting is working.

If you have any recommendations of places to see or things to do around Bucheon or Seoul let me know. I'm always up for making new friends if you wanna hang out. I have Monday-Friday (May 26-30) that I need to fill with activities until 6pm.

Current Mood: excited

Hi everyone,

I hope this question isn't too stupid to ask but...I know that when I get to Korea (to teach) I'll be covered under the national health insurance. However, I need a prescription medicine (a daily pill for asthma) and I was wondering how that would work with insurance coverage - without insurance, the medicine will be pricy. My recruiting company told me to just order a year's worth, but my doctor won't fill more than a 4 month's supply at once. My family could send it to me, but there would be no insurance covering it.

Have any of you had experience with this and can offer some suggestions? Do you have travel insurance that covers prescriptions? Are you able to get your prescription in Korea and just have it filled there under the national plan (and if so, how would my doctor here make a "referral" there, so to speak?).

Thank you SO MUCH in advance for any help you can offer me! I'm rather desperate here...my doctor was of no help and the recruiter didn't know much either. :/

I finally found a relatively active expat community on LJ!  woohoo.
I'm Ashleigh, 25, living in Mauritius, moved here in December to be with my husband.  We were just married 14 Feb. 
I work for an Indian Company that just bought over the American company that I work for.
Just saying Hi!

Current Location: quatre-bornes, mauritius

Hi everyone,
I am thinking about sending my mom flowers for Mother's Day. She lives in New Delhi, India, and I am having a really hard time figuring out if there are any reliable online flower delivery services for India. :( I've googled and found a ton of websites, but some (well, MOST) of them are really sketchy.

Does anyone have any ideas? Is there anyone in this community who lives near Delhi and knows a reliable florist? Thanks. :)

Hi.

I'm an American expat who has been living in Montpellier, France for the past eight years. I found this community today and just wanted to introduce myself.

If any fellow expats ever get around this neck of the woods I'd love to meet up with you and am always willing to listen to any questions about expat life or listen to rants when the going gets tough.

Anyway, I just wanted to say, "hi."

Hi there -

I'm moving from Washington, DC to London in just a few months.

I've decided that, for the most part, I'm just going to get rid of everything I own and only take what I can fit in the two suitcases I take on the plane.

But I imagine in the end I will probably want to ship two to three regular (square, book-size) moving boxes over there. I asked at the USPS and they said they no longer ship anything internationally, everything goes by air, and is therefore quite expensive.

I'm guessing (though I haven't checked yet, so if you know otherwise, please let me know!) that Fed Ex and UPS are going to say the same.

But I figure I can't possibly be the first person to need to do something like this. Do any of you know of any sort of shipping service that I could use for this purpose? It needn't be fast. The boxes will have things like books and cooking supplies in them, that I don't need to arrive super-fast (I'd be happy to wait a few months, even, if I could get a decent price)...

Any suggestions? Things I might not have thought of? Experiences with this?

Any advice is much appreciated!

TIA

 I spent this past year as an English teacher in Gimpo, South Korea.  I'm planning to go back to a different school in Yongin (I've signed the contract, done the health check, and my start date is supposed to be June 2nd).  I miss Korea a lot, and I can't wait to go back!  

However, I'm having trouble getting my background check.   When I was in Korea I heard you could get fingerprinted at a police station and they would send it to your state for the background check.  I went to a police station in Hyehwa (near Dongdaemun, light blue line), and they said that they couldn't fingerprint me without permission from the Dept of Foreign Affairs and Trade (something like that). 

Last week, I came back to the US (Maryland, specifically).  I went to a local police station and they said they can only fingerprint me on cards provided by the one who requested the background check.  I called the Korean embassy to ask them, but they didn't know anything about it.  I called another police station, and they said they don't do background checks and said the same thing, that the one who requested the check provides the cards. 

So now I'm confused.  What are these cards?  How do I get them?  I've done everything else for my new visa, aside from get the background check.  I feel like I'm up against a brick wall.  Does anyone have any advice?  Does anyone know something I missed?  Please help! 

I'm posting this in a few different places, so if you see this more than once, I apologize. 

Has anyone here continued their education in South Korea? I was searching universities online and I am thinking about possibly getting my Master's Degree at a university there.  Does anyone recommend any particular university or do you know if it is terribly difficult to get admitted?
My college does the exchange program with 4 colleges in Korea but the process is so long I'd only be able to go my last semester of college, and they won't allow an exchange at the last semester. Sad.

Current Mood: chipper

Hey I thought Id post this again. We are in need of teachers just like everyone else in the country. I really feel like Sokcho is a special place. if you know anyone who is interested pass this job ad along. thanks.

( read on for more info )