How to Thrive in South Korea: 97 Tips From Expats

By Jackie Bolen

Do you want to learn how to make your life in South Korea as awesome as possible?

 

Then consider picking up this book filled with detailed tips for how to do that. How to Thrive in South Korea is what you need to help you get more awesome in your expat life. It's something that I wish I'd had when I first moved to this amazing country so that I could have gotten just beyond surviving much sooner.

 

I've lived in my adopted home for a decade and during that time, I've met an astounding number of foreigners who were thriving here while I've also met plenty of them who clearly were only surviving, and just barely in some cases. Some people who've been here a long time still in survival mode, living in tiny apartments, bouncing around from sub-par job to sub-par job and doing nothing to plan for their futures. Conversely, I've met people who, even though they had only been living in Korea for a few months had clearly adapted and were making positive, healthy and sustainable lives for themselves.

 

How to Thrive in South Korea is a collection of tips from long-term expats who are far beyond surviving and are thriving in Korea. They have a lot of wisdom to share with people who are thinking about coming to Korea, have recently just arrived or perhaps even been around for years but want to pick up a few new tips for making their lives better.

 

Investing time, money and energy into getting beyond just surviving in South Korea is something that you'll never regret. How to Thrive in South Korea: 97 Tips from Expats will help you get there.
 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jackie Bolen
• Release date: Aug 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393534044

Book preview

How to Thrive in South Korea:

97 Tips from Expats

Jackie Bolen

(with advice from 28 expats in Korea)

Author of: The Wealthy English Teacher, How to Get a University Job in South Korea and 39 No-Prep/Low-Prep ESL Speaking Activities

From: ESL Speaking

Copyright@ 2015 by Jackie Bolen

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical means without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher/author at the address below.

Jackie Bolen: [e-mail]

Table of Contents

An Introduction to How to Thrive in South Korea..........................................6

About the Author: Jackie Bolen........................................................7

Jackie Bolen around the Internet........................................................8

How to Thrive: Work ................................................................9

Be Flexible......................................................................9

Be Reliable......................................................................9

Work Hard.....................................................................10

Relationships are More Important than Contracts.......................................11

Appearance.....................................................................12

Don't just Fill the Time............................................................13

Get Qualified...................................................................13

Get Better Jobs..................................................................14

Networking is Huge..............................................................14

Become a Professional - Rob Dickey.................................................16

Get Involved with KOTESOL - Robert M. Kim........................................17

It's All About Saving Face.........................................................18

Sick Days......................................................................18

Be Intentional about Getting to Know People at Work...................................19

Collaborate with Co-Workers......................................................19

Respect your Bosses..............................................................19

Research Jobs Thoroughly.........................................................20

Hagwons are Businesses First, Places of Education Second...............................21

Co-Teachers and Department Secretaries are not Concierges..............................21

Three Keys to Success at Work - Aaron Shayne........................................22

How to Thrive: Things to Avoid.......................................................23

Avoid the Vacation Haze - Sara Peterson.............................................23

Avoid the Expat Bars.............................................................23

Avoid Drinking Too Much.........................................................24

Avoid ESL Cafe.................................................................24

Avoid the Korea Haters...........................................................24

Avoid the Overpriced Western Restaurants............................................25

Avoid the This is How We Do It at Home Mentality...................................25

How to Thrive: Living in Korea ......................................................27

Know What Resources are Out There - Sharon Couzens.................................27

Build a Large Network ASAP - Val Hamer............................................27

Find the Group for You - Jennifer Booker Smith.......................................28

Be Open - Ben Weller............................................................29

Get Married - Anonymous.........................................................29

Put some Roots Down - Daniel Elias Galicia...........................................30

Learn Korean - Lyndon Hott.......................................................31

Celebrate your Favorite Holidays....................................................31

Learn Korean Culture from Koreans - Kasham Laine....................................32

Challenge Yourself - Lindsay Herron ................................................33

Volunteer: It's Good for You and the World - Kathryn Alberts.............................33

Frequent the Same Places .........................................................34

Pets in Korea - Anne Marie Walters.................................................34

Works towards a Goal............................................................35

Have an Interest Outside of Work - Cheryl Kim........................................36

Create Your Way - Kenneth May....................................................36

Get a Phone....................................................................39

Get One or Two Nice Things to Enjoy Your Life.......................................39

Get a Car.......................................................................41

Get a Transit Card...............................................................41

How to Thrive: Physical and Mental Health .............................................42

Understand Culture Shock - Josh Broward............................................42

Go to a Jjimjilbang! - Dean Brown..................................................45

Find the English Speaking Doctor and Dentist.........................................47

Use the Oriental Medicine Clinics...................................................48

Go Hiking......................................................................48

Walk or Bike Places..............................................................48

Exercise.......................................................................49

Get Enough Rest.................................................................49

Practice Thankfulness.............................................................49

How to Thrive: Shopping ............................................................51

Iherb..........................................................................51

Gmarket.......................................................................51

HomePlus......................................................................51

Costco.........................................................................52

Uniqlo and H&M................................................................53

Repairing Shoes and Clothes.......................................................53

Getting Books in Korea...........................................................53

How to Thrive: Finances.............................................................55

For Banking: Use KEB ...........................................................55

Exchanging Money...............................................................55

High Interest Savings Accounts.....................................................56

Build a Small Emergency Fund.....................................................56

Pay off your Debts Back Home as Quickly as Possible...................................56

Sell your Stuff Back Home........................................................57

Save up Money for Life After Korea.................................................57

Get informed about Taxes.........................................................58

How to Thrive: Travel...............................................................59

Get Out There—Explore!..........................................................59

Explore Korea, Solo Travel Style - Shannon Sawicki....................................59

Go to Jeju Island.................................................................60

Go to Gangwondo...............................................................61

Go to the Countryside.............................................................61

Travel in Off-Peak Times..........................................................61

How to Thrive: General .............................................................63

New Friends and a New You - Stephen-Peter Jinks.....................................63

Strike a Balance between Korean and Foreign - Chris Ternosky...........................64

Get a Hobby - Pete DeMarco.......................................................64

Find the Realistic People..........................................................65

LGBT in Korea .................................................................66

Commune! - Angelique Lazarus....................................................66

Find a City that Feels Like Home - William Mulligan...................................67

Live in Seoul or Busan............................................................68

If you Don't Like it Here, Go Home .................................................68

How to Thrive: Home ..............................................................70

Arrange your Own Housing........................................................70

Make your Home a Real Home - Anonymous..........................................70

Your Apartment is More than a Place to Sleep - Marie Sorenson...........................71

Learn How to Cook..............................................................71

How to Thrive: Living with Koreans...................................................73

Just Accept Things - Melvin.......................................................73

Reciprocate—It's a System of Favors................................................73

Trust Your Instincts about People...................................................74

Don't Teach Koreans about your Culture............................................75

Go out Eating and Drinking........................................................75

Learn to Love the Noraebang.......................................................75

Read Books about Korea instead of Blogs.............................................76

Job and Working Resources..........................................................77

University .....................................................................77

Hagwon and Public School........................................................77

Teaching Resources..............................................................77

Professional Development Resources................................................78

Financial Resources................................................................78

Community Living Resources........................................................78

Blogs/YouTube .................................................................78

Learning Korean.................................................................79

Shopping.......................................................................79

Pet Resources...................................................................79

Living in Korea Resources.........................................................80

LGBT Resources................................................................80

Travel Resources...................................................................80

In Korea .......................................................................80

Outside Korea ..................................................................81

Recommended Reading.............................................................82

North Korea....................................................................82

South Korea....................................................................82

An Introduction to How to Thrive in South Korea

This book is an idea that has been forming in the corners of my mind for years and something that I wish I'd had when I first moved to Korea. I've lived in my adopted home for a decade and during that time, I've met an astounding number of foreigners who were thriving here while I've also met plenty of them who clearly were only surviving, and just barely in some cases. There are even people who've been here a long time still in survival mode, living in tiny apartments, bouncing around from sub-par job to sub-par job and doing nothing to plan for their futures. Conversely, I've met people who, even though they had only been living in Korea for a few months had clearly adapted and were making positive, healthy and sustainable lives for themselves.

This book is a collection of tips from long-term expats who are far beyond surviving and are thriving in Korea. I know most of them personally through work, KOTESOL or other networking opportunities while a few of them I've never met in person but we ran across each other in the blog, podcast or websites of the Korean Internet community. They have a lot of wisdom to share with people who are thinking about coming to Korea, have recently just arrived or perhaps even been around for years but want to pick up a few new tips for making their lives better.

I hope you find this book very useful to help you get beyond only surviving South Korea—my goal is that it will be an extremely practical resource that you'll keep going back to for some more inspiration. Make this place your home and thrive. Investing time, money and energy into doing this is something that you'll never regret.

About the Author: Jackie Bolen

I've been living in Korea for the past 10 years and have loved most of my time here. Of course I've had bad days, weeks or even months (mostly involving a terrible hagwon experience that I'd rather forget) but for the most part, Korea is an excellent place to live as an expat if you're able to adapt. This process of adaptation involves figuring out how to make things go smoothly at work, learning how to get along with Koreans, avoiding certain traps that some foreigners fall into, truly making Korea your home, getting out and exploring, and finally making a plan for the future—either in Korea or not.

I'm originally from Canada and came to Korea after college for a bit of adventure and a chance to travel while paying off my students loans. Little did I know that it would become my real life