Not mentioned in the video are the following:
ELECTRONICS: Simon packed his Wii and PS3, and has had no issue with them whatsoever. Nothing has fried after many hours of usage. The secret? Read your cables! If they say anywhere on them "Input: 100-240v" you're safe! You can plug in your electronics from anywhere in the world so long as you have a little plug adapter to pop on the top of it. If you don't have that cable, it's ok! You can still buy a power converter. Go to any supermarket and in the lighting section (usually), you'll find a thick, ugly, clunky metal box that will plug into your Korean outlet and let you plug in two of your North American plugs. It ain't pretty, but it works.
BOARD GAMES: If you're geeky and like board games like us, we had a hard time finding reasonably priced English games (ie: Scrabble was double the price) and the newer games (ie: Cranium, Apples to Apples) were impossible to find. Playing cards are also expensive. Pack any games you find necessary.
COMFORT FOODS: Fruit teas, chai tea, and your favorite black tea brands are impossible to find or are otherwise really, really expensive. Starbucks does offer a small selection of TAZO brand teas, though.
COOKING FOOD: Dried spices such as nutmeg, cinnamon, oregeno, and basil are available in speciality import sections but crazy expensive, and Martina was unable to find liquid vanilla extract anywhere.
COSMETICS: If your skin tone isn't similar to a Korean person's skin tone, it can be hard to find pressed power or liquid foundation to match your skin, so come prepared. If you wear contacts and can only use a specific brand of solution, pack a few bottles to be safe.
GIFTS: It's nice to bring your new employer a gift to thank them for hiring you. If you're at a public school, get a small gift for your Principal, Vice Principal, and the co-teacher who will be taking care of you when you first arrive. We suggest a product that is only availble in your country. For example, a specific food (we brought organic maple syrup), hand cream/soap (Bath and Body Works is not available in Korea yet, and it's sought after) or even alchohol (rum, ice wine, or rum filled candy).
Feel free to contact us or leave a comment about anything you're worried about Korea not having. We might not know all of the answers, mind you, but we might be able to tell you if you should pack it or not.
29 comments:
haha another very good well produced video guys! Well done!...Love the bit about Spudgy :)...P.S I know how to get to Everland :)
Awesome list you guys have here! Thanks again.
You can buy vanilla extract in Seoul at a place I like to call "baking alley."
How to get there: Subway Line 1, Jongno 5-ga Station, Exit 7 → Walk ahead and take the crosswalk→Walk ahead and turn right at the first corner → The store is on the right
Some stuff, like vanilla extract, can be found on the black market, but costco and some of the other "foreign" markets have both extract and vanilla beans. Check also the baking market near Dongdaemun in Seoul. . . .
Burts Bees used to be a popular underground product, but Olive Young is now carrying it (at double the US retail price)
You can play Korean blu-rays on a NA PS3 since they use Region A. US also uses Region A. The PS3 does work without a step down converter. PS3 games are region less which is nice.
I could be mistaken but I haven't seen a certain other monthly ladies product in the stores..
Free camera...pure sweetness! Now that's not douchebaggery. lol...JoAcHiM
love y'all. I trust all is well.
Nice video! I did notice however that one person was in most of the "packing" portion...and it wasn't Martina or Simon...who was that? :)
Sarie ~ You can find the "other monthly ladies product" at Costco, any of the foreign markets (like Haddon House) and even some of the convenience stores in Itaewon.
Thanks Krshearman, good to know. I hadn't seen 'em in Home Plus and that's where I do all my shopping.
all the stores in 'baking alley' in seoul also have websites. www.bakingmall.co.kr and www.bakingmarket.co.kr
You forgot to mention the greatest food in the world, which is non-existent in Korea: Cheese! I packed about 10 pounds of cheese when I came back. I had initially brought some to share with my teachers as a gift, but after looking at it in my fridge decided I wanted to eat it all myself. My reasoning was that they wouldn't appreciate it as much as I would...
Also, if you want your A&W Root Beer fix, they have it in Itaewon. Cost about a choner for a can. Not too bad. I love Root Beer, so have no problem going out of my way to get to Itaewon to buy a few cans. 1000 won for a can isn't even that bad of a price.
Whenever I run out of vanilla extract I make a stop on my way to What the Book. Right before What the Book there's a little Indian store and they have a variety of international products (most of which you can also get at EMart), including vanilla.
Boobs! :) Haha, that made me laugh Simon!
Nice vid.
A couple of points...
You can get bed sheets at the local shops that sell bedding (이불). I had sheets made to order (by the little lady who worked there... and with no Korean at all) for a fairly resonable price... but that was back in 2001. Since then, I've been using Korean-style bedding. It's often more expensive, heavier (harder to wash and takes longer to dry) but I'm used to it now.
Another point...
Why pack all that stuff? Why not post it? Won't you have a lot of excess baggage... or pay heaps for your bags being over the weight limit? Why not take a little and send the rest? Or, just get friends and family to send things as you need them?
Final point...
You're right about deodourant. I think perfume of any kind is considered a luxury item (not an everyday necessity), so the prices are high. Also, if you bring a lot of perfume (I don't think that includes deodourant or aftershave, but I'm not 100% sure), you may have to pay import duty on it. The customs declaration has the limits listed on it. I've never had any problems, but it would pay to be careful if you're bringing large amounts of perfume (but, as I said, I don't think that includes deodourant).
Anyway, in my experience, the first time you come to Korea you usually bring too much. I say, take a risk... live differently for a while. Get your family to send stuff if you get a craving or if you're really homesick. You'll apreciate it all the more if you have to wait. It'll be something to look forward to.
One final comment on your videos...
The quality is really good, but one area could be improved... just a tad: the sound quality of your voices when you're talking to the camera. It's ok when you're close to (or holding) the camera, but when you're more than 2-3 metres from it - use a mic. You can get blue tooth or other forms of wireless mics that will improve the sound a great deal. Even (wired) mics with long cables might still be useful. You'll notice that even indoors the sound is not very good when you're at a distance from the camera. Outdoors... it's much worse with all the background noise from traffic etc. The closer you are to the mic, the better your voice will be heard over the other noise.
My only suggestion would be deodorant. While you can certainly buy it here, the Korean bands don’t cut it and any imported brand is hugely expensive.
Shplook,
Thanks for the input. The sound is something we've fiddled with for HOURS! Unfortunately, our camera is a tiny hunk of crap, and the best we can do is to adjust the volume in postproduction. But, hell, it takes forever, and it can never be right. One of these days we'll buy a proper camera, though, for sure.
Schplook: I've always had my family send me deodorent from back home as well as bringing my own in when I travel back to Australia. In 5 years, I've never had a problem.
I was once set 11 roll-ons in a parcel, no problems.
With the humid and hot Korean summers I go through them fairly quickly. (it cuts down on the 'dirty foreigner' comments, too).
Funnily enough, I have been able to find plenty of spices at E-Mart. Diet Dr Pepper, OTOH ...
Visine! That's a toughie--the druggists have plenty of saline, no "get the red out" or "anti-allergy" product! I picked up a good size bottle in NZ on vacation, but it will run out someday ...
PS Thanks for a really great blog--you guys seem to enjoy it here maybe even more than I do!
Who uses that much deoderant? Good Lord!
Guys who don't want to smell in the middle of a humid Korean summer.
I've been checking out your blog since a friend introduced it to me awhile ago. I was just watching the videos for sheer entertainment value as I had no plans on teaching in Korea. Well now I'm teaching at an international school in Seoul and enjoy your blog even more now! I really like your videos and had a real live lol while watching the bra portion of this one! So much so I felt the need to comment! Thanks for amusing me!
Hi! I'm a student at Korea, and I came here form You-Tube. I've lived in the US for six years, so no problem with my English! But you can find Vanilla extract! My mom uses it like crazy here!
GReat Video Guys..
I love the Ranch~~` YEAH~~~ I thought you could get at the COSTCO in Korea.
Not Confirmed~~^^ Anyways Great video guys
This video reminds me of every time me packing to Canada :D
Thanks for the great video.
Playing cards, expensive, really? I found tons of cards for only W1,000-W3,000 at my local stationary store! o_O;
And also I AGREE WITH CHEESE!!! OMG I can no longer withstand Korean pizzas or ANYTHING because the cheese is so bland. Koreas HATE strong cheeses; my students literally gagged when I opened my box of feta cheese and dared them to smell it.
Some advice for the more full figured ladies. You can find bras here. The Venus bra stores carry larger sizes I wear a D cup, my friend wears a DD and we were both able to find bras there.
Also... I don't know why girls are always going on and on about tampons... they have tampons everywhere... emart, lotte mart, home plus... you might pay slightly more for them, but they're there. I promise.
Post a Comment