New Arrival Information
Be kind to yourself and have grace for yourself when you first arrive in South Korea.
When you arrive in South Korea, you may find yourself scrambling to acclimate. That's ok and that is normal. You are dealing with a new language, new culture, new customs, new foods, new co-workers, and often-times a new career. Culture shock is a very real and often painful experience. Taking the time to inform yourself about the world around you will couple perfectly with having grace for yourself and others.
Be kind to yourself and have grace for yourself when you first arrive in South Korea.South of Seoul volunteers empathize deeply with your struggle.
We have also struggled through that pain as well and our mission is to help minimize the struggle as much as possible. That's why South of Seoul volunteers put together this list of blogs that each shares something we wish we had known in the first three months of our arrival in South Korea. We recommend revisiting these blogs regularly over the first three months because each time you read them something new will stand out.Is there a blog you think we should have on this list?
Information you wish you had? Please leave a comment or message us at southofseoul@gmail.com and we will add it to our list of blogs to post.
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무한리필 = Free Refill, but what does that really mean?
Welcome to a New Type of All-You-Can-Eat (AYCE) This is one of the blogs where we change your life. We are going to tell you something everyone here knows, but they never tell the new guy. Keep your eyes out for the magic words “무한리필”. Memorize what this looks like. Directly translated, this means Free Refill. Of course, by now you know that, in Korea, you already get free refills on sides. You might be questioning what this really means. Put that worry away, these places and specials are pure…
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Culture & Community, Emergency Support Service, ESL/EFL Educators Welcome Packet, International Student Welcome Packet, New Arrival Information, Physical & Mental Wellness, Tourist and Traveler Welcome Packet, USA Military Welcome Packet
Important Numbers: 119 Emergency Services
Before you have an emergency, you need to know 119 which is emergency services in South Korea. About 119 One of THE most important numbers you need to know while living in South Korea is 119. This is THE number to call in emergencies. In a medical emergency, 119 may automatically detect a caller’s location on either a landline or a cell phone. Then, 119 dispatches ambulances quickly. 119 For Those with No Korean Language Ability In theory, foreigners who contact 119 become directed to a translator from the Korea National…
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Culture & Community, Driving Tips, Education, ESL/EFL Educators Welcome Packet, International Student Welcome Packet, New Arrival Information, Public & Private Transport, Smart Phone App Quick Tips, Tourist and Traveler Welcome Packet, USA Military Welcome Packet
Nav App Hack: Phones not Address
One of our main goals at South of Seoul (SOS) is to empower our readers and users to explore Pyeongtaek on their own and share the things they love with others. This sounds easy, except that the language barrier and maps issues make this far harder than it should be. How in the world do you quickly and easily share a business location when you can’t read anything or talk to anyone? We have the hack for you! All you need to know are numbers. This is possibly the best-kept…
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Culture & Community, Culture Shock Tips, Education, New Arrival Information, Physical & Mental Wellness
5 Tips for Conquering Culture Shock
Culture Shock isn’t just an English punk band. It’s also a very real thing we all deal with while living abroad. It’s part of the territory and it’s something everyone needs to be very aware of in order to live their best life. It starts out small and builds over time, sometimes ripping through our lives with very painful consequences and other times hiding in the shadows waiting to knock us off course when we least expect it. It can even cause intense depression, destruction of relationships, uuncharacteristic bigotry and racism,…
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Dining & Drinks, ESL/EFL Educators Welcome Packet, International Student Welcome Packet, New Arrival Information, Tourist and Traveler Welcome Packet
Eating Halal in the Korean Countryside
As the Muslim population in rural areas of South Korea continues to grow, information about – and access to – Halal has becoming a bigger issue. This has become very important to some of us at South of Seoul due to the fact we have watched friends struggle with this in the past and now we are watching many of our classmates at Namseoul University struggle with it as well. Since the university is located one subway stop south of Pyeongtaek in northern Cheonan, we feel it is high time…
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Driving: On-Street Public Parking
When you first start driving parking in Korea parking can be hard to get used to. Especially since it’s never explained clearly and works quite differently than other places you may have visited in the world. We, the volunteers at South of Seoul, have decided to start breaking down some of these differences. We have used our connections with the city to get the real story about how it all goes down. After reading our blogs we hope you can move around more comfortably and avoid those pesky parking tickets…
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Rules & Laws: Coffee Shops & To Go Cups
Have you been to a coffee shop lately and been told you can’t stay in the coffee shop with your to-go cup? Feeling angry because it all seems so foolish that you can’t just sit in the coffee shop with your paper or plastic cup? Well, if it makes you feel any better, they aren’t singling you out or trying to be jerks. It’s the law in Korea. Like many of the worlds leading countries, Korea is taking a look at what it can do to reduce waste. One of…
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Neighborhood Intro: Jinwi
Pyeongtaek-si (평택시) is made up of many different, unique little neighborhoods. Over the last 2 years Pyeongtaek neighborhoods have been reorganized, a new address system created, and – often – completely new names assigned. Combine this with the constantly changing English Speaking population that rotates through each year, and life becomes like a big game of Telephone as half information turns into mythical information. That’s where South of Seoul comes in. We are on the ground and updating the South of Seoul app each time we are alerted to a…
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Neighborhood Intro: Shinjang-dong (Part of Songtan)
Pyeongtaek-si (평택시) is made up of many different, unique little neighborhoods. Over the last 2 years Pyeongtaek neighborhoods have been reorganized, a new address system created, and – often – completely new names assigned. Combine this with the constantly changing English Speaking population that rotates through each year, and life becomes like a big game of Telephone as half information turns into mythical information. That’s where South of Seoul comes in. We are on the ground and updating the South of Seoul app each time we are alerted to a…
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New Arrival Information, Pyeongtaek Neighborhoods, Pyeongtaek-dong, Pyeongtaek, USA Military Welcome Packet
Neighborhood Intro: Pyeongtaek City
Pyeongtaek (평택) is made up of many different, unique little neighborhoods. Over the last 2 years Pyeongtaek neighborhoods have been reorganized, a new address system created, and – often – completely new names assigned. Combine this with the constantly changing English Speaking population that rotates through each year, and life becomes like a big game of Telephone as half information turns into mythical information. That’s where South of Seoul comes in. We are on the ground and updating the South of Seoul app each time we are alerted to a…
