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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Neighborhood Intro: Sosabeol
Welcome to Sosabeol the click on the locations to learn more about restaurants, cafes, and things to do in this relaxed and fun neighborhood. Pyeongtaek (평택) is made up of many different, unique little neighborhoods. Over the last 2 years these 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…
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SOS App Quick Tips: Transportation
The South of Seoul app is more than pretty pictures of food and fun things to do put together by some very dedicated volunteers. It is also embedded tons of information “easter eggs” that will make your life in Korea much easier. For example, our Transportation Hubs directories can be a huge help when you need them most. Need to know what is the closest bus terminal to you? We can help with that. Looking for a bus schedule? We can help with that. Wondering which station the SRT leaves from? We…
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Living: Hard Water Solutions
Problem: Hard water causing hair loss and dry skin Solution: Filtered shower head Not sure about the rest of you, but we have struggled with the hard water in a few different places we have lived in the US and then again here in Korea. You see, although there are actually many potential inner health benefits to drinking hard water, it often tastes terrible and always causes major hair loss and dry skin issues. So if your hair has been falling out or breaking off since you arrived in Korea,…
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5 MORE Indoor Activities
Air quality can be less than stellar at times and many of us find ourselves feeling a bit stir-crazy at home. You want to get out and explore, but you don’t want to breathe the air outside or it’s too hot or too cold. We have some excellent solutions for burning off some extra energy. So grab your phone, make sure you have the South of Seoul app and Naver maps or Kakao Maps downloaded and get ready to go on some adventures. 1. Pink Tiger Game Room The hottest…
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Nav Apps: Options, Strengths, and Failures
Tell me if this is you… You just arrived in Korea, you are so stoked to start your adventure. You are all sassy like, “Hey, let’s open Google and see what’s up”! You pop open your handy smart phone and start searching for things you love! You search and search and search… but nothing is coming up. You find almost no info that really helps and a little seed of panic starts to settle in. You wonder if there is actually anything out there to do or eat at all…
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Welcome New Pyeongtaek Teachers!
As we roll into March it’s time to begin a new school year and welcome lots of new teachers to the area. Pyeongtaek is big and spread out with lots of rural placements so teachers can often feel unconnected and lonely. Don’t worry, you don’t have to be. There is quite a bit going on and plenty of people to meet. We are also always trying to gather information and make life easier for you. The first step to getting connected it joining us at one of the (usually) monthly…
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10 Issues New Teachers Face (and solutions)
When you arrive in Korea there will be a thousand little surprises. Doesn’t matter how much you have prepared or how many blogs like this you have read. It’s ok and there is no judgement. You’ve spent many months building up this experience in your mind and when you arrive it’s going to get very real, very fast. Reality of culture shock is going to conflict with the comfort of the dream and suddenly teaching English abroad is going to be come a real job. A job you are…
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5 Ways to Learn Korean In Pyeongtaek
With 2018 knocking on the door it’s time to start on your resolutions early. Since we all live in Korea, I think it’s fair to say studying Korean is on most of our lists. South of Seoul is here to help you connect with the resources you need to improve your language skills. Our volunteers have tried all of these study options and found them to be both reliable and helpful. Each solution has a different strength and all of them are affordable and accessible. 1. Pyeongtaek International Exchange Foundation…
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Pyeongtaek Best of 2017: Years Top Rated Places
The South of Seoul app turns one this month and we are celebrating by sharing what you voted as the best of the best this year. Choices were made based on four factors: 1. Star Rating 2. Number of Reviews Posted 3. Content of Written Reviews Posted 4. Facebook Polls When Needed It’s been an amazing year and we are quite impressed with the number of reviews people have left this year. It’s hundreds. This information is extremely valuable to both the businesses you visit and the new people moving…
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E2 Teacher Visa Guide for Pyeongtaek, South Korea
Even though there are lots of educators teaching English in Pyeongtaek, it can feel a bit lonely when you first arrive since you will not be directly connected with other educators. Just know that you aren’t alone and you can reach out for help in groups like Pyeongtaek Living on Facebook. However, you shouldn’t have to ask a Facebook Group for information regarding your visa since such info can easily occur in a blog, so here we go. South of Seoul Educator Virtual Welcome Packet In addition to providing information…
