I just arrived at Incheon last night, and I've learned so much already. I've decided to start a blog for English-speaking foreigners because I had a bit of trouble finding my way around. Thanks to a lovely friend of mine, I now know where many things are. I'd like to share what I've learned. I hope it helps others as well!
For my living situation, my aunt found a one room apartment for me because the landlord goes to her church. For those of you who don't know what a one room is, it is basically a studio apartment. Many students who don't live on campus live in these one rooms. It is relatively cheap (and small) compared to American apartments, depending on how nice you want it. Everything is in here: bed, bathroom, kitchen, closet, desk, and my room does have a washing machine. I know that not all one rooms do. It is very rare to find dryers in Korea. You air dry all your clothes on these wire racks. My bathroom is also a "shoilet," as my friend calls it. There's a toilet and sink, but the shower head is connected to the sink. This is quite typical in Korea. There's no tub or curtain. It also doesn't have a ventilator, so I keep the window open since it gets very damp. I also try to leave my toilet paper outside of the bathroom until the bathroom is not so damp. Right now it is summer, so the a/c is on. All a/c should have a remote so you can control the temperature. In the winter, there's a switch for the floor heater/온돌/ondol. This is how Korean homes are heated.
Another important note about Korean homes, restaurants, etc.: Do not wear shoes inside. In the entrance, there is always an area to leave your shoes. Restaurants, especially traditional ones, often require the removal shoes. In the bathroom, you should wear bathroom slippers. You may also wear slippers in the home, but I didn't bother to buy any.
I'm living in Anam, very close to the Anam Circle/아남오거리/Anam Oguri. Nearly everywhere in Seoul has a mart (convenience store) close by. You can buy many necessities here (shampoo, conditioner, soap, cleaning supplies, drinks, snacks, etc.). Many are open late as well. However, you can't buy everything at these marts. I went to the dollar store here to buy most of my home necessities. It is called Daiso/다이소. This place is awesome. I highly recommend buying most of your necessities here because they have pretty much everything and it is much cheaper than home plus or any other large grocery store. The grocery store is far from the KU area so you have to take the metro/bus to Lotte or Home Plus.
Now the metro. I had a hard time finding it, but luckily, my friend showed me where it is. So from the circle, there is a main street called 참사리길/chamsarigil. Apparently if you ask where that is to people around KU, they will laugh at you. Maybe that's only if you look Korean. If you are clearly a foreigner, it probably won't matter too much. So this main road is where everything is. This is where Daiso/다이소, restaurants, cafes, and many other stores are. My friend also recommended going to Polaris for eyewear, if you're interested. At the end of this road is the Anam metro station. You'll see stairs going down. If you need help with the metro, I would go to the tourist website here. My friend was really nice and gave me his T money card. You can charge this at most convenience stores. There's a 711 right in the Anam Circle/아남오거리/Anam Oguri where you can charge it. The card can be used for the metro, bus, and taxis. It's very convenient.
Edit: I forgot to include that the 참사리길/chamsarigil is the street between Hana Bank/하나은행/hanaeunheng and LG U+.
Other random notes:
- Koreans like to use bar soap instead of liquid hand soap, but I did find some at Daiso/다이소. Be careful not to buy hand sanitizer, which I accidentally did because it said "hand wash" on the bottle.
- There are only small towels in Korea. They don't use big American towels. I actually knew this beforehand, so I brought my towel with me.
- Try not to buy cosmetics at Daiso/다이소. Buy cosmetics at actual cosmetic stores. Cosmetics are very cheap here and there are countless stores to choose from. I know this doesn't apply to guys, but it's necessary for us girls. Also, when there are english instructions for the products, don't take everything literally. I saw a foam face cleansing foam that said it made the skin "dull," but that just means not oily. So don't be too nervous when products say things like that.
- Seoul has specific "regular" garbage and "food trash" bags. Since they don't have garbage disposals, you have to put "food trash" in these specific orange bags. They also don't recycle from what I've seen.
- Korea doesn't use fluoride in their toothpaste and their toothpaste tends to be sweet. If you need something strong and minty like I do, you should bring it from home.
- Gum also tends to be sweet and not very minty. Maybe I just haven't found the right kind, but try to bring that from home too.
- My friend also recommended that you carry around paper soap and toilet paper, which you can also find at Daiso/다이소. She said that some bathrooms don't have soap or toilet paper.
Well, if you've read this far, I commend you for your patience. That was a lot. I hope this helps people! I'll be sure to update as much as I can! :)
To end this post, here is a picture of 삼겹살/samgyupsal (Korean bbq, which is basically thick bacon without any salt) from dinner tonight with my friends:
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