If you've been reading the past chapters closely up to this point, you probably have the jist by now that Korea is not greatly lacking in western conveniences. Well, that's not to say that there aren't some availability gaps or anything. Foreign teachers in Korea sometimes grumble passively about the lack of decent Mexican restaurants or places to get a proper western breakfast or grumble audibly about finding clothes that fit big waists or shoes that fit large feet. Some things require some extensive hunt and peck and some things require you to bring stuff with you or have it shipped from home.
As a general rule, if you don't have picky tastes or require specific brand names, you'll find almost everything that you need.
Things that you might consider bringing
Attire
If you have a big waist, a big backend, big feet or long legs, you will need either patience for shopping or an extra suitcase. Actually, you might take some comfort in knowing that many clothing stores in the foreigner burgs like Itaewon and Songtan can meet your size needs, as they've been used to dealing with the bigger bodied US military and their families for years.
Shoes
Important: If you don't know it already, then find out what your feet size are in centimeters, not inches. Koreans will talk to you in terms of 230, 245, 290, etc...and mentioning anything about inches will usually elicit a confused look. But for the purposes of this article, we'll talk in inches. If you're a big feet kind of person, you're going to find out that Nike, Adidas, or other shoe stores in Korea usually only go as high as size 12. Anything bigger than that and you need to go to Itaewon and scout around.
Dress clothes
Korea is chock full of formal and semi-formal attire, so you need not worry about buying suits and the like. In fact, you can get fabulous deals on suits in markets like Dongdaemun or if you have expensive taste, then you can buy from designer outlets at Lotte Department Stores. But the reason why we mention this here is to underscore the need for a first impression. Korea is a country where its own teachers and professionals dress nicely. There are no such things as Casual Fridays here, as far as Koreans go (Note: that's not to suggest that the work attire at your school is expected to be the same...read more later.). It would go a long way for you to wear some of your nicer clothing when first meeting your boss. This may sound obvious to most, but the point needs to be further emphasized at how much looks and image are important in Korean culture.
School attire
Some schools require semi-formal wear, while some are OK with jeans and T-shirts. It depends on the school and that'll be an important question to ask in your emails or phone calls with them. The variation between attire often comes down to your teaching environment. If you're teaching at a kindergarten, then you're likely going to be allowed to wear comfortable, casual clothes. At many middle schools and universities, they expect a little more.
Winter wear
Korea doesn't get much snow outside of the provice of Gangwon-do. Maybe a couple of days or a week at most, every year. So winter boots are not necessary. Hiking boots can be bought over here. A winter jacket will be useful if you are flying over between November-March. But, again, you can buy things like this at Emarts, department stores, or street markets.
Medical, Dental, Hygiene and Hair Care
Medical needs
If you haven't read it already, see our Medical Care article to see if your question is answered there. If you still have specific medical concerns after reading our articles, then please ask in our forums and we can help give you some guidance.
Drug prescriptions
Despite how inherently different our two cultures are, Koreans are, physically speaking, just like you and have the same ailments as you might have. The treatments and drugs are the same, however, the brand name of the drug might not be the exact same as what you are used to. But given that the same drug can often be marketed under different brand names from different drug companies, you can also find these differences back in the West. The medical community and its vocabulary are based in English terms, therefore, you'll find Xanax is still called Xanax, Tylenol is still Tylenol, etc...If you have a particular drug prescription that needs filled, it would be wise to bring enough to last you a month or two until you get settled. Then, ask your employer, co-worker, or Korean friend to take you to a local clinic to get the prescription. After that, you'll find pharmacies everywhere. Note: Aspirin and Tylenol are only sold at pharmacies, so don't expect to be able to walk into a Buy The Way or Family Mart at 4am to find something to treat your headache. You'll either need to stock up or find a 24 hour pharmacy. Also, you can find Advil at the black markets, notably at the undergound import markets of Namdaemun Market, which tends to carry many over-the-counter imported drugs.
Deodorants
Deoderants are a legitimate tough one to find, outside of certain areas. All of the popular black market areas carry brand-name deodorant. Also, if you have a GI friend who has base access, they can either escort you on and/or buy deodorant for you at the PX on base for cheaper than what you will pay at the black markets. The Face Shop also carries deoderant, but its spray-on. If you are the type to give off BO, then it might be a good idea to pack a bunch of deodorant on your flight over, because you definitely will sweat in the summer months of Korea.
Dental Care
Toothbrushes, toothpaste, floss, mouthwash, WaterPiks. Everywhere. Koreans care about their dental hygiene. Some will say that it's less about the teeth than it is about avoiding kimchi breath after meals. Fluoride toothpaste may require some hunt/peck.
For Women
Many female teachers ask about what attire they should bring in and what would be appropriate for the classroom and the culture, when out and about. As mentioned, if you're teaching kindy, then jeans and a shirt is fine. As a general rule, sleeveless can be frowned upon at times, in a culture that would prefer to have its women cover up skin, but once you see the streets of Korea, you'll see that that's changing. The skin issue is something to be mindful of, nevertheless, at least from a cultural awareness perspective.
Cosmetics
Korea has cosmetics stores everywhere. If you can't find your right brand name, then go to places like Lotte Department Store, but it's usually quite expensive there.
Large Clothing
Anything larger than a size 12 might be tough to find. Many girls are quite happy with buying online and having Eddie Bauer or JCPenny ship stuff to Korea. Or you can try Big Boss in Itaewon, which has 12/14 sized clothing and is located next to Outback. Also, Big2Big is a BBW store located near Exit 12 of Dongdaemun Stadium Station.
Bras
If you have a big chest, then consider bringing your own bras or go scouting in Itaewon when you are here.
For your housing
Firstly, try to get a list of what comes with the apartment, so you can plan in advance over anything that you might need. If you read Chapter 1, you'll have learned the importance of talking to the current teachers there and/or the one you are replacing. Those are the people that you'd be best to ask about what is in the apartment and if there is any stuff of theirs that they might decide to leave behind. Many teachers leaving Korea have accumulated items or furniture that they will no longer need and are looking to sell or give away. When talking to the departing teacher over the phone (as you learned you should in Chapter 1), ask if there is any stuff that they will be leaving behind or anything noteworthy like a computer or cellphone that they might consider selling to you. If so, try to arrange a way for the director to pay off the departing teacher for the items and you reimburse the director once in Korea.
Bedsheets and pillows
You need not worry too much about this. Regardless, make sure to remind your employer to wash the sheets before your arrival. If, for whatever reason, these are not provided or if you want to replace them, go to your nearest Emart, Home Plus, etc...
Large towels
Korea is the land of small towels, compared to western preferences of long towels. If big towels are your thing, then you can try Costco, if Emart doesn't have what you need. But it might be best to consider bring one or two along with you.
Electronic doodads
Korea is the most wired country in the world and you can get great deals on computers, MP3s, etc...at areas like Yongsan Electronics Market and Techno Mart. If you plan on bringing a laptop or something that requires plugging in, be advised that Korea uses 220V and the plugs are two pronged. You can buy plug converters for 300won at computer stores or one of the electronics markets mentioned earlier. Make sure to first check the label on your product to see if the accepted voltages are 110 ~ 240v. If it can't handle 220V, then you'll need to buy a transformer at places like Emart or the electronics markets.
For your Employer
Mega brownies points here. If you want to score points with the boss, his/her spouse, his/her kids, and as well as your students, do yourself a favor and think about bringing a few things from home. A bottle of wine from a region in your country or something else that's kind of indigenous to where you are coming from. For kids, try bringing some candy or chocolates. They have western candies here, such as Mr.Big, Twix, Snickers, sour candies, etc, so put extra thought into this one. It would also go a long way for you to bring a few small things for the people that tend to get overlooked the most at schools, which are the Korean teachers whom you'll be working with. Whether you notice it or not, they are usually playing a pivotal support role for you and the school, not only teaching, but doing assessments, testing, marking homework, and especially also having to do the dirty work such as dealing with the incessant telephone questions or concerns from Korean mothers, etc...
