RE: Going to Korea
I have been lucky enough to go to Korea twice – 4 years ago and 2 years ago. First of all, if you are worried about getting around and don’t know Korean, don’t worry too much. If you know English, Japanese, or Chinese you will do fine in most places. Whenever I sort of looked confused, complete strangers would come up to me and offer help — I think it’s because I was carrying a map. I found that Korean people were exceedingly friendly and helpful.
re: phone – If you can afford it, rent a cell phone at the airport – there is a discount if you go online and do it. I think it cost me about $2-$3US per day. All incoming calls and texts were free. So – I texted family in the US with my Korean phone number. I avoided high roaming charges from my American carrier. The phone was as small smart phone so I could even watch tv on the Metro on the rented phone. I found free wifi almost everywhere so I could use my American iphone wherever there was wifi. Hotel of course had wi fi - if you aren’t staying at a five star hotel but a mere 4 or 3 star or lower hotel, it is free. If you stay at the famous Lotte Hotel you have to pay a lot for wi-fi. – so stay at a cheaper hotel.
Transportation – I have only been to Seoul and to the famous Silla capital Gyeongju. To go to Gyeongju on the KTX I booked on the internet before I went to Korea, I bought a Korrail pass so I could ride the very high speed KTX to Gyeongju at a big discount. I picked up the train tickets at the Incheon Aiirport when I arrived. to get around Seoul, I constantly caught the subway which was very convenient and very very cheap. Next time I go I will get advernturous and try the bus system. I downloaded the subway app to my phone and it worked very well for telliing me routes and schedules.
Food in Seoul – Do go to the basement of the Lotte Department Store in Myeongdong – there is huge variety of food available from many many cuisines of the world. Of course I ate at street stalls in Dongdaemoon and bought from street food vendors at Yeoido Park. DON"T EAT CHINESE FOOD because It will be unlike any Chinese food you have eaten anywhere.
Sightseeing – at almost all the famous places to visit there will be brochures available in multiple languages. There will be free tour guides in English, Chinese and Japanese – check ahead of time to see if you need to book a reservation for the tour. – Usually the tour within the famous place is free – the admission might not be free but it is not expensive. At some famous places, a volunteer escorted us around so she could practice her English – she was a high school teacher on vacation and her English was excellent.
Information – the government runs a free 24/7 phone line with lots of languages available. – More reason to rent a phone – once I did get a little off track and so I just called the service and got instructions (practically meter by meter) to take me exactly to my destination.
Hi @cgwm808 ,
If you had rented a phone, why did you use your American iPhone where there was wifi? Couldn’t you just use the rented phone? The reason I’m asking is that there is a chance that I might be going to Korean in Sept for a few days and I’m not planning on bringing my phone and was just going to rent one there.
@dudie,
Are you still planning on going to Korea in the fall?
There were very few places with unlocked wifi.
If you bring an unlocked phone you can just use it.
If you rent from Olleh (be sure to ask for complimentary wifi) you will be fine. (Everything was Olleh. Olleh is KT the government owned telecom).
Our group of 7 foreigners (aka not-native Koreans) only the Koreans had phone access. So they used them to contact the group. We all brought our US, Canadian, and UK phones but not good at all. We all wished someone told us about the wifi situation earlier.
Did anyone try watching dramas on Viki while in Korea?
I’m curious to know if I’ll be able to watch some of the movies that are not available in my region (US) while I’m in Korea. Does their system read my region from my account (US) or from the server I’m accessing from (I’ll be in Korea next week).
Also, I’ve tried to find a list of locations in the popular dramas that I can visit while I travel around Korea, but I haven’t found one yet. Has anyone else seen a compiled list? I could build it myself, but to go back through all the dramas I’ve watched will be time consuming (and I’m running out of time) and I’d hate to reinvent the wheel if someone else has already done it
You can’t watch any. I told my friend about viki. Region restrictions to the extreme. Even if you are gold qc you can do it only from computer.
I suggest hunting soompi or literally using google translate and searching them on Naver.
Err… i know you are a drama junkie…but to me it seems like a better use of time to know the REAL Korea the country rather than drama sites but that’s just me!
I absolutely agree, but there will be times when I need to rest in my hotel after dinner and evening activities (I am not a night club person in _any _country)… Plus, I was wondering if I would have an opportunity to watch stuff I can’t see back home.
In reality no you won’t watch any Korean shows on TV because 1. No english subtitles 2… why sit at home when you can go outside. Too many fun things to do that even sleeping seems like a waste of time (how I felt but forced myself to sleep to adjust to time difference).
Maybe you can watch some Korean TV while resting. I believe they have some English channels (EBS?).
You could use a vpn… like Hola or something… It can make your location appear to be in the US…
So it’s way past April, how was the trip?
On both my trips to Korea I was able to access viki and to watch, subtitle and segment. I did this in the evening when my feet were tired and I was full! I could also watch a show on prime time TV and then get up early and help segment the same show on viki, then at the end of my day, come back to my hotel room and edit the subs.
Hi sophie2you!!
Wh:smiley:W! You are so fascinating sophie2you (⌒▽⌒) Wh:smiley:W! You’ve traveled 
to, and in S. Korea 
! Amazing!!! 
Thank you for sharing about your travels. One question, would you live there part year, under the ideal circumstances? You are like my fourth or fifth social media contact who I know who’ve traveled to the real land of so many watched K-Drama shows:smiley:!!! 
Awesome!!
~:blush:
Leerla73:hibiscus:
Hi!
I know this may be post your trip, but for others like myself who’ll read at a later date, I’ve attached pics of Apps (I hope it’s visible) that are very useful for quick use while in S. Korea.
~🌺Leerla73🌺
Hahaha you flatter me~
It’s like how German-Americans would maybe find themselves going back to Germany every so often.
I think because I am Korean I would want to stay for a longer period of time. Even part of the year is kindof short.
People say I have lived X years here so I know it well. But I’m not sure that a certain amt of time would guarantee enough familiarity. When I was younger I said I wanted to live in not America for at least 2 or 3 years to broaden my perspective.
So yes, yes I would.
P.S. Korea is not that magical. It was always so far from me but when I was there and coming back it’s like this far away neighborhood that is possible to visit. It is just another country with its quirks, ups, and downs.
I found the slipper culture so adorable!!!
But I did gain a greater appreciation of the automatic diversity of experiences I am afforded as an American.
Believe it or not a lot of Koreans are jealous of us non-Korean residents for having lived or for living in not Korea. Their ideas can be just as romanticized as any Kdrama fan’s conception of Korea. It really works both ways.
good luck. Belive in yourself thats only matters