logistics of life in seoul

so, more questions for you. now that you've been there for awhile, whats the saving of money like?

that is a great question. i honestly dont know why people think that you will save so much money. maybe if people didn't have to send like half of their paycheck home like me, then that if very possible. i haven't talied up how much i spent last month which is something i want to do. but luckily for me i have been taken out for the most part, when other people pay which is amazing! only yesterday was the first time i took someone else out, and it was for pizza and it was about $20 for both of us - it wasn't korean food. haha. i think you could save. to me like the prices here are like living in america. note, not living in an american CITY. just living in america. so i find it not too bad. but i want to go shopping and haven't done that yet. i mean even drinks are cheap unless you go for yangju which are western spirits. then you will pay you know $7 for a mixed drink. no different than the states. so i dont think things are more expensive. and there are lots of free events and places to walk. so really you could buy food off the street, walk around all day and only pay for your subway fare which i haven't really figured out but i think you can travel like across the city for at least an hour on $3. so from what i can tell it is cheap...especially if you go Korean style.

do you actually get paid as much as they initially said you would?

um, they take out income tax which is like 3.3% and before they give me my paycheck they take out gas, cable, electricity, etc. so like this paycheck i only have $100 taken out but i didn't pay any of my utilities because i didn't live in my apartment in feb. so the next paycheck will be a better idea....haha, oh dear. i dont want to think about all that.

is it easy to put in the bank and such?

once i had my alien registration card which my director did all the work for me, yes it is easy. i paid $10 for that card which you can pay $50 and not pay any fees to leave the country and return. but i hadn't been paid yet so i went with the $10. ill pay when i finally get around to travelling. once i had my card, my coteacher yanny took me to the bank and set up my account and i have direct deposit. i am able to use the ATM which is in English. hehe! but i think i could somewhat figure it out. we are getting ready to work on transferring money to my bank in the US. i have the paperwork i just haven't given it to them yet. so apparently i just set that up once and im good to do that every month. but i don't know the details yet.


whats the cost of living like, with fresh produce and such?

um, im a big cheaper with no standards to what i eat so usually i have some type of fruit each week because i can get like a bag of tangerines for $2 which are looking a little old, but actually they have been great! and strawberries are $3 to $8. bananas are $2-3, um korean pears are $1.50. so i think its good. and its always sold on the streets. i think that is awesome. i really need to have Yanny take me to the grocery store to teach me what to buy and what i can cook - bare necessity culinary skills here. i live off of pretty much oodles and noodles- but like the best oodles and noodles ever. then if sylvia makes me some food. i can make rice and i buy kimchi. really to me, rice and kimchi is a great meal. i dont need all the side dishes they have. hahaha. so i dont think its too bad. i usually buy like enough food for the week and then go shopping again. you know like $1.8 for 4 containers of yogurt, $1 for half a loaf of bread. etc. i had an email with all of this information and i dont think my computer saved it! man...

are clothes expensive?

haven't really figured that out yet. i mean they sell stuff on the streets all the time. sometimes you can find stuff for like $5 or $10 - usually shirts. but sometimes on the streets its still $50...im like, why would i buy it off the street? (american thinking) but shopping is huge here! and ewha has some great little stores and like an african shop and indian...supersweet! so its hard to say because im a giant cheapo and have yet to indulge. but they do sell secondhand i guess american clothes but they are expensive like $15 for a tshirt - i was like in america, secondhand means $2. but i like walking around and looking and there are plenty of places for that.

do they have malls?

yes but the one i went in was more like a flea market style - no flea market prices. just open spots and people sell their clothes. but there are totally like clothing stores and house stores. but yes, shopping is huge here. they have 24 shopping areas and most stores are open till like 10 or 12 at night during the week. kind of funny.


also, once you did the recording for the interview...how long did it take for them to respond, and for you to have a date of departure?

within days i think...my date of departure took longer bc i took longer to decide. but i think i really started the process beginning of jan (maybe end of december) and i was out of the country by the end of feb. but thats bc the semester started in march and i didnt have enough time for my visa stuff...so i was freakin out over that.