VISITING KOREA

[Guest brianscene]

whats popular in korea right now that can only be bought in the states? any ideas for gifts?

here was some stuff i was thinking of getting....

- abercrombie clothes.

- college logo tshirts/sweatshirts/hats (yale, princeton, etc)

- american brand shampoos (dove, neutrogena)

- other american cookies/snacks

any ideas would be appreciated... thanks!

snacks are nice!

At the Hyundai Department store in shinchon it was like $5 for a small pack of oreos

Noone wears Abercrombie / American clothes or college logo clothes.

Right now is the winter/spring transition , Winter fashion was tight fitting jackets and long trench coat kinda things with the strap around the waste

Spring is thinner, long sleeved clothes , stripes are always in, i see alot of guys wearing 마이's or whatever they are called. Regardless korean's don't seem to wear clothes with "logos" or something like an abercrombie shirt where the brand's name is on the clothing. more just plain clothes, like a dark shirt and a 마이 etc

pants = skinnies 스키니 , tight black pants on guys.

guys also carry around handbag borderline purse things heh i even bought one a few days ago @ 명동.

clothes are moderately priced, you can get pretty good deals at some of the malls, maybe 60,000 for a jacket - 30,000 for a 마이 - 20,000 for jeans - 30,000 for skinniess

girls - skirts (in the winter o_O) with those long boots that come up to like between your knees and ankles, and pretty much any jacket that looks good, since it's winter everyones wearing pretty much the same thing.

[Guest mleung87]

1) I read through the entire thread and there seem to be mixed comments about speaking fluent English which is a major concern for me as my entire group consists of Chinese-Americans!

I can read Hangul and know very, very, very little Korean but will having a phrase book be enough to suffice or will I totally get ragged on the whole time?

I'm a Chinese-Canadian who spent an entire month in Korea in the same situation as you! Basically, I could read Hangul but had NO IDEA what it meant, and knew a few phrases that I learned from watching korean dramas. However, I didn't have a problem getting around, and in fact, I learned a whole lot of korean

Knowing Hangul will help you get around town since you can recognize places and such. Remember to always carry some sort of map on you, that would be the most ideal!

At first, I had to use a mini conversational book to help me get around and ask questions, but eventually I got the hang of things and didn't fumble around! If you don't look totally Korean, they will forgive you for not knowing the language. I didn't have much problems!

For those who are interested in going to Korea and studying Korean at the same time, I will recommend the program that I went on. It really helped me A LOT. The staff assist you in all matters you think is possible. It's a wonderful program and if you choose to find accomodation through them, they will put you in the younger hot spots such as Sinchon or Hongdae!

www.wle-korea.com

Definitely give this program a try! It's VERY VERY VERY WORTH IT!

[wowastyle]

okay so Im going to Korea sometime between mid-march to end of march... arriving and leaving in May or April... what's the weather like?

2nd question.

What American credit cards are accepted at Korea too? Would it be possible to use my debit/credit card in Korea too? it's a washington mutual card if that helps any

[Guest cherrybaby]

Hi, i read a couple of good tips about Korea and I really appreciate it...

But I'm going to South Korea for at least two weeks around July and I'm sort of scared since

I can't read Hangul and only know a couple of Korean phrases which apparently I learn from Kdrama and fanfiction, but i really wanna go to korea...

So i was wondering if I'll have a hard time in korea since i'm not really familiar with the language and the location? Also i'm filipino so i will definitely not be mistaken as a korean girl...so yeah please any feedback can help for me in preparing for this trip...

[Guest p.fish03]

okay so Im going to Korea sometime between mid-march to end of march... arriving and leaving in May or April... what's the weather like?

2nd question.

What American credit cards are accepted at Korea too? Would it be possible to use my debit/credit card in Korea too? it's a washington mutual card if that helps any

i think VISA is accepted... but ALOT of places are cash only. if you really don't like carrying a lot of cash around.. there are some global ATMs you can take cash out from with your debit .. i think there are some fees for doing that though. weather right now... its almost spring. sometimes at night it can get chilly.. but i think in a week or two just long sleeved thin jackets with pants will be okay.

Hi, i read a couple of good tips about Korea and I really appreciate it...

But I'm going to South Korea for at least two weeks around July and I'm sort of scared since

I can't read Hangul and only know a couple of Korean phrases which apparently I learn from Kdrama and fanfiction, but i really wanna go to korea...

So i was wondering if I'll have a hard time in korea since i'm not really familiar with the language and the location? Also i'm filipino so i will definitely not be mistaken as a korean girl...so yeah please any feedback can help for me in preparing for this trip...

it would help to learn hangul. but not knowing it is okay too. its pretty easy to learn b/c its phoenetic (each letter stands for a sound, and you just kinda mush the sounds together to make a word...) it might be a little hard.. not sure how good everyones english is. i would suggest carrying around a korean-american dictionary and pointing to words to explain yourself.. or pointing to sentances in a phrasebook. if you're good at taking subways.. you should be fine b/c they have the stops in korean and english letters. beware of being ripped off at any place you bargain or taxis since you look foreign...

[Guest cherrybaby]

it would help to learn hangul. but not knowing it is okay too. its pretty easy to learn b/c its phoenetic (each letter stands for a sound, and you just kinda mush the sounds together to make a word...) it might be a little hard.. not sure how good everyones english is. i would suggest carrying around a korean-american dictionary and pointing to words to explain yourself.. or pointing to sentances in a phrasebook. if you're good at taking subways.. you should be fine b/c they have the stops in korean and english letters. beware of being ripped off at any place you bargain or taxis since you look foreign...

I live in Hawaii, so there is no subway and i've never seen one before in my life, would that be a problem?...

Oh thanks for the Hangul heads up, i'm gonna learn that before my trip...I really appreciate your advices...thanks again...

[Guest Freshh]

Noone wears Abercrombie / American clothes or college logo clothes.

really? the korean exchanges that came loved a&f and ae

they said it was the same stuff but it's uber expensive over there so they were buying it here

[Guest brianscene]

really? the korean exchanges that came loved a&f and ae

they said it was the same stuff but it's uber expensive over there so they were buying it here

Maybe that could be right too.

Didn't see anyone wearing Abercrombie / Ae except for 1 gyopo o_O

Levis and Polo is pretty expensive

Levis jeans are around 120,000 to 180,000 , and a T shirt is around 70,000.

Polo long sleeve shirts are around 100,000

[Guest Freshh]

so here's what we concluded:

don't buy any brandnames that are also available here in the US

since they're about 3times more expensive

[Guest p.fish03]

ok i was thinking of going to those pibukkwahs in korea... (those skin care places) where they do facials & other treatments for your skin. has anybody done this?

is it worth it or a waste of money? something you have to do continually or makes a lasting impression on skin?

any tips/recommendations are appreciated. THANKS. =)

[Guest p.fish03]

I live in Hawaii, so there is no subway and i've never seen one before in my life, would that be a problem?...

Oh thanks for the Hangul heads up, i'm gonna learn that before my trip...I really appreciate your advices...thanks again...

umm.. subway might be a little confusing at first. but think it should be okay. the only hard thing may be changing subway lines (for example riding line 2 then having to switch to line 5) there are also arrows showing you where to go in order to switch lines. to figure out what direction you need to go it lasts the last subway stop on that line... (like if line 2's last stop on the left is A___ and line 2's last stop on the right is B____ if you need to go left just hop on the one that lists A_____) umm yeah hopefully that didn't confuse you. so its pretty easy to figure out which way to go. the subways are definetly easier to use than say.. new york subways. those things are confusing... -_____- you can pick up a free subway map at the subway station next to the ticket stand.

heres one map from google:

http://www.tokyoseoul.net/Media/koreaninfo...way_en_2006.gif

[Guest brianscene]

Subway is common sense.

Look on a map at your Starting Point and Destination

and just figure out where you need to transfer

ex. 불광역 to 강남역

Take Line 3 (headed for 수서 not 구파발/대화)

Transfer to Line 2 @ (교대)

Get off at 강남역

but imo

taking the Bus is so much faster and easier then the subway and I know alot of koreans prefer the bus over the subway, since it's faster and you are pretty much guarenteed a seat.

aka

불광 to 강남 on the subway takes about an hour

on the bus it takes 35 minutes

and bus's go everywhere

[Guest fanturntable]

hotspot?

shopping mall: GALLERIA

the one besides sm entertainment headquarters

its the BOMMMMB

no dont go to the little one .

go to the big galleria.

but if you're not dressed a ccertain way you'd prolly feel

a bit UNCOMFORTABLE?

[Guest philip ORR]

[Guest ARI]

hi guys! i just want to ask for the people who can't speak korean, did you go on tours? or went yourself (brave people!)?

[Guest Enki]

I've been in Seoul for a month now and have a few questions about some things...

1# I want to find A REAL KOREAN MUSIC STORE. It's in caps because all the music stores I've been to (Coex, Kyobo, Shinchon...) is like 90% American music and a tiny tiny little corner with Japanese and Korean artists. And Korean music is all listed under "K-pop", so everything from Super Junior to Jaurim to Crying Nut is under the same genre, which makes it hard to find the genre of stuff I like to listen to ORZ So does anyone know a good, KOREAN music store that hopefully classifies the singers by genre? ^^;;

2# Likewise for comic books 만화. In the big bookstores (Kyobo, Bani and Luni) it's pretty hit or miss, with some comics missing earlier volumes, and of course it's mostly Japanese manga. I know back in Canada big commercial bookstores weren't the best places to get comics, you had to go to speciality comic book shops to get the good stuff. Are there any big 만화 stores like that in Seoul? I know there's a lot of rental shops/rooms but what about actually buying?

3# What about arcades? The one in Coex is pretty unimpressive with really old games. Are there any good arcades in between all the PC 방s?

Looking for the Seoul or Uijongbu area...

People mentioned "dress Korean". What is dressing Korean exactly? I'm a guy btw

Thanks guys!!!

[Guest KamsaHamnida]

This thing that everybody's talking about: http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=77822

Can I find it in Korea? I know they have it available in Japan.

Also, are there any other really, really good face clearing product you'd recommend?

[Guest lieulylom]

Where do you go for concerts?

[Guest yonsu]

How do you get into the audience of music shows?

[Guest brianscene]

I've been in Seoul for a month now and have a few questions about some things...

1# I want to find A REAL KOREAN MUSIC STORE. It's in caps because all the music stores I've been to (Coex, Kyobo, Shinchon...) is like 90% American music and a tiny tiny little corner with Japanese and Korean artists. And Korean music is all listed under "K-pop", so everything from Super Junior to Jaurim to Crying Nut is under the same genre, which makes it hard to find the genre of stuff I like to listen to ORZ So does anyone know a good, KOREAN music store that hopefully classifies the singers by genre? ^^;;

2# Likewise for comic books 만화. In the big bookstores (Kyobo, Bani and Luni) it's pretty hit or miss, with some comics missing earlier volumes, and of course it's mostly Japanese manga. I know back in Canada big commercial bookstores weren't the best places to get comics, you had to go to speciality comic book shops to get the good stuff. Are there any big 만화 stores like that in Seoul? I know there's a lot of rental shops/rooms but what about actually buying?

3# What about arcades? The one in Coex is pretty unimpressive with really old games. Are there any good arcades in between all the PC 방s?

Looking for the Seoul or Uijongbu area...

People mentioned "dress Korean". What is dressing Korean exactly? I'm a guy btw

Thanks guys!!!

Go to 실림동 , it's on line 2 near seoul univ, Anyways go out exit #2 and right next to the lotteria is a music shop.