pre-departure & important tips
Here is everything that I think is useful for a student studying abroad, both pre-departure and during your stay in Korea.
To be honest, I was a little skeptical about SNU's location at first. I thought there wouldn't be much around the area compared to areas like Yonsei and Ewha Woman's University. Although SNU isn't located near all of the touristy locations, there are a ton of restaurants and a supermarket just down the road from my goshiwon. In addition, the train station closest to my goshiwon is on the green line 2, which is super convenient for getting around. From my goshiwon, I could ride the bus for 2 stops or walk for 10-15 minutes to the SNU station. (Note: My goshiwon is located halfway between SNU campus and SNU station. Living at the SNU dorms would require you to take a bus to the station.) For those planning on studying abroad at SNU/Korea in general, finding a place next to a train station is ideal.
T-money Card To go to different places around Seoul, I typically ride the train or bus, depending on where I am going and what my app recommends me to do. In Korea, there is a T-money card, which is similar to the Holo card in Hawaii. The same T-money card can be used for riding on the train and bus. You can purchase a T-money card at almost all convenience stores for 4,000 won. You are also able to load your T-money card at the convenience store, but everything must be paid in CASH. I don't exactly understand the pricing for train/bus rides, but a one-way trip is anywhere from 1,000-1,500 won. Transportation Apps I've heard different things about different transportation apps in Korea. Please keep in mind that I don't know how to read or write Korean, so some of these apps haven't been super easy for me to use. Here is my experience using different transportation apps. Overall, Google Maps has been the easiest for me to use when using public transportation, and Kakao Maps has been best for walking to places.
Riding the Train Riding the train is pretty straightforward. Just follow what your map tells you, and have your T-money card ready when entering and exiting the station. Make sure you are headed in the right direction! The train stations are very English friendly, so it is easy to know which stop to get off at. Your map will also tell you which number exit to exit from. This makes it even easier to get to where you want. Riding the Bus Riding the bus is slightly different than in Hawaii. You must tap your T-money card when entering and exiting the bus. This is so that it knows how far you traveled - when traveling longer distances, they will charge a little bit more. In addition, you must press the stop button when you want to get off. If you get motion sickness, I would not recommend riding the bus. Honestly, the traffic and drivers in Korea are terrible - people are constantly cutting each other off, making sudden stops, running red lights, etc. Walking I am putting a section about walking in here because you will do a lot of walking in Korea. Be careful when crossing in crosswalks, as the drivers will have no patience for you. Drivers do not stop behind the crosswalk, but rather stop past the crosswalk. In addition, walking on the sidewalks doesn't necessarily guarantee you safety from cars. Even when walking on the sidewalk, cars will drive on the sidewalks to park. In addition, the delivery drivers on their mopeds will come very close to you. Also, even though there are sometimes arrows on which direction to walk, they will not follow those arrows.
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AuthorStudying abroad at Seoul National University! Archives
January 2022
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