Korea is going to be your home so we would like to provide a guide on how to make it feel like your home. Here are some suggestions of what to bring (and what not to bring).
What to bring?
Clothing
• A warm winter jacket as it gets very cold here in winter
• A good pair of daily-wear shoes, especially if your feet are over size 9 for men
• At least one sweater for winter and a light zipper sweater to wear at school
• Summer clothes...shorts, t-shirts, sandals, etc.
• A couple of towels for showers
Personal Care
• Deodorant can be found here, but you'll pay a premium price for it.
• Your favorite cologne--it'll be expensive here
• Your favorite toothpaste. Korea has many good, health-oriented toothpaste brands
Electronics
• Electrical plug adapters can be difficult to find, depending upon the style used in your country. (Korean electrical plugs have two, round-prongs, so you might want to bring a couple adapters with you)
• Bring your laptop from home; or you can buy a laptop here which might even be less expensive
• Leave your cell phone at home; Korea uses a CDMA system which is not compatible with cell phones from most countries and if you use international roaming, it will cost you a fortune to use it. Used mobile phones can be purchased for less than $100 here.
Medication
• If you take regular prescription drugs, bring several months supply with you. Prescription drugs may be obtained only after visiting a doctor in Korea.
• If you have favorite, over-the-counter remedies you use, you might want to bring them, although Korean has just about every drug you will need.
What not to bring?
Batteries
Batteries are plentiful here. All shapes, sizes, voltages, etc.
Shampoos:
Good, moderately priced shampoo is available in Korea- Elastine/Kerasys/Mise'en scene brands are good as well as Shiseido (Aquair).Unless you absolutely need a certain brand, you could use that space to pack other things.
Electronics:
Stereos, hair dryers, etc. are easily available at reasonable prices. Korea is famous for its electronics. You can purchase many of the latest gadgets here, and a lot of them even have a 110/220 volt converter switch so you can use them in different countries. You should know that the voltage in Korea is 220V / 50 cycle.
DVDs:
DVD players and most legitimately-manufactured DVDs have a regional coding that prevents them from being played in locally purchased brands. If you bring DVDs from home you’ll either need to bring a DVD player from home, or buy a ‘region-free’ DVD player. The same with DVDs purchased/rented here – they won’t necessarily work on a player brought from another region.
Cell Phones (Mobiles):
Most cell phones purchased outside Korea won’t work here. Some may work if you replace the Sim card inside, but then you will pay expensive roaming fees. The telephone system in Korea is CDMA, but GSM is used in most other countries. Attractive, but used mobile phones are readily available in Korea at reasonable prices.
