You’re moving to Korea. You’re leaving everything behind to live and work aboard for a year (or more). Whether it’s to teach English at a Hagwon or with the EPIK program, there are a lot of things you need to do. Packing is probably one of the most important and stress inducing tasks to be done. To help you out, here is what I’ve gather that you should bring based on my experience. 

One Comfortable Walking Shoes & Nice Dress Shoes: That should be the minimum you take with you. If you can fit in more in your luggage, than add at least the ones you know you’ll wear. Especially those of you who have bigger feet than an 7.5 (women). I’m lucky as I have small (half) Asian feet and I can buy new shoes here that fit well. And I have. My shoe collection here is growing as big as the one I left at home.

Jeans, Underwear & Bras: If you are a larger size than a small or 8 US, than you are going to be limited to where you’ll find jeans & underwear that fits. Bra cup sizes larger than a B, you’re also going to find hard to located. You’ll probably find them online at places like G-Market and Coupang, but it’s safer to bring as many as you can. I do know that some of the higher end lingerie stores in Seoul do have bigger size. Even some smaller shops do as well but they’ll look more like ‘granny panties.’

Unlocked Cellphone: You are going to need a Korean phone number for things like setting up your bank account and getting your ARC card. I’ve heard some people wanting not to have to deal with getting a new phone number here, but for a lot of important and necessary things (banking, shopping online, etc.), you’ll need a new number and it’s cheaper to just bring your old unlocked phone to Korea than buy a new one. You’ll want to have a temporary SIM card to use while you wait to get a permanent number (which you can’t get until you have your ARC card).

Kindle or E-Reader & your iPad: If your an avid reader like be, bring your e-reader. It will be a life saver in so many ways. I only brought two physical books with me: one small one in my check luggage and one massive one as a carry-on. I read most of my books on my Kindle despite my love of the physical object. It’s been a lifesaver!

Deodorant: I think this is one thing that it on every expat’s list here. Deodorant is hard to find especially if you like me and want ones that have no aluminum in there. I recommend you buy a multi-pack from Costco. Which what I did. I brought a 3-pack of Schmidt’s Charcoal-Magnesium (solid kind) and carried-on another one I had just started using. So in total I had four with me. I just now started on the 3rd container. And it’s on my list of things I need to buy when I go home next month.

Tampons: If you really don’t like pads, bring tampons to last you until someone can mail you over more. I don’t mind pads. It’s not the greatest but it’s something I can live with. If you can’t, bring them. I haven’t found one store that has sold tampons, but all sold maxi pads. They have so many kinds, lengths and styles.

Makeup: Bring what you like and what you know you won’t find in Korea. I’m Filipino African-American, so I knew I wouldn’t find my skin color in any of the foundations here. I brought about 4 bottles of the cheap stuff and recently ordered some from Fenty. Other than foundation, I brought over the makeup palettes I really loved and other makeup bits I would use until I could either order some online or hit-up the major cosmetics stores here. Funny thing, I did find my favorite Maybelline concealer shade here being sold as a contouring product.

Backpack: For the first couple of days or weeks, you’re going to want to have a backpack or big bag that you can easily chuck things in as you wander around. Especially if you do EPIK on a major campus. Having a backpack where all the books, pens, and other essentials you’ll need in reaching distance. The place where my orientation was a reasonable size. Walking back to the dorm to get things you need took over 10 minutes, and those 10 minutes will cost you valuable eating time.

Nice purse: You’ll notice right off the back that most everyone and I mean everyone has really nice high end bags. While I won’t tell you to run out and grab that $1,000 Chanel purse, I do recommend you find and really nice looking bag to bring. I brought my Rebecca Minkoff Leather bag and use it often when I’m in a major city shopping or going to teacher’s events like nice dinners and gatherings.

Power converters & adapters: This is kind of iffy. I mean really, most of my electronics have a USB plug so, just buying that thyme of wall plug was cheap and easy. I think the only reason you should bring one is if your laptop (like mine) has a Western plug that you cannot change out. I would bring one small adapter until you can hit up the convenience store or Daiso. Both have USB wall plugs for cheap.

Full-sized bath towels: I know some complain about the towel sizes here. The ones I’ve seen in Lotte Mart and even at Daiso are about half the size of a Western towel.

Food You Know Korea Doesn’t Have and other reminders of home: Korea has a lot. Even a lot of Western-style foods. However there are some things that I’ve crave. Hot Cheetos, Regular popcorn, Artisan coffee, local PNW chocolate, etc. I kind of wish I brought some of these to tide me over. Definitely leaving room in my luggage to haul some over.

Over the counter medicine: Things like aspirin and cold medicine can be found with a trip to the pharmacy. However, you need to watch the store hours. And you won’t find them at your local grocery store like back in the states. You can find pain relievers and some other medicine at the convenience store, locked behind a glass cabinet mind you, but for all the other things you’ll have to go to the pharmacy. I brought enough to last me a while along with my asthma medicine. I haven’t used much of it, but it’s nice to know I have them ready.

What to leave at home:

Hair dryer, flat iron & curling iron: Seriously. Leave them. I brought a flat iron the first day I arrived here at E-Mart. Still using it today. Even my grocery store has hair dryers to sell. I would recommend you save the space and save yourself from lugging a power converter just for them.

Bed Sheets: I personally wouldn’t waste space in my luggage for bed sheets. Especially if you don’t know what size bed you are going to get, or even if you future apartment has a bed for you already. I would bring a travel size blanket for the plane and to cuddle with when it starts getting cooler in the day.

Hat, Socks, Fashion Jewelry: Only bring the ones that you know you can’t live without. Socks and hats you can easily find at one of the local clothing stalls.

Toothpaste: They’ve stepped up their game here and I’ve been able to find toothpaste that has the same taste as the back home. Unless you need ones with fluoride, you’ll be able to find one you like here.

Gifts for your school staff: Unless it’s only made in your city, don’t use up space to bring them over. Do what I and many other NET teachers did, go out early to the local bakery and bring the staff some treats. And you don’t even need to bring a lot. You can easily cut the treats into pieces so that everyone can have a bit. And they’ll be so happy you did! Also to note, you don’t want to give special gifts to the principal or your co-teacher. It’s kind of frowned upon here and seen as bribing.

Those are what you should really consider when packing for your move to South Korea. They are all the things you should bring along with clothes that fit you. Two notes about clothes though: do bring one nice outfit with you. Think office dinner party but not a New Year’s shindig. Have a good set of work clothes. I wore business attire my first month of teaching before I wore more relaxed-style clothing. You never know.

For anything you can get in Korea, here the best sites I’ve used to order stuff:

• Coupang  – South Korea’s version of Amazon, selling just about everything and anything you could imagine. And the shipping is the best. You can order something at 9 pm and it will be delivered the next morning by 10 am.
• G-Market  – Another online site that is like Amazon, however you’ll find more clothing for western sizes here and the shipping varies
• iHerb – An American retailer that ships to Korea. They sell all sorts of natural and health products and foods.
• Fenty Beauty – For my dark skin girls (and everyone in between), Fenty Beauty delivers here. You do need to plan in advance if you are going to order but it usually arrive about two week after you placed your order.

I hope this list helps a bit in the packing process! If you have any questions about living in South Korea as a ESL Teacher (especially with EPIK) feel free to contact me. I’m happy to answer your questions as best as I can.

You can message me on instagram under @justbecausejane or on twitter @theregoesjane.

Until next time…안녕히 가세요, jane*