Cover Up

In the last few days I've recieved a few messages from some possible future teachers, asking me for some helpful hints in regards to moving to Korea. I can think of a million but these are the two things that I noticed at once and have helped me the most.

1) Girls should cover up
There are many Russian prostitutes in Korea and revealing clothing often leads men to believe that you are, in fact, one of these women. Wearing conservative clothing is a good way to protect yourself from any unwanted sexual advances. Some palaces and temples also often have rules regarding female dress; it would be a shame to miss out on an interesting world heritage site because you decided to wear a tube top. Covering up is also a good way to just simply avoid stares. A friend of mine had adopted an "I don't care what Koreans think I'm going to dress how I want" attitude. While I admire her braveness, it can actually be uncomfortable sometimes because of the amount of glares her bare shoulders warrant.

2. Live like a Korean and You'll Save More Money
The living is easy in Korea. Clothes are cheap. Food is tasty and cheap. Traveling is super cheap.
That being said there are still some teachers who blow through their money and live pay cheque to pay cheque. The closer to a Korean lifestyle you're able to adopt the more money you will save. You can easily live on five to ten dollars a day if you take the subway or walk to work, eat lots of Korean food vs. Western food, and try to reign in the shopping. Koreans also usually partake in free activities like hiking on the weekends. Try not to just head into Seoul each weekend-Seoul will eat your money if you're not careful. Also just try to forget about coffee and wine. It's hard. For me forgetting about coffee is proving to be damn near impossible. But if you switch to tea and soju then you will save way more cash. Also forget about cheese entirely. There's no way to save money and have cheese 24/7.

I miss cheese.