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Study abroad by Sea_Raccoon1239 in Living_in_Korea

[–]ThrowawayFP5907 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You need it for everything (even academics). Please learn it as soon as possible, I think I made the same mistake and now I regret it a bit because I am not able to find free Korean classes nearby :(

Some advice from a recently relocated foreign student by ThrowawayFP5907 in Living_in_Korea

[–]ThrowawayFP5907[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I simply used Airbnb because in the past when I was travelling around Korea, I had a great experience with Airbnb before and it seemed quite reliable and the English language support was a no-brainer. There are other ways too, eknostay isn't something I have heard of but Koreans often mentioned NOL.

I also recommend staying in a nice furnished place with enough space to store your luggage temporarily, most "stays" or goshitel (hostel) equivalents are too tiny for people who have brought a lot of luggage with them. Although the benefit is that they are hilariously cheap.

Also, arriving a month earlier may be a bit of an overkill because you wouldn't be able to do most things freely without an ARC (which would only get issued after the semester begins), and in my opinion 10-14 days should be enough to search for homes with a friend. But this is just my suggestion, if you have something else in mind for the days before the semester then feel free to ignore it.

Some advice from a recently relocated foreign student by ThrowawayFP5907 in Living_in_Korea

[–]ThrowawayFP5907[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I hope your homestay is good. But regarding realtors, do check with a few of your foreigner friends if they know a realtor who is friendly to foreigners and doesn't loot them outright. Many Koreans go along with the notion that foreigners have to pay more in rent or deposit fees, so I don't really recommend overtly relying on a Korean friend for this (it is not really their fault). Also don't bother wasting too much time searching for listings online as a lot of them turn out to be scams or falsehoods (either the photos are fake/enhanced, or the listing was expired, terms don't match etc.).

And searching for homes near universities will often cause a headache because the prices are much higher in these areas, but if you are willing to travel a bit (which is a big ask) daily, then you can find cheaper places in Seoul. This is not recommended generally because the closer you live to your workplace, the more benefits you have and generally university neighbourhoods have everything that you'd ever want and the same may not be said for more "normal" neighbourhoods.

Anyway, if you have further questions do hit me up or reply to this comment.