Leave the kitchen sink... and the bathroom sink, but take the family photos.
February: In Canada, Packing for one year in Korea.
“One year of my life – how do I possibly pack for the next year of my life!? I can barely pack for a weekend, let alone plan for the next 12 months of what I’m going to want to wear.”
“But I just got brand new luggage for Christmas … I have to bring all my new pieces! I just have to.”
It’s the eve of my departure date and I am frantically tying up loose ends – while having my mom and best friend sit strategically on my suitcases as I try to shove the last of my belongings into my 3 vacuum sealed pieces. All of which are approaching or exceeding the weight limitation for my airline, but I will pay anything to have all of my most prized possessions with me. I mean, I will be alone over there – I need these things, right!?
“I heard that western girls are laughed at when they walk into clothing stores – you’d better pack extra clothes because you won’t be able to shop!”
“You won’t be able to find shoes your size there - it’s impossible!”
And so I do it. I bring everything I own. All my memories, collectables and, of course, my 15 favorite pairs of shoes...jeans…sweaters…”do I bring my snowboard? (This was a serious question). It all comes with me. And I stress the entire way to the airport. “Will they let all this on the plane? I will bribe them. It has to come. I can’t live without this stuff for a whole year.”
It takes a bit of begging and pleading with the check-in attendant at the airport and a rather large fee payment later, but I manage to have all of my bags accepted and loaded. With everything I own waiting for me when I arrive at Incheon airport I start to relax. Then it dawns on me – I no longer have my parents and sisters to help me carry my luggage once I land … Thank God for airport trolleys!
Fast-forward February 2010: In Korea, Packing for 6 months of backpacking.
I sit in my apartment in Busan, simply amazed at how much stuff one collects over the course of a year. Not only stuff that I acquired and bought while abroad for the year, but how much stuff I trekked all the way from Canada to Korea and never even wore/looked at/used.
Now my next task: getting all of this stuff home again and packing the “essentials” into one large backpack that I will live out of for 6 months. So starts the purging. I “donated” almost every pair of shoes and piece of clothing I had brought from Canada to the clothing bins scattered around the city. Oh, and remember those new suitcases that I just had to bring? They ended up sitting empty on a boat home for 3 months as I shipped them home as a mail parcel to myself.
At the end of the year, it was decidedly so that I had packed entirely way too much on the way over. And, bought entirely way too much over the course of the year as well. Luckily shipping out of Korea is relatively cheap, so I was able to get all of my “must haves” sent home again at a reasonable price. But lesson learned – you don’t need it all.
Moral of the story: don’t pack it all.
As a western girl, the necessities after a year abroad would include: toothpaste; deodorant; the pill; plug adaptors; bronzer; moisturizer; and under garments. These were the only things that I could not seem to find or get used to in the Korean versions. But in saying this, we have to remember that we live in the day and age of online shopping and express shipping. Although there were frustrating times when I was refused access to dressing rooms, or told that a size 8 woman shoe was indeed a “man size”, with a little perseverance and research, there was almost always a place I could go to buy “normal people sizes” as it is often referred to in the foreigner community. And if I couldn’t physically walk into a store and try on what I needed, I could almost always find it online and have it shipped to my address in Busan at a fairly decent cost. And if they didn’t offer shipping to Korea, I would have whatever it was that I needed sent to my home address in Canada and have my parents or friends send it to me in the next care package. As well, Costco opened in Busan - that was like foreigner heaven since you could get most of your favorite western goodies in BULK! - EVEN COSTCO PIZZA!
Some things I did appreciate having from home were pictures of my family, friends, and pets to decorate my apartment with, as well as show to coworkers and students. Even if you brought electronic copies on a USB, you can very easily and cheaply have the pictures printed at EMart, or another photography place, which will save you room and weight in your luggage. As well, having pictures of your house and your neighborhood or pool (if you have one) will provide the shock and aw factor with your students and coworkers and will most likely elicit a “Teacher, you have a pool!? Teacher, you are rich!” response, since most of Korea is high-rise apartment buildings.
Useful Resources
While in Korea, take advantage of the foreigner community and resources available to find out where to buy certain foods and clothing and shoes.
Seoul always provided us western girls with a nice weekend shopping spree to Forever 21 whenever we were in need of some serious new clothes. Forever 21 in Korea also has an online shopping website (however, at the time of publication it was purely in Korean, so you will need to elicit a Korean speaking friend to help place the order).
Victoria Secret was also key in getting new under garments for every day use and, of course, swimwear for the Haeundae Beach days (and yes, they do deliver to Korea).
Koreabridge is also a great website for picking up second hand items from people who were leaving the country and looking to get rid of their possessions/clothes for cheap. As well, at the end of your time in Korea, it’s a great place to post your items to sell that you are looking to leave behind.
Lastly, there is almost always someone who knows someone who is going home and coming back, or who has a family member or friend coming to visit, so if you’re absolutely desperate, you can always place an order for them to bring it over to you if what you need is specific.
Cosmetics:
There is a lot of great selection of face creams and make up in Korea, with a lot of big names like MAC and Bobby Brown. But, with buying in Korea, everything, including the ingredients, are all written in Korean, Therefore there may be different contents, such as a whitening formula that you are not aware of and your skin is not used to. In the traditional sense, white skin is indicative of royalty, so almost all Korean skin products have whitening cream in them. Which is very different from Western society’s perception on beauty and cosmetics, as we tend to fill everything with some sort of bronzer or touch of sun sparkle. So, again, if you have a favorite moisturizer or foundation, bring it. If you are like the Jersey Crew shore and just need to GTL (Gym, Tan, Laundry), every day, come prepared with your own fake tanning cream supplies. Tanning beds are available in some areas, but, again, not widely used.
Birth Control:
Prior to leaving home, I was able to have my doctor prescribe me 6 months of the pill, and then provide me with sample packets as well, so I was covered off for the year. However, I know some of my girlfriends were able to do some research regarding their pill contents and they managed to find the Korean equivalent prior to seeing a doctor for the prescription in Korea. So if you do your research and plan ahead, you should be able to find what you need. The pill in Korea was always an interesting topic as it’s not exactly socially acceptable like it is in the Western world, so if you don’t feel comfortable talking to a Korean doctor about it, try to plan ahead and bring enough for the year. But do feel comfort in knowing that it is available in Korea, it’s just not as commonly used.
Erin Saccomano
Footprints Alumni
(Authors note: please note that this information is drawn from my own personal experience and interactions in Korea and may not be completely applicable to each individual’s situation as all people adapt differently and have varying needs.)