EG Prepaid SIM Card Review

How’s everyone doing?

Good I hope. Anyways, if you've read my post How to Get Around Seoul you probably noticed that in one of the steps I recommended getting a prepaid SIM card or any type of data service while in Seoul. Odds are that if you bring your own phone to Seoul your home carrier won’t have service in Korea, so you definitely will need some kind of service from a local company. Yes, while there is a wide availability of free Wi-Fi in coffee shops and restaurants, you are unlikely to be able to receive Wi-Fi while walking in the city or in the metro. That’s likely when, if you’re like me and get lost, you’ll need data most.

Copyright © 2014 EGmobile. All Rights Reserved.

When in Seoul you’ll have a wide range of options for data, but today I’ll cover the EG prepaid SIM card offered by Evergreen Mobile. Primarily because that’s the one I went with and as such the one I know most about.

I’ll start by covering the good parts of both the card and the service. One of the good things about the card is that you can get it in a wide variety of locations, ranging from GS25 convenience store all over Seoul, Seoul Station, to their branch office in Myeongdong, and also have it delivered to your dorm or residence. Obtaining it is also straightforward; if you buy it a convenience store you pay for it there and activate it online. Me, personally, I bought it at their office in Myeongdong, where they installed it, activated it, and loaded it all on the spot.  Be advised, though, that you must have your passport with you, or a copy of it, in order to activate the card.

I also found the prices for both the card and data options to be reasonable. The price for a regular SIM card, not the nano required by Apple phones, I believe is about 5,000 won and 1 GB of data to be around 15,000 won. When I bought it the branch office, I paid 50,000 won but 45,000 of that was put on the card as credit for data. Furthermore, if you do buy the data allowance of 500 MB and up, you get free access to Olleh Wi-Fi hot spots, and trust me these things are everywhere. You’ll rarely have to use your actual data instead of the Olleh hot spots, so I believe 1 GB of data will be more than enough to last you an entire month (provided you don’t go crazy with data usage).

The final positive thing about this SIM card is that coverage is, for the most part, excellent. I was always able to get a least 3G coverage just about anywhere I went, with the exception of the underground metro lines. However, there are plenty of Olleh hot spots inside them, so this was a non-issue.

Now on the other side of the spectrum comes the bad aspects about Evergreen's prepaid SIM. The one thing I did not like about this card is that, almost as soon as you sign up to this service, you begin to receive texts from marketers about offers, sales, and what have you. Of course, these are all in Korean so unless you know the language, they’re just so much spam. This is further aggravated by the fact that you also receive calls from Korean telemarketers every so often to your Korean phone number. Now, this may be something unique to this SIM card, or something done by all prepaid SIM card providers in Korea, I’m just not sure. I just wanted to make sure you knew this before you got it.

Overall, the prepaid SIM offered by Evergreen is a good choice as far as availability, price, and coverage. That is if you don’t mind the promotional texts and the odd telemarketer. For me it was a minor irritation at worst. For you, well, that is for you to decide.

If you want to learn more, see EG SIM.

Getting Around

Hello everyone.

I know this is probably a bit early for me to do, but now that I have posted a number of articles I figured this might as well be a good time to do it. Now, I’ve never been one to toot my own horn, so to speak, but I figured promoting something I am particularly proud can’t hurt; I promise I won’t do this too often. Anyways, I want to take this opportunity to draw your attention to an article I recently posted on this blog- How to Get Around Seoul.

As a fresh, wide-eyed arrival in Seoul, I know for a fact that I was personally overwhelmed and had absolutely no idea how to get around the city when I first arrive there. I remember for the first two weeks of my stay, I rarely left my university area due to the fact that I had absolutely no idea how to use the various transportation options available to me and just using trying to decipher them made me go cross eyed. Of course, after much trial and error, and some frustrating experiences I became a natural at using the Seoul Metro, but I sure wish someone had explained it to me beforehand. As a result of that experience, I decided to create the article in order to save you that difficulty.

 How to Get Around Seoul gives an overview of the most important stuff you need to know about getting around. It gives a step by step process to follow, ranging from getting a T-Money card, choosing among the transportation options and their positives, to finally leaving for your destination. While I did not give exact step by step directions on areas like how exactly to take a taxi, I chose to present these steps in a manner that I believe will be easy to apply to all situations that require needing to know how to get somewhere. After all, I’m sure each and every one of you will have different destinations in mind and vastly different experiences while taking the metro or taxi. I only hope that what I wrote is as useful to you as I know it would have been to me.

Be sure to read How to Get Around Seoul, and as always, feel free to contact me regarding questions and comments.

What to Pack

How are you all doing today? Good I hope. Well, I’ve been reviewing what I have posted the last few days and I have come to realize that I may have jumped the gun a bit. So today I want to take the chance to backtrack a little bit and cover an area that I believe is of crucial importance to any student who plans to study in Seoul- what to pack for your stay there.

When I was trying to determine what to pack I came across a wonderful resource in the form of http://voiceoftruth.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/basic-packing-list-for-study-abroad/.
Generally, I agree with most of what the article says with some notable exceptions. One is in regard to the amount of clothing to bring. The article says to bring at most one carry on and one suitcase. Well in my opinion you can only really pack about one week’s worth of clothes in one suitcase. That is what I did and, let me tell you, I deeply regretted it once I was in Korea. Yes, you can make it with one week’s worth of clothing, but it will not be fun to have to do laundry once a week and let me tell you, all those one thousand won loads/dries really add up to some serious coin. The situation is further compounded by the fact that shopping for clothes in Korea, even in Seoul can be a nightmare, especially for guys. Western guys, especially if you’re like me and are larger than the average Korean, can find it hard to find clothes since the majority of stores are geared mainly for women and what clothes there are in larger sizes are obnoxiously expensive. So when in doubt, pack as much clothes as you can.

Also, books, I definitely would not recommend packing any books. Not only are they very heavy, I found that you’ll rarely stop to read them considering just how much there is to do in Seoul. Plus, in today’s modern age, why buy a physical book when you can buy a PDF just as easily.

When it comes to medications, if they’re prescriptions, DO pack enough to last you your stay. If they’re just over the counter odds are you can find them in a pharmacy and for the most part I found that the workers there are pretty helpful.

As for toiletries, my advice is that you probably shouldn’t pack them. They’re big, take up a lot of space, and they’re heavy. You can find things like soap and shampoo in any department store like eMart- although they will be a bit more expensive. If you must pack some, I would recommend packing only what will likely last you the entire semester, like shaving lotion, aftershave and deodorant, definitely deodorant.

For further packing help check these links out:

http://www.eatyourkimchi.com/what-you-should-pack-to-korea/

http://www.adventureteaching.com/life-abroad-info-center/south-korea/what-to-pack-for-korea/

http://wiscon-seoul.blogspot.com/2011/07/what-to-pack-when-moving-to-korea.html
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Asia/South_Korea/Packing_Lists-South_Korea-TG-C-1.html
http://blog.thearrivalstore.com/life-in-korea/packing-for-korea-8-things-to-take/ 
http://www.studentsabroad.com/handbook/packing.php?country=united%20stateshttp://thestudyabroadblog.com/study-abroad-packing-list-2-2/ 

See you all later.

Seoulistic

Annyoung!

Welcome back for another installment of Seoul Studying! (cue dramatic intro). Ahem. Anyway, excuse that piece of weirdness; I might have had too much caffeine today while studying for an exam. But now that that’s over, let’s talk about Seoulistic and the folks who run it. If you’ve read yesterday’s post then you already know that I shared one of their posts on which places to visit while in Seoul. Well, I was lurking on their site today and I realized I might not have done justice to the awesome guys and gals there. So I wanted to take this opportunity to talk them up a little bit more and analyze what it is that they do.

Seoulistic is not a blog geared specifically for studying in Korea, although they do provide some posts on the subject, but rather a site about just living and visiting Seoul in general. However, what they do cover is pretty darn useful for students like you and I. They cover topics ranging from food, dating, culture, what to do, what not to do, and so on. Posts within these subjects can range from the serious, like describing bad conversation topics in Korea, to the mainstream (especially with Kpop), to the bizarre with posts on poo in Korea. Don’t freak out though, they write the posts in a very informal manner that puts you at ease and, when combined with the fact that they aim the content at the average Joe who knows zilch about Korea, actually tells you important info while sometimes making you laugh. That’s a plus in my book.

Another great thing about Seoulistic is how involved the readers are with the blog itself. On virtually any topic you can be sure to find insightful comments from people who have either lived or visited Seoul before. Also, both the writers and readers are glad to answer questions that are posted in the comments, though there will be the occasional response or commentary done in poor taste, but that’s the Internet for you.

Seoulistic does a good job of making it easy to navigate to posts on certain areas by way of categories at the top of the page, however it can be hard to find posts on a specific thing within each broad category.

Other than that, Seoulistic has a wide presence on the web with their own YouTube channel, Twitter page, and the ability to subscribe to their blog. Be sure to check Seoulistic out. It’s a good resource and an entertaining way to kill some time.

Seoulistic's Hot Spots to Visit

If you’re still around on my blog (which is awesome of you by the way), you probably saw my last post 6 Places to Visit While Studying in Korea. Now, I realize that the details on the places to visit we’re pretty sparse and that there are a lot more places to visit in Seoul than just those six, but I tried to keep it short and sweet in order to avoid overwhelming you with a lot of information on lots of places all at once. There’s enough to be said on each single one of those locations for their own posts. Having said that, I wanted to follow up on that post with some more places to see and for that I want to turn your attention to the awesome Mr. Keith over at Seoulistic and his post 21 Hotspots: Where to Go in Seoul and How to Get There.

Not only does his article also cover some of the same areas like Hongdae and Itaewon that I covered in my earlier post, it also covers some of the areas I did not get a chance to visit during my time in Seoul like Garosugil, N Seoul Tower, and Ewha Woman’s University. Frankly, I hadn't even thought to mention Garosugil  and Ewha since I’m not much into fashion and the like so I didn't visit them for some reason or another. The information in the post is very accurate according to what I saw while there. What is also great is that he also provides you with some basic instructions on how to get there. So be sure to check it out, which you can do here.

To finish this off, I wanted to say that you should check out more posts on Seoulistic than just this one. Seoulistic is a great resource on food, culture, events, living and plenty of other good stuff on Seoul. I know for me it was a great resource on Korea before I got on the plane. Not to mention the people on the blog are pretty friendly. Check it out, but don’t forget about little old me.

6 Places to Visit While Studying in Korea

 Alright, so now you’re in Korea, your classes are done for the day (or week) and you’re wondering, “What is there to do in Seoul?” Well, glad you asked. Seoul, I found, has plenty of attractions to offer in pretty much any interest from historical attractions to shopping. Below I’ll cover 6 of the top places to visit while studying in Korea both for fun and to experience Korean culture.

1.      Hongdae- The Hongdae area consists of the neighborhoods and area surrounding both Hongdae station and Hongik University. Hongik is one of the major art schools in Seoul so the area is a major indie scene full of restaurants, clubs, bars, street food, and of course your artsy students. During the day, this is a good place to do some shopping from the numerous small stores throughout the area that sell clothes, scarves, crafts, and other miscellaneous stuff. At night, this is a good place to catch some street musicians and have fun at some of the clubs near the children’s park close to the university.

2.      Itaewon-  Itaewon district, outside Itaewon station, is basically the foreigner mecca of Seoul. This is the place to visit if you happen to be craving some western food or just be in the company of your fellow foreigners for the day. During the day, there are plenty of shops and stalls to shop for souvenirs and clothing in western sizes, though do expect a considerable markup in prices. Itaewon is also one of the main nightlife areas with it being home to numerous nightclubs such as Club Move and Club B One.

3.      Gyeongbok Palace- Fort those of you who happen to love visiting cultural areas this is one of the places to visit. Located outside Anguk station, Gyeongbok Palace is probably the most well-known royal palace within Seoul itself. On the grounds you can see parts of the palace itself, ponds full of water lilies, and also located within the grounds is the Museum of Folk History for a dose of Korean history.

4.      Bukchon Hanok Village- Also within walking distance of Anguk station, this area provides you the opportunity to see what old style traditional Korean homes were like. The contrast between this touristic area and the more modern Seoul is really a sight to see. The area itself also contains plenty of small shops where you are able to buy a variety of Korean crafts.

 

5.      Gangnam- The Gangnam area is basically the Hollywood posh area of Seoul. This is where all the rich socialites, actors and wealthy individuals live. Within Gangnam you can find many of the name brand luxury stores. This area of Seoul is also one of the three main nightlife/clubbing areas of the capital, alongside Itaewon and Hongdae, with it being home to clubs such as Ellui, Syndrome, and Octagon. Though if you do go to these, expect entrance fees of around thirty dollars and expensive drinks.

6.      Hwaseong Fortress- Though not technically within Seoul itself, it being about an hour south in Suwon, this fortress is easily reached through the Seoul Metro. For those of you interested in historical sites, this is definitely one of the places you should not miss. Hwaseong Fortress is composed of an outer wall structure a little over 5 km long that surrounds Suwon itself and contains numerous gates, gunports, and towers. Not only is it an incredible site to see, the trail running alongside the wall is a wonderful route for those, who like myself, like to hike/walk and take in the scenery.

Aside from these top 6 places to visit, I will be sure to cover additional areas and provide more in depth details on the above places in later posts.

Preparation for Your Arrival

Alright, so after putting down all that precious cash on your flight reservation you may be wondering, "What's next?" Well, that's a good question. Now, you need to start preparing for your arrival in Seoul.

One of the main things that I want to address is that all important of subjects- money. Now, you'll probably be advised to exchange money into Korean Won before you even get on the plane. In my opinion, that's not necessarily true. Before I left I was advised to exchange several hundred dollars to tide me over until I could get a wire transfer. Well, I did, which was a huge mistake and here's why. Local banks, especially in the U.S., will likely give an atrocious exchange rate on the won well below what the market exchange rate. In my case, it was almost a hundred won per dollar lower, which can really add up when exchanging that much money. So my recommendation is this: at most exchange 50 dollars at your local bank, enough to buy a drink and meal upon your arrival, and carry as much cash as you feel comfortable carrying on you to be able to exchange at the airport or get to an ATM. You'll have no problem doing either since at Incheon International Airport you can find exchange booths and ATMs directly on the arrivals floor and they will give you better rates to boot.

Another thing you need to figure out ahead of time is how you're going to get to your university. If your program is like mine your host university might send someone to pick you up. If they don't, or if you feel adventurous enough to take your chances, you will have to find your own transportation. Most flights into Seoul will generally go to Incheon International Airport, which is about an hour west of Seoul. From Incheon Airport you have several options. The first is to take a taxi from the airport, however that will likely cost you around 60,000 won and up depending on where in Seoul you need to go. The second is to take an airport limousine bus, which will cost you 10,000 won and you will need to check with your host university about which bus number to get on. A third option is to hop on the Airport Express on the first sub-level of the airport. This will cost you around 5,000 won and will take you an hour to get to Seoul Station, where you can then transfer to the Seoul Metro and get virtually anywhere in Seoul. If you're still not sure, I would suggest getting in touch with your Korean university and getting their opinion or you can click here for more info.

I will cover the Seoul Metro and how to get around Seoul in greater detail in a later post. For now, take care.

John.

Getting to Seoul

All right first things first.

Probably one of the first things any of you college students planning to study abroad in Seoul need to consider is finding how to get there. Now, considering the distances involved, your travel options are  pretty much restricted to flying to Incheon International Airport and it is here where you need to take several factors into consideration.

Probably one of the main things you, being a student, will consider is the price for the ticket to Korea.  I found tickets to Seoul tend to be cheaper if you book a round trip ticket well ahead of time with booking sites like Skyscanner. However, if like me, mid-way through your semester abroad you decide that you want to travel to any of the other countries a stone's throw away from Korea, like Japan and China, at the end of the semester, you may need to change the flight dates. In this situation you can run into problems like ticket change fees, paying really high fare differences and, if you booked from a site like Kayak or Expedia. it can be hard to get adequate customer service. In light of this, I would recommend two main courses of action.

The first is to only buy the ticket there and later buy the return ticket separately. However, be advised that the return flight alone may be significantly more expensive than a round-trip booking. In my case, a return flight, alone, was almost twice as much as what I had paid for a round-trip booking.

The second option and, what I chose to do, is to use sites like Skyscanner to find the available flights and, then using that information, book directly with the airline. Granted, the price will probably be a tad more expensive than the booking sites' prices, but it will give you, and the airline, more flexibility. Personally, I booked with Asiana Airlines who were glad to change the date of my return flight at no additional charge, although I cannot guarantee this will always happen.

Another factor that you want to consider is to decide which airline to book with. Me personally, I would recommend Asiana Airlines due to the fact that I found their in flight service to be good with the flight staff being very courteous, their offering of Korean meals like bibimbap to be awesome, and the fact that their seats offer quite a bit of leg room. The leg room bit is important because, on a 10 hour plus flight to Korea, having enough room to stretch your legs is just bliss. Also, their customer service is excellent, and as noted above, they may even change your flights at no extra cost.

In the interest of full disclosure I do want to point out that I am an infrequent traveler, so there are probably many more tips and tricks to saving money on travel bookings I may not be aware of. If you wish to find out more you may want to try Travel Hacks by clicking this link Click Here!. However, I do want to mention that I can make no assurances regarding results obtained with this product.

On a final note, if the price of the flight to Seoul is your main concern, and you know for a fact that your flight dates will not change, booking with a booking site will probably be your best bet.

About Seoul Studying!

Annyoung haseyo!

 For those who don't know any Korean at all, that was hello. So, hello everyone! My name is John Miguk- a pen name but you're free to try to guess my real one. Anyways,  I'm just your everyday university student studying business at a state school in the Midwest. I have the usual interests, you know, sports, girls, but I am also an obsessed video gamer, reader of science fiction, and learner of foreign cultures.  I started writing Seoul Studying! as a way to share useful information on Seoul and South Korea to college students like you and me who want to or are going to study abroad in Korea. Although, it also works for those planning to just visit or live in Korea. I lived in Seoul for four months while participating in a student exchange for the fall semester of my senior year. While living there, I fell in love with the culture, the people, the food, the girls, and the nightlife. I also acquired lots of useful knowledge regarding living and studying in Korea that I believe those of you planning to study in Korea want to know and I want to share. My intention is to make your stay in Korea more fun and exciting, while also reducing areas of confusion regarding transportation, food and other subjects. I also wish to increase your anticipation or desire to want to study abroad in Korea and hope you learn to love the country as much as I did and still do.

 Feel free to contact me with thoughts and questions.