Keeping In Touch

You should bring your phone with you and buy a pay as-you-go SIM on arrival. To secure a contract, however, you need your ARC (Alien Resident Card - Your work permit) card which is issued once you are here. The main phone and internet providers are KT and SKT. KT are present during the induction week and both companies have shops in Moseulpo and around Seogwipo and Jeju City, so it is a relatively easy process to arrange a contract. Or select a pay as-you-go option with Woori Mobile.

South Korea has one of the fastest broadband services in the world. Staff who live in boarding accommodation have access to the School Wi-Fi network. Staff living in assigned accommodation adjacent to the School or offsite will need to sign up to a Wi-Fi contract. Usually this is the same company as the mobile phone provider. There is also free Wi-Fi in lots of places, including public transport and most bars and restaurants.

In general tariffs vary based upon connection speed, contract length and additional services. We will supply the latest details when we send out further information, but you can expect to budget around KRW25,000 per month for the basic 100mbps to around KRW55,000 for 1gbps. TV starts at KRW16,000 per month with the average package costing more.

• South Korea Code +82

• UK Code +44

Life in Jeju and in Korea is pretty easy. You will recognise many brands and many ways of doing things will be similar - but, it is good to know potential challenges in advance.

Many signs and shop names are in Korean and English. To help with further translation, download Google Translate, or Naver Papago which works with text, voice and images.

Maps

Google and Apple Maps work but are not the best for local detail. Kakao and Naver maps are both excellent and have all the features one expects.

Apps

KakaoTalk is favoured over WhatsApp locally, but most teachers still use WhatsApp groups.

KakaoTaxi is an easy way to get around any language barrier when it comes to booking and paying for taxis. Download it immediately so you can get around!

While Instagram is huge, the Koreans are not big on Twitter or Facebook.

Power

The power system is different in Korea from the UK and the US. You will save yourself a lot of trouble if you bring the following:

• Round two-pin adapters for your foreign plugs

• Multiple socket extension leads as they require only one adaptor for multiple sockets

You may find that there are not as many sockets as you are used to.

Tv

You will have an opportunity, during the induction week, to sign up to the cable TV service as part of your internet sign up. There are very few English speaking channels but they do have all the news channels - BBC, CNN, Sky News etc., plus National Geographic, AXN and a few others. The majority of staff stream

TV channels from their laptop to a TV using Apple TV, Chromecast or similar. Your ‘buddy’ is a good source of information here.

Don’t forget that you will need to bring or buy your own TV and while you can access Korean Netflix and Amazon Prime Overseas, it is worth investing in a VPN.

You might also want to bring your own laptop and iPad to supplement the supplied school laptop. If you have children, check with their class teacher/Lead Year Teacher or Head of House as to what their requirements are. Some electronics are cheaper in the US/UK/AUS and you may want to buy there.

Money and Banking

During the induction week you will sign up to a bank account with NH Bank (Nonghyup). This is compulsory as salaries are paid into this account. You will have two accounts, a US dollar account which your wages are paid into, and a Korean Won account for which you will have a debit card and can elect to have a credit card, too.

Each month you will need to transfer money from the US dollar account to the Korean Won account for daily use. This can be done at the bank by setting up a direct debit, or using the banks internet banking service. Once new staff have their bank accounts we arrange an information session on setting up and using the internet banking service. This can also be used to transfer money to overseas accounts (within working hours).

The nearest NH Bank branch is on the way to Moseulpo where the school is located. It is a 10 minute drive from the School (10.00-16.00 each weekdays). There is also a branch with English speakers.

While some are free to use, some ATMs charge a small fee for withdrawals, payments, transfers and overseas use. They all allow for operation in English.