Life Hacks For Living In South Korea

For those looking to create their own K-drama life

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Ahh South Korea. Home to our favourite K-Pop stars and dramas. It is unsurprising that with the Korean wave, many are looking to move to South Korea to get a taste of the rich culture it boasts of (not to mention the myriad of beauty brand giants selling everything at a fraction of the price in Singapore). However, the South Korean dream may not be as glamorous as it looks on the outside. Super cold winters? Check. Language barrier? Check.

These are just a few minor points, but they can really get into the way of daily life when long-term living is in the picture. To help you out, we have listed some considerations and tips for those looking to make a move to South Korea.

Learn basic Korean

This is definitely one of the first things you should consider when you start planning your move to South Korea. Despite opening up to the world and efforts to become more globalized, many South Koreans continue to have this innate fear of speaking English.

This means that foreigners who are totally clueless about Hangul may feel totally excluded in conversations, or even face problems asking for help from locals. Learning the local language will definitely help since the locals are very likely to appreciate foreigners who make an effort to speak in the same tongue.

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If you are unable to master the language at home, you can continue learning it in South Korea through language exchanges. These are basically sessions at restaurants for foreigners to learn Korean from each other through a casual restaurant setting to make new friends and better themselves at Korean.

Beauty product sales

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To all beauty-holics out there, stop yourself from splurging on your beauty essentials the moment you land. Being Asia’s famed beauty capital, South Korean beauty giants often have random unplanned storewide sales that go up to half the usual price. Think an all-in-one Innisfree skincare set (consists of toner, moisturizer, and oil cream) that costs only SGD35 and hold in that temptation to sweep the racks.

If waiting out for the random sales would be too long, check out the monthly sales that most beauty brands hold. Every month, some stores like Olive Young will even ‘refresh’ their sale products, which may include what you have been wanting to get!

Know your delivery apps (must know Hangul)

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If you crave chi-maek (Korean fried chicken and beer) in the middle of the night, you can now get it delivered to your doorstep in 1 hour or less. South Korea offers efficient food delivery mobile apps that can connect you to diverse cuisines (Chinese-Korean, pizzas, stews, etc). These are perfect for lazy stay-in days especially in the winter. Staying in South Korea gets especially hard in winter especially for us Singaporeans who are used to our 30 degree Celsius summers.

One drawback – most commonly used delivery apps like Yogiyo (요기요) and Bae Dal Ae Min Juk (배달의민죽) are entirely in Hangul, so you may need to ask a local to help you order/have some basic knowledge of Hangul to be able to order from them.

Gear up for winter

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For a reference, winters in Korea (usually in December and January) can be extremely dry and harsh, with temperatures going as low as -10 degree Celsius. The key to surviving the wintery days is layering. Do layer up your make-up to adjust It to the dry weather in winter as well. One common way to do so is to spray a moisturizing facial mist (Innisfree’s Green Tea Facial Mist is a really popular choice!) on every layer of your makeup, and as and when you need a spritz of refreshing mist! This allows you to use your summer make-up products for winter without having to buy new ones every time the season changes.

Regarding winter wear, if you are clueless about dressing warmly, you can take a look at our “Essential Winter Fashion Guide” to get an idea of a suitable outer.

Prepare yourself for the culture shock

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As with every move to a new country, a culture shock is an unsurprising thing. However, preparing for it mentally before actually receiving the shock can help you adjust better to the situation, and adapt accordingly. Do note that in general, South Korea is a largely collectivistic culture, so you may feel a greater pressure to adopt their norms than living in other countries.

Hair rollers on the subway, time-outs after meals to retouch their make-up, going to a coin karaoke (noraebang, 노래방) and baseball cages (ya gu jang, 야구장)for entertainment are just some things that are unique to South Korea. It may be better to read up on the social activities rather than showing up lost and clueless.

Of course, there is always more to it than what was written here. To really experience the ups and downs of living in Korea, you would have to take the jump and try it out. While things may not always be as dreamy as you imagined, South Korea does have plenty of food, beauty, and amazing sights to offer.