Traveling on a holiday to a country for the very first time can be very exciting. You have a whole new adventure waiting for you, but the idea of planning and being in a foreign land can be a bit distressing. You have completely no idea what is awaiting you, the kind of people, the culture and the laws governing the country you are visiting.
The Korean Alphabet is easy as A-B-C
Hangul (which translates to “great script”) is the official alphabet of the Korean language. Unlike
Chinese, it is phonetic, meaning it is made up of letters that can be sounded out rather than characters that have to be memorized. At first sight, the script may come across as incomprehensible, but the alphabet itself is actually quite easy to learn. For some, it can be mastered in just a day. Knowing the alphabet will make traveling in
Korea much easier, even if you do not speak Korean, as you will be able to recognize food names on menus and destinations on street signs.
Public transport
Trains arrive on time and on a frequent basis. If you purchase the Korea T-money card, which is our ez-link card equivalent, each ride would mostly cost KRW1, 250 (~SGD1.50) unless you go slightly further, then it will add another KRW100-300. You have to tap in and out of the gantries when you board the train.
Public toilets and hygiene
There are quite a number of public toilets wherever we go, and to my pleasant surprise they are generally clean. You can also often find toilet paper in public toilets. On the other hand, it is extremely difficult to find dustbins around so you may have to carry your trash for quite a distance before you find one bin.
Korea, a land of wi-fi
Not only does Korean possess the fastest Internet connection in the world, at 28.6 Mbit/s to be exact, it is also the dreamy land for social network lovers, as there is wi-fi almost everywhere. There is wi-fi coverage relatively everywhere you go in
Korea, in shops or even on the metro system. Most of the time, it is free. However, there are places that charge for internet access via wi-fi.
Shoes off
If you ever have the chance to visit a Korean house, then you will probably be intrigued by the no-shoes-indoor policy. As a matter of fact, upon entering the threshold, you will have to take off your outside footwear and put on a pair of slippers. The same goes for hotels. Most of which will have a pair waiting for you in every room. Some families even have specific slippers for specific sections of the house.
How to tip in Korea
In fact, you do not have to tip in South Korea. With many unspoken but widely agreed upon rates of tipping, around 18-20% for an exceptionally good service, many visitors are taken aback by this practice. As opposed to North America, where tipping is expected, you do not have leave a tip in Korean nor do servers expect you to. With this knowledge, you will be able to have a much more affordable trip to Korea.
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Explore the city of art Changwon in South Korea
Travel and Korea metro apps
For first time travelers, travel apps are really useful. The train maps might look daunting because it is so complicated, and it surely doesn’t help when there are Korean words on it, making it look even scarier. You will be glad to know that train line map apps like Seoul Metro and Busan Metro Map will save your life here in Korea. For more travelling and food tips, they also have a Visit Korea app that is pretty useful too.
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