Essentials

If you didn't bring any toiletries or other essential necessities then you can get them at Daiso and Grand Mart:

To get to Daiso get off at exit 3 at 신촌 station and keep walking straight while looking across the street to your left. You should see it there or go through exit 2 and walk straight and you'll see it on your left.

To get to Grand Mart get off at exit 6 at 신촌 station. Walk straight a little and look to your right. You should see an intersection with Grand Mart in front of you.

Here's a list of essentials you ABSOLUTELY need before you buy anything else:

• Toilet paper (my 하숙 does not provide me with any)
• Lots of hangers (To hang your laundry)
• Laundry detergent
• Fabric softener (I didn't need this at first, but found out your clothes get a little crunchy if you don't use it. You will tend to get rashes on your legs cause your clothes rub again your limbs)
• Broom and duster
• Shampoo
• Soap/Body wash
• Tooth brush
• Tooth paste
• Razor
• Shaving Cream

My Room

So here is my room before the move:

My room is bigger than most 하숙's. If you want a room at where I'm staying then here's a card:

Housing Search

It took me months of research on where and how I can get a place to stay. There just isn't enough information on the internet to know what I was getting myself into. Not knowing where to stay is very frustrating, but I hope this blog can help with that. The types of housing I considered was 하숙, 고시완, homestays, one-rooms, and officetels. My budget is very limited, so my options were a 고시완 and a 하숙. I contacted a few people on different blogs to see how they got their housing. There weren't a lot of replies back. There are a few websites you can go to and they advertise housing, but even with pictures of the rooms, you don't know the real size of them without being there. Next I looked at 서강's website and saw they had a listing of 하숙's. I didn't have any other listings for 하숙's, so I just based everything on that. A week before I got to Korea, a friend of mine was already there searching. Unfortunately all the ones that my friend saw were all booked. She opted to stay in a 고시원 instead.

On the first day I came to Korea, I started knocking on some 하숙's that I saw while wondering around the 서강 area. Most of them will have no answer. Some of the 하숙's are just boys and some are just girls. On the second day I had the manager of the hostel call some 하숙's for me that were on the 서강's website and set up times to meet with the 아줌마's. There weren't any luck in that cause everything was booked or no one answered. I had the manager write down a few sentences I could use to try my best at getting a 하숙. When knocking on doors got me no where that's when I got a phone. It's really CRUCIAL that you get a phone before a search. After getting my phone, the 아줌마's for the 하숙's started answering, but I really got no where again as they were all booked out as usual. To find some 하숙's, go out of exit 6 in 신촌 station and walk straight. Go around the corner and keep going straight. Look to your right and you'll see:

Go into the alleyway and you'll see:

Turn into that small alleyway and there's a set of 하숙's you can call:

This is how most of the conversation went with the 아줌마:

Me: 여보세요. 방 있어요? (Hello. Do you have rooms?)
아줌마: 없어요. (I do not.)
Me: Oh ok *hangs up phone*

That was all, haha. On my third day of 하숙 searching, I checked out a blogger's site. To my surprise the blogger wrote an entry on how to find 하숙's around the area. I was in luck cause I was going to give up and get a 고시완. Off I went out of exit 3 of 신촌 station. First you'll see a McDonald's:

Keep going straight until you see Etude and Paris Baguette:

Turn right into the alleyway and you'll see:

Go straight and turn to your left until you see:

At this intersection turn to your right and go up the stairs:

At the top of the stairs turn to your left and start calling:

If you they are all booked out, then go up the hill:

Turn to your left to see:

If you STILL can't find get one, then climb the last set of stairs:

At the top you'll see:

I called so many of them, but only one 하숙 had one room available for ₩400,000 which was right on target with my budget. I took it and damn it's clean. I live in one of these pictures and I can say the area is a little shady, BUT it's safe. I never had any problems walking around the area 2 in the morning at all cause I was hungry for street food, haha. Here's how the conversation went when called:

Me: 여보세요. 방 있어요? (Hello. Do you have rooms?)

아줌마: 네, ljfasjsjsfjfajjf;djfa (Yes, *then not understanding anything after that*)

Me: 방 좀 보고 싶어요? (Can I see the room?)

아줌마: 네, afj;ajfkj;fljafsfjasfij;powjj (Yes, *not understanding anything*)

*Checking out the room*

Me: 얼마예요? (How much is it?)

아줌마: ₩400,000
Me: 오늘 들어 갈게요? (Can I move in today?)

아줌마: 네, dafd'skf;kafk (Yes, *not understanding anything*)

See I didn't need a lot of Korean to even get a 하숙. After the negotiation, I moved in the next day. Gave the 아줌마 cash and I now have a place I call home. My 아줌마 is very nice and doesn't bother me much. The food is ok. There's not a lot of meat on the table. Mostly just side dishes, which I don't think I can live on it for a long time. The extra meals are a little overrated to me.

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You can find another set of 하숙's if you look to your left from Paris Baguette (previous directions from above). You should see an intersection:

Cross over to Dilly Dally and go towards STCO until you're at:

Turn into the alleyway on the left to see:

Walk straight and you should see:

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Another set of 하숙's is nearby too. Backtrack out of the alleyway and back to wear to came from A LITTLE until you see an intersection:

Cross over to the intersection and go straight until you see another intersection:

Turn to your right to see:

Go straight at the end of the street:

Turn left to see:

Go up the stairs to see:

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I found another set of 하숙's. When you see the entrance of 서강대학교, just keep walking straight. Stop once you see:

Look to your right to see the intersection:

Keep going straight until you're in front of:

Go into the alleyway and you'll be in 하숙 haven. Just turn into most of the corners to find:

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하숙's are really common. Good luck on getting one ^__^V

Cell phones

To be honest, don't like them a lot. I waited until I was 19 until I got my first one and loved it for 5 years. Without a cell phone in Korea is like cutting off your social life. The first thing you should do is get a cell phone in Korea. Get it BEFORE you dare look for housing. It's a lot harder to get housing without one. I went to T-World to get one. If you exit out of exit 6 at 신촌 station, just go straight. Go around the corner and keep going straight. The first T-World had HORRIBLE service. I waited in that store for 45 minutes and no one was willing to help me. My friend got her cell phone from there though, so I thought I had to go there cause I was a foreigner. I got frustrated and just walked out of that store. I kept walking straight until I saw another T-World store:

I just asked the owner for "prepaid phone". The owner understood and whipped out 2 prepaid phones for me chose from. I just chose this one:

I gave the owner my passport and he round up some paperwork for me to sign. Within 20 minutes I had a phone. It comes with a charger and an adapter:

All chargers in Korea is the same so you don't ever have to waste your money on another one. If you change your phone, all you have to do is change your adapter. At the first T-World you can get better looking ones than the one I have, haha. It'll cost you though. I only paid ₩20,000 for the phone. Another ₩15,000 for the USIM and ₩20,000 for the prepaid card. I don't have the best looking phone, but it does the job I want it to. My friend paid a lot more for hers and she only wanted something simple. If you want a recharge, just go to any T-World and do it there.