Here is a list of perks of Korea:
Early release movies: Ok, so not
all movies, but most of the worldwide anticipated movies have come out earlier in Korea than in the states. Movies like The Avengers and Skyfall were released almost two weeks earlier and movie series such as Harry Potter and Twilight have all come out a day earlier! What's even better than early release? Cheap tickets!! Regular tickets will cost you around 8,000WON before 10PM, but after that they dip down to as low as 5,000WON. That's so much cheaper than the $12 I will have to pay back at home.
Medical procedures: If you have been following my blogs, I have gotten a few medical procedures done out here: septoplasty, laser hair/mole removal, and Lasik. Both of the surgeries would have cost me over a fortune in America (probably over few thousand dollars each). However, even without health insurance, it is affordable and more in Korea.
Food: Since tipping is not a custom in Korea, it already knocks off a lot on the price of food at a restaurant. But even without the tip, going out for dinner here is much cheaper than cooking for yourself. You can get "fast" Korean food (much healthier than the American burger and fries) for an average of 5,000WON per entree. Lets not forget how cheap alcohol is. I'm not talking about cocktails, I'm talking about the beer and the ever nasty soju. Selling at less than one US dollar per bottle, soju is all you need to get your night started (or ended).
Rent/Living: A year ago, I lived in a villa and paid around 420,000WON per month. That's not bad at all, considering it was fully furnished and water is included in the rent. This year, I live in a high rise two bedroom apartment with a roommate and we pay 600,000WON each a month. I have a full living room, kitchen, and bathroom (with a shower door) and if it wasn't for work, I would never have to leave my building. My building has three different types of gyms, few beauty salons, a pharmacy, a number of restaurants, and so much more. A place like mine back in the states would cost over a thousand dollars a month plus utilities...let's not even go there.
Shipping: I'm sure shipping something overnight is costly, but anything standard is charged by the size of the box and not the weight. The postal service workers will try to get you to ship your boxes first class, but the standard is just as good. I have sent a few gifts to my friends at home and it only took five bucks per box and a week to arrive at the destination. All my friends who ship their belongings back home when they're done with Korea end up paying around 25,000WON per box for it to arrive around a month later. Like I said, they don't charge you by the weight, but by the size of the box. Please don't mistake this as shipping from US to Korea. Only the other way around.
What's not cheap? Anything American (Hollister, Ralph Lauren, TGI Fridays). Living in Korea is cheap, but you do have to live a Korean lifestyle. But don't forget, the money that you make out here will let you enjoy your guilty pleasures here and there.
