1) Getting to SNU
2)Printing your notes
First you will need to purchase the printing card. Just go to the printing shop at the student centre then ask them for the card. It cost 5000won . To top up the card, just tell them you want to charge the card.To purchase the card: ‘카드 하나 주세요’ ,To charge the card : ‘카드 차즈 주세요’ , and tell them how much you wan to charge, Disclaimer: my korean isnt good, so please correct me if my korean sentence is wrong. I often use Kongish when in SNU.
Q1: Is there any machine for me to charge the card?
A1: No there isnt.
Q2: Where are the print shops?
A2: click here
Q3: Is there a campus map in english?
3) Want to join ccas?
4)Money matters
Most seniors will tell you that its better to bring cash to Korea as the rates are better. The best rates is at myeongdong:
Directions for myeongdong money changer:
- Near spao and below Holly’s coffee. Its on the lane perpendicular to SPAO. You cant miss SPAO. SUJU members endorses them.
But if you dont, fret not. You can always go to the global atm machines to withdraw . But do note, that there are not many global atm. Mine is under POSB. Everytime i withdraw, ill be charged $5 transaction cost. So i usually withdraw one lump sum at one go. The max amount of withdrawal i could do in snu campus was 1000k won.
But i usually withdraw at the KB atm near snu stn exit 2 , its beside ABC mart as its nearer to my goshiwon.
Here are the various withdrawal limits on the global atm machines in campus:
- Shinhan at Student centre max is 500k won
- Nonghyup global at Bldg 109 max 700k won ( its near the pond)
- Biz bldg 58 max 1000k won
Note: there are very few global atms machines in campus as compared to those non-global atm machines
5) Food
Minho told us that Bldg 75 is well known for cheap and good food.
First go and see the samples of whats gna be served , next proceed to the ticket counter to purchase your token. Then move to the queue and collect your food. Very efficient specialisation.
- Usually dinner at most canteens starts at 5.30pm KST , while the canteen that opens the earliest is near business,at building 113. If i dont remember wrongly, that canteen opens at either 4 or 5pm. Cuz now i am referring to my whatsapp chat history to check the timing of the canteen. My chat was at 4pm but i am not sure if the timing was recorded by my phone as 4pm SG or 4pm KST ;/
- Student center dinner is usually lousy, like you order a plate of marinated chicken with rice, they give you a lot of sauce but few pieces of chicken. But the dinner at building 113, woah very generous serving of meat.
- For guys: hungry after your first serving? Thinking that you will have to spend more money to get more food? You’re in luck! Simply take your empty plate and proceed back to the counter where you got your food and ask for refill ! I have a big appetite, so i always ask for refill. If you wanna to speak some korean, can use the phrases that i whacked: 더 주세요. I said whacked cuz i wasnt sure if the phrases i used were correct or not. But anw, the staff knew what i wanted and gave me refills (:
If you know the correct phrasing, feel free to correct me, appreciate it!^^
- App to download
App name: 샤밥
ratings: 3/5
How to use: Say if you use it today, it will show you what is being served today and where it will be served. Since canteens in Korea usually has up to 3 types of dishes per meal, unlike back in Singapore, you go to techno edge at engine, you will have all kinds of foods to eat Every day. No changes. In Korea, the menu changes everyday.
cons: Sometimes it hangs or shuts suddenly
6) Public Transportation
Korea is a damn big country as compared to Singapore, so you can expect an intensive subway map.
Changing lines in Korea is similar to changing from red line(NS) to purple line in Singapore.
Download this app when you need to take the subway, it is very useful. It doesnt require the use of internet! And oh yeah, T-money is used for transportation. It works like your ezlink card. You can recharge your T-money at any of the T-money charging machines(it is available in english, korean, japanese and chinese(?) ).
Some tips:
- When changing lines , do take note of the directions. In Singapore, to change lines,most of the time you just need to walk to the opposite platform, but in korea, you have to walk quite a distance. An average of distance to walk when changing lines in Korea would be like if you want to change line at dhoby ghaut to get to clarke quay(purple line). And you are coming from the red (NS) line. You have to take the stairs up, then walk 3mins then take escalator down twice to reach the purple line platform. Yes its THAT far.
- useful apps to download
app name: Subway
ratings: 5/5
How to use: It shows you the shortest route, fewest transfers route , last and first train timings . It has details like what line to change to, and the colour of the line to aid you when viewing the map. You can set the language to be in English/Korean/Japanese. You can choose to download Busan, Daegu, Daejeon, Gwangju,Seoul maps.
Example:
app name: Seoul Bus
ratings: 5/5
My buddy helped me download this app when i asked for an app on the buses in Seoul. I use it when i decide whether or not to take public transport to school.
How to use: It shows you the route of the bus, the last and first bus , the timings are very accurate. You can also favourite those buses that you will often take so that you dont need to always search for it.
7) Getting a Phone Line
That time when i went in august, we were told that we had to wait for 3-5 days after arrival before we can apply for a line.
I applied for Olleh pre-paid phone line. Korea has a few telecoms, KT(Olleh), SKT, and LG U+ .
You need to produce your passport in order to apply for the line. The data plan is separate. The first time i bought 1GB for 16 500won (if i dont remember wrongly) , and i only used like 200mb -.-
And the 1GB is for one month, so after every month you need to buy data. After my first month, i bought 500mb instead as we werent allowed to buy 300 or 200mb data.
Korea is very well wired, with wifi available in the subways. So i always tap onto olleh wifi when in the subway. And all the cafes have wifi. But even so, i still wanted to have internet everywhere i go, so i bought data for every month. Save the hassle of looking for wifi area.
That time we bought our line at the Olleh shop at Hongdae. I like the hongdae main olleh shop as they offer services in english.
Q: i just bought my data plan and olleh prepaid line, but i cant access the olleh wifi in the subway?
A: Use the wifi that doesnt require password. If still cannot access, call the olleh hotline at the Foreign Language Customer Service Center 1583 , tell them to help you reactivate.
Previously i didnt know that they could reactivate for me even without me going to the headquarter in person, so for first 2 months, i travelled from SNU to hongdae just to reactivate the olleh wifi. Until the staff told me that all i need is to just dial 1583 and reactivate anywhere i am.
Directions:
hongdae exit 9 . The olleh shop is right in front of you. Just walk straight and the shop is on your left.
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THIS HELPED SO MUCH!! THANK YOU!! 🙂