With my life now packed into 2 suitcases and a carry-on, I’ve gone through all the paperwork and pcr tests and now I’m here!
Currently at the time of writing, people coming into the country who are completely vaccinated and from a country that qualifies are quarantine exempt, you need to go to a local district testing centre for a pcr within 24hrs of arrival.
I hadn’t slept very well on my overnight flight so was glad to be able to rest and stay in for the day. Once I had arrived at my accommodation, I turned my attention to the all important area of food. I wasn’t allowed out to get anything so started looking into all the apps that I had been told about prior to arriving. To my disappointment, many of them did not take foreign cards so I turned to trusty google and facebook groups.
I came across the site Help Me Emo which turned out to be a complete lifesaver! It turns out that Emo means aunt in Korean which is such an aptly named site. It operates via KakaoTalk (similar to Whatsapp) where you message your details and what you want to order. The team find it for you, send you screenshots of the final bill and order if for you. I have found that the food arrives soooo quickly and it has all been so delicious! A typical meal has cost me on average about 9,000 won. Coming from Australia, this is cheaper than a McDonalds meal!
Unfortunately, my result was indefinite which meant I had to go back to retest the next day. The result of the re-test was positive so I am in quarantine for an additional 7 days albeit asymptomatic. But fear not, I’ve had practise with quarantine before (we all have!) and I started online training with my school during this time as well. It wasn’t the ‘hit the ground running’ that I had imagined but this meant it gave me time to figure out the washing machine, get to order and try different Korean dishes, study and watch netflix.
In terms of actual groceries, I was only able to find some through the Trazy website. I did a small order as the items were soooo expensive. When they arrived, I learnt that I could have ordered directly with them (still expensive) instead of going through Trazy.
So for the time being, here are some food snaps and until next time!
Lingo in Transit 
Glad to see you arrived safely! Although the hiccup with the PCR test wasn’t ideal, you made the most of it in quarantine with online training and plenty of delicious food! That bibimbap is calling my name…I’m actually surprised that quarantine can be exempt for travelers coming into the country, although you did mention that not everyone can simply do so with that. Any case, can’t wait to see what else you get up to in Korea!
Thank you! Alot of restrictions have been lifted within the country too and places are open later now. Everyone is still in masks outdoors even when they don’t need to be.
Honestly, that’s great to hear! Especially here in the US where many people could care less about wearing masks outdoors…glad to see that Koreans are still exercising caution with the pandemic!
Masks are still mandatory indoors here though. How about there? Masks are basically gone from Australia except on public transport.
Masks are basically gone here. You’ll still see sensible people wearing them around, but many establishments don’t require them, indoors or outdoors. Not a fan!
Hope you get the negative result soon! Can’t wait to read your posts about S.Korea 🙂
Thank you!
How exciting! I have always been very fascinated by hotel quarantines and I secretely hoped I would have to do one at one point in my life because you don’t HAVE to do anything (which seems like the dream to me!). Can’t wait to read more about your adventure in this amazing country!
Hahaha! It was ok but I was also itching to walk around.
So you are up and away on your new adventure. Food is essential and most Korean food is so good. Bummer about covid though.
It’s alright now that I’m out although working now hahaha.
And how is work going?
I’ve been mock teaching (infront of my colleagues which is as awkward as it sounds) and am finally teaching some classes tomorrow. Officially start teaching all my classes next wk.
I imagine it would be more nerve wracking in front of colleagues so the real thing will be a breeze. The best of luck to you!
Thank you!
Those little baby steps to understand how it works, make some mistakes and learn quickly, reminds me of when I moved to a new country, though never as different as Korea can be. Different is another word for interesting.
I learn something everyday still!
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