Your first month teaching in Korea is both thrilling and logistically dense. You're recovering from a long flight, settling into a new apartment, meeting co-workers, starting classes, and — in parallel — running a long administrative checklist: Alien Registration Card (ARC), bank account, Korean phone, utilities, health insurance, transit card, and your first payday. Miss a deadline and things get hard quickly.
This week-by-week guide is built from Korvia's 20 years of supporting native English teachers through their first month in Korea. Use it as a checklist; most tasks have a natural order, and rushing one step often causes downstream problems.
Day 1-3: Arrival
Your first 72 hours are about basic orientation and sleep — not optimization. Give yourself permission to be slow.
- Airport pickup.If you're on EPIK or another public-school program, pickup is coordinated by the program. If you're on a hagwon contract, your school typically arranges a pickup driver. Confirm by email before you fly and carry your contract and offer letter in your carry-on.
- Jet lag. Korea is 13-14 hours ahead of North America and 8-9 hours ahead of the UK. Plan on 3-5 days to feel normal. Avoid big decisions in the first 48 hours.
- Apartment key pickup.Your school or program representative walks you through your apartment, shows you the gas valve, circuit breaker, water heater controls, and (importantly) how to dispose of trash. Korea's waste- sorting rules are strict; your school will provide the pre-paid garbage bags (종량제 봉투) your district uses.
- Cash on hand. Arrive with enough cash or an international card to cover 4-6 weeks of living expenses before your first Korean paycheck lands.
Week 1: Apartment Basics, School Intro, Finding Food
Your first school week will often be part orientation, part observation, part paperwork. You'll usually teach light or co-taught lessons initially. Priorities for the week:
- Apartment basics.Most teacher apartments come furnished but not fully stocked. You'll want bedding (ikea.com/kr or Daiso for budget options), cleaning supplies, kitchen basics, and a drying rack. Daiso (다이소) is the Korean ¥100-style store and is the cheapest fastest way to kit out a new apartment.
- School introduction.You'll be introduced to the principal, vice principal, head of English, and your co-teacher. Plan a simple 1-2 minute self-introduction in English (and try one sentence in Korean — “안녕하세요, 저는 [name]이에요”).
- Finding food. Identify the nearest convenience store (GS25, CU, 7-Eleven, Emart24), a local market or mart for fresh groceries, and 1-2 restaurants near the school. Delivery apps (Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats) require a Korean phone number, so these come later.
- Health insurance. As of your start date, Korean public-school teachers and most hagwon teachers are enrolled in the National Health Insurance Service. Premiums are deducted from your paycheck; a physical insurance card is usually not issued but your ARC number works at clinics.
Week 2: ARC Application and Bank Account
Week 2 is your major-paperwork week. Your school's administrative office (행정실) usually helps coordinate these appointments — ask them directly.
ARC (Alien Registration Card).Under Korea's Immigration Control Act, foreign residents staying more than 90 days must register with the Korea Immigration Service and obtain an ARC. Applications are filed in person at an Immigration Office with a pre-booked appointment through hikorea.go.kr [source: hikorea.go.kr]. Typical documents include:
- Passport with valid E-2 (or other) visa
- Completed application form (HiKorea)
- Passport-size photo (white background)
- Lease or housing contract from your employer
- Employment contract and notice of appointment
- Apostilled criminal-background check copy (your school usually holds the original)
- Application fee (around KRW 30,000 — subject to change, check HiKorea for current fee)
Processing typically takes 3-5 weeks; you receive a printed ARC by mail. Your ARC number is issued immediately and unlocks bank accounts and phone contracts.
Bank account. Open an account at a major bank with a branch near your school. KB Kookmin Bank (kbstar.com) and Shinhan Bank (shinhan.com) both operate dedicated foreign-customer pages in English. Bring your passport, ARC receipt or ARC card, and proof of address (your housing contract). Request online banking and a debit card at account opening.
See also our in-depth walkthrough: How to Apply for Your ARC in Korea.
Week 3: Korean SIM, T-money, Utilities, First Classes
With ARC in hand (or receipt if the physical card is still processing), week 3 is about locking in the routine utilities of daily life.
- Korean SIM — postpaid. Switch from your airport prepaid SIM to a postpaid plan now that you have the ARC. The three main carriers are SK Telecom, KT, and LG U+. MVNO (알뜰폰) resellers offer lower-cost plans on the same networks. KakaoTalk becomes your primary school-communication channel the moment your new number registers.
- T-money transit card.Buy a T-money card at any convenience store and top it up at a subway kiosk. Korea's official tourism site at visitkorea.or.kr [source: visitkorea.or.kr] has an up-to-date overview of the card, regional variants, and discounted subway-to-bus transfers.
- Utilities.Most teacher apartments come with utility accounts already in the building owner's or school's name, and bills (gas, electricity, water) are dropped in your mailbox monthly. Ask your co-teacher whether bills get paid directly from your account, collected by the school, or require in-person payment at a convenience store (CU, GS25, 7-Eleven accept utility bill payments).
- First full classes.By week 3, you're typically teaching a normal schedule. Keep 2-3 backup lessons ready for last-minute schedule changes (a common structural feature of Korean school life).
Week 4: First Paycheck, Weekend Exploration, Co-Teacher 1:1
Week 4 is where Korea starts to feel like home. You've got infrastructure in place, enough Korean to order food, and your first paycheck is landing.
- First paycheck. EPIK and most public-school programs pay on a set monthly pay date (commonly the 17th through 25th). If you arrived mid-month, expect a pro-rated first deposit. Review the pay slip carefully — housing allowance, settlement allowance, flight reimbursement, and pension/insurance deductions should all be visible.
- Weekend exploration. Your first free weekend with full infrastructure: use it. The T-money card unlocks intercity buses and the KTX (kobus.co.kr, letskorail.com), and even a short trip to a neighboring city resets your perspective on the job.
- 1:1 with your co-teacher.By week 4, you have enough shared classroom experience for a short, honest check-in. Ask: “What has worked well in our classes so far, and what would you like me to do differently?” This single 15-minute conversation resolves most first-month friction.
Korvia Tip
Save the confirmation receipt from your ARC appointment — it functions as temporary proof of your ARC number until the physical card arrives. Banks and phone carriers accept the receipt for most purposes during the 3-5 week processing window.
Essential Month-1 Checklist
Print this list, keep it in your bag, and tick items off as you go.
- [ ] Airport pickup confirmed (contract and offer letter in carry-on)
- [ ] Apartment key received and walkthrough complete
- [ ] Waste-sorting bags (종량제) located
- [ ] Prepaid SIM active on day 1
- [ ] First self-introduction prepared for school
- [ ] Health insurance enrollment confirmed at school office
- [ ] ARC appointment booked on hikorea.go.kr (within 90 days)
- [ ] Bank account opened with passport + ARC receipt
- [ ] Postpaid phone plan set up after ARC
- [ ] T-money card purchased and topped up
- [ ] Utilities routine (who pays and how) confirmed with co-teacher
- [ ] 2-3 backup lessons ready in a shared folder
- [ ] First paycheck received and pay slip reviewed
- [ ] 1:1 check-in completed with co-teacher
- [ ] ARC physical card received by mail
Cultural Adjustments Worth Knowing Early
Four Korean workplace and social norms surprise first-month teachers most often:
- Drinking culture (회식).Staff dinners are a semi-optional part of school life, especially at the start of a semester. You can decline, but try to go at least once — it's where co-worker relationships get real.
- Hierarchy.Korean workplaces are more hierarchical than most Western ones. Greet everyone in the teachers' office each morning, defer to senior teachers on operational decisions early, and route requests through your co-teacher rather than straight to the principal.
- Food etiquette.Don't start eating until the most senior person at the table lifts their chopsticks. Pour drinks for others with two hands when they're older or senior. These two small habits get noticed.
- Indirect communication.“That's difficult” (“좀 어려워요”) usually means “no.” A long silence after your suggestion often means the same. Rephrasing and offering an alternative is more productive than pushing back.
Where Korvia Helps
Korvia has been placing native English teachers in Korea since 2006, and first-month support is one of the main things we're known for. If we placed you, our team is the first phone call for questions that come up in your first 30 days — from ARC timing to apartment issues to co-teacher dynamics.
If you haven't arrived yet, our Korvia EPIK Pre-Orientation briefing walks you through the arrival logistics in more detail, and the Korvia alumni community gives you real-time answers on neighborhood-specific questions once you're on the ground.
The Bottom Line
Your first month in Korea is survived best by sticking to the order: sleep → apartment → ARC → bank → phone → transit → paycheck. Skip ahead and you create bottlenecks; follow it and the infrastructure locks in by week 4. By week 5, you're no longer managing arrival — you're teaching.
Ready to apply? Submit your Korvia application to get started, or visit our Teach English in Korea overview to see all of our public-school programs.