When should I arrive before classes start?

Ten to fourteen days before classes is the sweet spot. A week is tight but survivable; three days is not.

Why a week is tight — the tasks are sequential, not parallel:

1. Day 1 to 2: arrive, sleep, get a prepaid SIM. You need a Korean number before almost anything else works.

2. Day 2 to 4: find and secure housing if you have not already. Viewings are in person, agents work on their own schedule, and moving in takes a day.

3. Day 3 to 5: bank account. Requires the phone number and an address. Often takes two visits.

4. ARC application: you can only apply after you have an address, and appointments are booked weeks out. Realistically you book it in your first week and attend it a month later. This one you cannot rush, so do not plan around it.

5. School registration, placement test, orientation: usually the two or three days before classes start. Do not schedule anything else then.

Add jet lag, which costs most people two functional days, and a week disappears fast.

With ten to fourteen days you can do all of the above without a single stressful day, and you get something more valuable — a few unhurried days to walk your neighbourhood, find your bus stop, and eat somewhere twice. Students who arrive with margin start the semester settled instead of frantic.

On short-term accommodation: easy and plentiful. Guesthouses and hostels in Hongdae, Sinchon and Myeongdong take bookings for a few nights with no fuss. Goshiwons rent by the month with no deposit and will often take you for two weeks. Airbnb works but is the expensive option. Book the first three or four nights before you fly and sort the rest once you are there — arriving with nothing booked is the one thing not to do.

We arrange the first-night accommodation and go to the bank and phone shop with our students in that first week, because those are the days where being alone costs the most time.