Do you need help with managing your daily living tasks in Korea? Have you considered using bilingual concierge services? How can a concierge/assistant service help me in South Korea? Bi-lingual concierge services make your life better. Such companies help you accomplish a multitude of tasks that may frustrate you to no end when you don’t 1 ) speak Korean, 2) have a Korean ID for confirming your identity online, or 3) a Korean bank account. When you find yourself driven made by such situations, you can simply pay a bi-lingual concierge money to do the insurmountable task for you. That’s their entire purpose in life. They help with tasks such as: Do bilingual concierge services cost money? Absolutely, these folks speak two languages and navigate two cultures. They build systems to help you overcome all the things you don’t have time to learn or don’t want to learn. They get paid for this incredible value and knowledge they bring to your life. How do bi-lingual concierge services charge? That depends on the concierge service. Each bi-lingual concierge service has a different service model. Some charge by the minute, others charge by the service provided, and others might even be free when they are just getting started but ask you to refer them to your friends so they can build a following. Others have a mix between these two depending on what services they are providing. We recommend thoroughly reviewing fees before using any concierge service. Remember, no one does anything for free. Not even South or Seoul. We ask our community members to contribute information, reviews, and shares! Your contribution feeds our souls so that we have the motivation to keep supporting the community. Tips for getting the most out of your bilingual concierge service Streamlined communication will go a long way in building a strong relationship with a bi-lingual concierge service. You need to always be aware that language and cultural differences will permeate the experience. You need to over-explain everything as much as you can. Let’s take a quick look at what these tips might look like put into practice: What not to ask, “Can you find me a place to stay?” What to ask using these tips, “I would like to book a pension or resort stay near a beach in Gangwon-do arriving on August 10th and checking out on August 12th. We have two adults and three children. We want to have one room. Our maximum budget is 100,000 won. We do not want to sleep on the floor. We do not want hard beds but can comprise on this. We would like a pool. Please send 3 options for us to choose from. I have attached photos of pensions we would be interested in and I have attached a link to a hotel I enjoyed staying at in the past. We do not want to be in a city.” Who could benefit from using a bilingual concierge/assistant service in South Korea? Yeah, but do I REALLY NEED a concierge/assistant service to help me in South Korea? No, of course not. We never did. Instead, we chose to struggle through years of weekend Korean and culture classes to learn how to do everything ourselves. Is that REALLY the life you want to live your limited time in South Korea? No, it is not. Be smarter than us. Working that hard didn’t make us cool, it just made us tired. Don’t get us wrong, it was the right choice for us but it is NOT the right choice for everyone and you don’t need to feel guilty about that. You have limited time so don’t waste it struggling through systems designed in ways you don’t understand. If you aren’t going to be endlessly living in South Korea like we choose to do, just get help. Don’t struggle with the fact you can’t access all the apps. Just have a concierge service to make things easy for you. You don’t have to be a hero. Throw money at this problem and enjoy the results. Korean systems aren’t broken, they are just designed for those of us living in Korea. We love how things work in Korea and we also know that the systems aren’t easy for everyone. The reality is that you have about a 3 month grace period when you arrive in South Korea. During that time folks are overly happy to help you. However, if you don’t find a way to live independently during that time, help may start to dry up. Even the best of friends get tired of being another friend’s personal assistant after a while. Emotional labor may not cost money, but it may cost you real friendships. What we are trying to say is, “Save a friendship and pay a concierge!” Constantly asking your Korean-speaking friends for help booking tickets or buying things online can cause stress in relationships over time. Accepting the reality that you need additional support and valuing other people’s time are two great ways to find more friends and have better relationships while living in South Korea. We can’t tell you how many friendships we see fall apart over the fact one person requires their Korean-speaking friends to solve all their issues for free at a moment’s notice. 2 Bilingual Concierge Services in South Korea We have organized these based on years in business and popularity within the international community. Leave your South of Seoul reviews! Help the next person that moves to rural South Korea by leaving your reviews for the concierge services. What are their strengths and weaknesses? Which services do they provide best? Is one better at buying concert tickets and another one better and finding hotels? South of SeoulFounded in 2015, the South of Seoul team consists of volunteers on three continents working together to support English-speaking people traveling or living in South Korea. South of Seoul volunteers work with organizations and individuals across South Korea to improve equitable access to information across South Korea. Much of South of Seoul’s information focuses on Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. Blogs published under the authorship of “South of Seoul” include blogs compiled by multiple volunteers to improve access to standardized information unrelated to individualized personal experiences. www.southofseoul.net