I Live in New York and I Want to go to South Korea, But...?

Okay, So basiclly, I'm 18 years old and I live in New York. I want to go To Seoul, South Korea to stay for a week but i added up costs of Air fare, Hotel fare for a week, Gas(taxi,bus fare), food, other expensures and its about $3,000! I am a full time college student.
People think im weird because i am caucasian female who loves asian things, I've been studying Korean for a few months but i am no where near fluent or anything i know the basics and a little more. I'm not too worried about the language barrier as i am with the money problem and also, i dont have anyone to go with. And i wonder about meeting someone online, a girl about my age who lives in Korea who knows english enough to comunicate with me. I want to meet someone who will want to meet with me in Korea so i can have someone to know when i go. Any ideas about finding someone to go with? Besides if someone wanted to go with me they would need to have enough money to pay for them, because i dont. Comments are appreciated

i'm cheap, i think $3000 would be too much. korean food is pretty cheap, $5 can get you alot. public transportation and taxis are cheap (about $1 on the subway or bus, and about $2 for flag-fall in a cab, then not much, a 10 minute ride usually cost me about $4--but don't take a cab from the airport to the city!!!! yikes!!!!). you can find lots of cheaper hotels (especially around the colleges!!) for $20-$40/night. if you're REALLY on a shoe-string, you can sleep overnight in the jjimjilbangs (bath houses), those are usually around $8 for use of the bathing/sauna/sleeping facillities, plus extra for food and massages/scrubs/karaoke (noraebang)/internet cafe, etc. 'sleeping facilities' = a mat on the floor of a room with lots of other women and men. it's pretty safe, some of them are fairly well-lit and it is out in the open, so no one is likely to bother you because everyone would see them.

it would probably be hard to arrange, and 18 might be too young, but since there are so many korean babies being adopted in the u.s., they (korean adoption agencies) need people to escort the babies from korea to the u.s. and they will offer a very discounted plane ticket to volunteers to do that. but that's a pretty long shot, it depends on their schedule, not yours. and i have no idea if this is true, but i can imagine since there is such a demand for english there that there may be agencies that could arrange a homestay for you. i mean, i know there are places that arrange homestays, but maybe there could be one that you don't have to pay alot for. maybe even free! :D

but like a previous poster said, a tour might be the way to go for you, then you wouldn't have to arrange anything.

a good resource for info is the Korean National Tourist Organization:

http://www.tour2korea.com/

and i think they may even have an office in NYC that you could walk in.

in anycase, have fun, but BE SAFE!!!

Hello I also want to go to Korea. If you like we go there together. I am a female 25 years old and live here in Texas. Contact me at dought03@yahoo.com Report It

If you went to Philippines there would be no language barrier and prices are better .

if you cant find anyone to go with you online, then i suggest you sign up for tours. That way, you will get to see seoul in large groups, which will enable you to befriend all sorts of people.
Also, in my personal opinion i dont think $3000 is enough for a weeks stay in seoul. I think it should be a bit more. You will see so many things you want, and you will be unable to fight of the temptation to buy it.

I'm Korean and $3000 is more than enough. Your biggest expense will be airfare (unavoidable) and lodging. Try Couchsurfing or Hospitality club, where you find someone who is willing to house you for free. You make a friend and are able to exchange culture. You can also hang out with them and their friends; see things you never would be able to.

If you must stay at a hotel...try Rainbow Hotel in Seoul. Otherwise look at hotels in Itaewon, a popular place for foreigners.

Seoul is very safe, for its size. The majority of young people can speak English, but every chooses not to. Since you're white, people will obviously speak English to you.

Try looking at couchsurfing.com. They will have lots of korean people and girls your age that are willing to meet up with you.

Hey, I'm moving there in a month too....

Good to see people going to my country. I want to tell you that Seoul is a city that deserves taking your whole time of traveling. Finding good English speaker as travel mate is not easy job. There are a few but not as young as you are. But I believe that there can at least be a number of girls that you are willing to have here. Myself I am 24years old guy and Im free at the moment though. What I can do for you is leaving your messages on English learning communities which I use when I am in need of someone to study English with. I think this is the best thing to do. You can email me at timester@hanmail.net thank you.

it's not like what you think of korea is going to be what its like in korea.

korean food is pretty cheap. one week of stay is too short. going to far country like that you should stay for a month or at least 2 weeks. you should use homestay stuff.

$3,000 will not be enough. Just the airfare and hotel will cost you that much.