Confessions of a Control Freak

That being said, I have been able to buy most of the clothes and other items I think I will need for Korea, and I think I am on my way to being well-prepared. Today, I remembered about clothing compression bags--the things where you vacuum out all the air and tons of bedding just compresses into a thin sheet of plastic! People have told me they really work apparently, so I went out and bought a box of 12 different sized compression bags for $40. I hope they turn out to be space savers because packing my winter jacket and clothes is going to be a big pain if they aren't! 

The other day, I started a Citibank account because I looked online and saw that that was the only bank in my area that also had locations in South Korea. The bank rep told me that it would be free to use the Citibank ATMs in South Korea. The only thing that would cost money is if I used my US account debit card to make purchases at a store, so I will have to withdraw cash from an ATM to avoid that 3% charge each time I make an in-store purchase without cash. The only thing I wouldn't be able to do is deposit checks into my account. Therefore, if my school has direct deposit, I may not even need a South Korean bank account, but I think I would set one up just to be safe. In that case, I could either start another Citibank account in South Korea or just open an account at whatever the nearest bank is to my apartment. If my school doesn't do direct deposit though, I should open a South Korean Citibank account definitely because then I can do free "global transfers," allowing me to transfer my money from my Citibank South Korean account to my Citibank US account for free. Also, without direct deposit, I have to make sure to leave at least $1500 in my US account because otherwise I get a $10 fee each month, which is really lame. Sounds like a good deal. Also, I should mention that the reason I'm concerned about making sure I have the ability to easily and cheaply transfer money to the US is because my student loans get paid through a Bank of America account I have here, and it is too much hassle for me to change the account that my loans are auto paid from, especially if I'm just going to change it back later. My mom is just going to take money from my Citibank account here and put it in BoA for me, so my loans keep getting paid off. Sorry about this rant, but I need to type it to keep everything straight in my head. Who knows!? Maybe it will help one of you trying to figure out your own banking situations. 

As for the cell phone situation, I still have some questions about this, but the plan is coming together. AT&T told me that I could take an old, non-smart phone to the store (or buy one there for $15) and have them reassign my phone number to that phone. Then, I would be able to remove the data plan from my account, so I don't have to pay it while I'm away. I would only pay $10 per month for the ability to text and call on the non-smart phone then, and my phone number would stay the same. Right now, because I have an iPhone, I could put my phone on hold, but I would still have to pay the data plan because iPhones require one. Doing that would virtually turn my iPhone into an iPod touch. Then, I am going to sign up for a service called Line2. Line2 for $10 per month gives you free calls and texts to the US and Canada as well as voicemail and call forwarding over wifi. You are assigned a Line2 US phone number, but you can have all the calls and texts from your normal number forwarded to that number, meaning that when you're on wifi (because I will have shut off my data plan) you will receive all the calls and texts that you normally would at your regular phone number. No need to share a new phone number with any of your contacts. What I am still wondering about is does Line2 import my contacts to itself because if I swapping to a non-smartphone to avoid data costs causes the contacts now on my iPhone to be removed in some way then I won't ever know who's calling or texting me on Line2. Also, I want to know about whether or not AT&T will unlock my phone, which will allow me to put a Korean sim card in my phone, so that I can use Line2 for all my US texting and calling, and use the normal iPhone for calls and texts in Korea with a Korean phone number. Clearly, I still have more to work out with AT&T and Line2, but for now, I think a solid plan is forming. I will also, obviously, use Skype and probably Viber while I'm away...trying to maintain multiple forms of communication back home and in Korea. 

Another thing I found out is that in order for The Arrival Store to set up the Olleh Egg (a wireless internet hotspot I might have mentioned in previous posts) they need my ARC card and bank book, so I can't actually have the internet ready for me when I arrive at the airport. That was kind of a bummer. So I'm hoping that my apartment has wifi when I move in or at least that there's a place with wifi nearby until I can get both the Egg and wifi set up in the apartment. 

So that was a long and rambling post about all the things that are currently swirling around inside my control-freak brain, making me super stressed out and nervous. I'm still excited somewhere in there, but for right now the planning is getting a little overwhelming. I know it will all work itself out in the end.