Hello everyone,

I found out that I am being stationed at Kunsan. Im not crazy about it but I am excited about being in Korea again. Its been so long ago that I was there. It seems the rule are stricter now than back in the day. I lived off base as a SrA and I had my own house. I was in Suwon and stayed there for two years. Reading thru the threads it seem like Kunsan fell thru the cracks. Tell me its not as bad as some say. I never had to live in the dorms, now as a SNCO I must- how backwards is that? Anyway, I am into poker, listening to music, traveling, shopping and finishing my degree. Does anyone have suggestions as to what I must bring? vs. what I should bring? Necessities? What about vonage or skype? Should I wait to buy a car there if I want one?

Well as a SNCO your on the right track, stleast you will be able to drive, and live in decent dorms. I would set some kind of VOIP phone. Currently vonage is banned here, and they are cutting off a lot of people. I don't drive here, but I heard you can pick up a car for cheap here. I have been here for 3 months, and it is not that bad, as long as you travel.

What is SrA ?

I think the dorms are very good. I saw the dorm into OSAN AB.
My friend was there. And My friend has a Korean car, however he said that don't go out with his car because he don't know well the road. Haha..
And if you are going to Kunsan, come to Gwangju city. Im there.
Gwangju is a biggest city in your area.

SRA is Senior Airman- 3 stripes

The guys and gals at the Kun should fill you in. Welcome to the forum! The Kun is a little bit country, but I suspect a great place to finish a degree, depending on what you need to finish. Probably they won't have much in local classes. Call the unit and request a sponsor first; Good Luck!

No one ever needs to bring a car to Korea. They are plentiful and cheap. Local transportation is good enough for a one year tour. A bike would be good, but they are available here also. Just bring your favorite stuff.
Would you guys at Kunsan get one of the girls to come on the forum and talk to this lady, please?

Hi, I live in the SNCO dorms. We have nice quarters. They have a small kitchen, bedroom, den, and bathroom. You will need to find out what size your bed is so you can bring sheets unless you want to use the linen exchange. Beds are twin or full. You will need pots and pans and dishes. You will have a microwave and fridge but no dishwasher. You will need a TV and DVD player. Cable comes in a few different packages. The free one has about 20 channels. The most expensive one is 41 bucks and has 3 movies channels plus the Discovery channel and a few others you are use to in the states. Outdoor Rec is where you get cable. I use Vonage but there are SOFA issues and they have stopped allowing people to use it. Get your sponsor to send the BB Bell message on it. I think Skype is still good to use. Whatever you use, get it before you come over. Some people also use Yahoo. The internet company is LG Diacom and your sponsor can email you the price sheet. The have different cable packages and also offer different types of phone services. You get 6 15 minute morale calls a month as well. If you need anything else, let me know.

Forgot a couple of things. On the car, you can buy one here for 300 to 1000 bucks. It is hit and miss. Sometimes there are a bunch of them and sometimes they are hard to find. Have your sponsor line you one up. I use USAA for insurance and it is about 100 bucks for the year. On school, they have classes here with Univ of Maryland. I just finished by degree online with Touro Univ Intl. Just depends on how you want to knock it out. If you need anything else, let me know.

I should get Skype before I get there? Does that mean I get the phone package in the States? What kind of phone do I get with it? Is it a plan that I get with a phone? What kind of phone number should I get? Does it matter? Do I use a headset and mic? I am trying to figure out exactly what I need. What are the gas prices there? Do you get coupons to buy gas off base? How is the internet service there? Are there time when I will not be able to connect? I am currently enrolled in UMUC for classes and all my classes are online, I think I will stick with them. Should I bring fans? heater? Can you adjust the temp in the dorms?

Sorry for all the questions!

Thanks everyone!

I am a user of Skype and found that it is very reliable and easy to use.
You can either set it up in the US so you can pass out the number to everyone you know, or you can set it up here. Pretty easy, just need a credit card.

As far as the equipment goes....there are three ways that you can connect with the computer.
--Use a headset and microphone
--Go to BX and find a black and red box that is around $11 by a company called Anra or something like that. This box plugs into your computer via USB and then you plug your regular phone into it, and then run the line to the wall if you have regular phone service
---I never used this system, so can't speak about the easy of it, but hear that it is easy to set up

----Best option----
Go to BX and pick up a Skype enabled phone. Every BX I have been in, except Kunsan, carries the GE 2 in 1 Skype phone. Really easy to set up...plug into USB port, plug in power, and viola, you have Skype.

Visit Skype.com for all the details, but the skinny....
$18 for a US area code phone number for 3 months with voice mail
$10 a pop for credits called Skype Out...costs $0.02 a min back to US
You can receive calls from the US at no cost to you


Hope this info helps out.