Financing

        Financing is probably one of the most important factors in studying abroad.  In my case I worked a part time job in San Francisco.  At the end of my spring semester (and three months before flying out) I was looking for a temporary place to stay that was reasonably affordable.  However, it IS San Francisco after all and the cheapest thing I found in the city (and other cities) surrounding was a room, shared with two others and each pays $800 a month in the sunset district of San Francisco.  That was one bed space in one bedroom in a two bedroom house.  Not very affordable nor reasonable so I went back home and instead commuted to work everyday for the next two months before quitting my job.  Where I worked I made $13.00 and hour and worked 32 hours a week.  I spent $175 on the commuter bus a month and $240 a month towards my clipper card (BART/metro pass for the bay area in California).  In San Francisco, I spent roughly another $150 on lunch and sometimes dinner in downtown San Francisco.  Every now and then I would go shopping too.  Before leaving my job and flying out I bought necessities (suitcases, plane ticket, new clothes, shoes and souvenirs to take with me to give away).  My plane ticket was very cheap.  (I will give my airfare its own separate post so that you too can save a lot on flying to another country).
        I quit my job on July 31st 2016 and flew out for Seoul on August 27th 2016.  When I quit my job I had $1,100 of my own money saved up for coming to Korea.  I also had financial aid from my home university.  I was awarded about $14,000 for the 2016-2017 academic school year and my tuition there is about $6,200 a year.  That leaves me with under $8,000 for the year (about 3,900 each semester).  I opted in for on campus housing and that was very cheap.  Luckily I had scholarships (and some money in loans) to pay for my housing at San Francisco State and for the housing option I chose there, it was $1,570 A MONTH.  At Chung Ang University it is 1,290,000 won (about $1,265) for the SEMESTER.  When I arrived I had quite a bit of money left over and in most parts of Korea, it can stretch farther than it would in America.  However, saving is still important in case something comes up and turns out to be expensive.