Post Office

The last time I went to the Post Office in Cardiff I stood in a queue for over an hour waiting to post a couple of parcels. On Tuesday I went to the Post Office in Bucheon for the first time to post a letter and some presents to my mum. When you go into the post office, you take a numbered ticket from a machine by the entrance and sit down until your number flashes up on the screen. Very civilised. They also provide free tape and parcel paper for you.

It cost 2,000 won (£1.00) to post the packet by airmail to the UK and it arrived 4 days later. When I had to send my degree certificate, transcripts and criminal record check to Korea from the UK, it cost me over £50 to send via International Datapost (the quickest service according to Royal Mail). It also took 4 days to arrive.

I'll leave you to draw your own conclusions about the relative merits of the postal service in the UK and in Korea.