Tips for 유학 생활/Staying abroad: Calling home 미국에서 국제전화 걸기

I am opening a new section of columns dedicated to introducing skills and tips for those who study away from their native countries for whatever programs to start off and sustain a better, more on-goally life. I just had my first year of staying in the United Sta tes last year as a college freshman, and got a lot of help from my sunbaes, friends, and professors for settling in these strange but somewhat exciting surroundings in a suburb of Philadelphia, PA. But as I come across many freshmen who have mostly the same questions I had when I just freshly entered college, I realized it's quite important to compile all the useful tips and skills that many people have orally passed over to the underclass people.

The first column would be about "Calling home."


There're several ways to call home to Korea if you stay in the States (Sorry but I don't know if the following also works in other countries.)

1. Offline International phone card

Buy an international phone card at a nearby college bookstore or on the Internet, and dial the number specified on the card using any phone connected to a domestic phone line.

2. Internet phone

One popular choice for Koreans to make international phone calls outside Korea is using an Internet phone. "My LG 070 Internet phone" seems to be the most widely used as well as a cheap brand they can resort to. Basically you join the Internet phone service provided by My LG 070 and take the phone machine out outside Korea with you - it will work everywhere the Internet network is connected. Then even if you stay in the States, you can make calls home to Korea paying the same amount of fee for making Korean domestic calls. But if you want to call someone in the States, then you'd make international phone calls though you're in America.

3. Online International Phone Cards with 이지다이얼/EzDial

The method #3 here is the one I am using now, which one of my good friends told me about. I purchase a card online, and the site shows you more than tens of different providers for 21 countries (United States, China, Japan, Australia, Canada, Philippines, England, etc.). They also show the comments of users of each service provider so you can make a wiser choice for your own. I chose a service company named "AT"/에이티 because it seemed to offer a cheapest price for the same good quality of calls. I also recently found out that I can make international calls to other countries, say England, which makes me so happy because I can call one of my best friends in London! Yay! Dial the number specified on the web page for the service provider you chose, using any wired or cell phones available in the States.

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