Hello everybody,
My son is leaving for Korea next week. Im scared to death and not taking it well at all. He will be gone for a year.

If anybody has any tips or suggestions as to what to pack, etc, please let me know. I especially am interested in shipping him packages. I have been doing some research and it is VERY expensive to ship him anything. If anybody has shipped anything to Korea and knows the cheapest way please let me know.

Im thinking while he is gone and my other son starts going to college I will be sewing ALOT.
Judy in Ohio

Many prayers are with you- family is home from 3 years in Japan- heading to Vegas tomorrow.

I use the flat rate box from the post office- don't need to worry about weight limit. My daughter always said I could pack more in that box than anyone she knew. She swore it expanded to double the size when they opened it. :)

I sent the local newspaper- it's really "redneck" and they loved it. Lots of pics of first day deer hunting and turkey trophies and the neighborhood happenings. Sent local foods that would travel well, poured wintergreen lifesavers in to fill up voids and they loved the smell when they opened the box.

Ask your son what they don't have readily available and take it from there.

If he's military, or has a military address, you can just send the packages in the flat rate boxes. Not really all that expensive and you can put up to 70 pounds in them!
If not, then send First Class, much cheaper than Priority or if you want even cheaper, then Book Rate would do, but keep in mind, that can take up to 3 months to get to him.

i was stationed in Korea ... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back "when". my son was also stationed there - much more recently. a good friend of mine is there right now.

have no fear, Mother Dear. he'll be just fine and will have a blast! :P

the flat rate terri mentions is the domestic rate. we don't pay international rates when we mail to military addresses. you should go to the post office, though, and stock up on the customs forms that still have to be stuck to the outside of the packages.

I can see why you would be concerned. He will be so far away. I'm sure he will be fine though. It sounds like you will be experiencing empty nest syndrome. It's hard, isn't it. I'll be thinking of you.

If you order online you get flat rate for $11.95 and the boxes are bigger. :D
http://shop.usps.com/webapp/wcs/stor...roductId=36604

He isn't in the military. Im hoping he can meet somebody on the military base that will be close to him but if not I will just have to pay the expensive rates.

He is going there to teach for a year.

Judy

You can go to the post office and get a round about number as to what it will cost for say...10 pound box. Have them give you the different prices and go from there.

First....don't worry. He'll be fine and have a ball. Our daughter has been in Southern Siberia for nearly 2 yrs and I don't expect her to ever live in the states again.

I only ship what she cannot get there. The list is getting smaller as they are beginning to get more western things. Books, DVDs of TV shows and movies, magazines & music CDs and picture CDs of family and friends make up most of my care packages now. Like Barbm said, fill every air hole with hard candy. Once I was sending lots of craft supplies for the orphanage and poured beads in to fill up the box. I warned her to open it on the bed so she wouldn't lose anything.

And send him a list of everything so he can check it off. She has gotten everything I've sent except a bottle of cologne. It was taken out of the box and they left everything else and retaped it. Hope somebody smells good. Later, I sent another bottle but put on the form...toiletries...I didn't specifically list cologne.

I use the flat rate priority boxes and it takes a month to get to her. Might not take that long to get to Korea.

Check with the PO about the flat rate box before you do anything else. They wouldn't let me send a flat rate box to New Zealand a couple of years ago. They said they were for military and mainland only.

Is he going on mission? Did he choose to go to Korea now? WHY? I'm being nosy but why do these kids decide on these countries? How do they think this is going to help them? geez Don't they know we moms worry???

Hugs,
Sharon