Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mrsquirrel]

The GEPIK contract says that because I'm married and my wife will be joining me out in Korea in a couple of months we are entitled to a 2 bedroomed apartment.

Anybody been given one? I'm a bit concerned that I will turn up in a few weeks time to be told that they didn't have one and here is the miserly housing allowance.

A one bedroom would do. Anything really that will allow the wife to stay asleep and not growl at me when I get up early.

[mack the knife]

This has gone both ways in the past. Some were provided excellent accommodations, while others lived in relative squalor. Like all things GEPIK, it's a crapshoot.

[lover.asian]

[antoniothegreat]

I would assume, but maybe i am wrong, that small towns can find bigger places easier because the costs of bigger places are lower in towns than in big cities.

in my town, lots of the single teachers have 3 bedroom apartments without being married, but then maybe we are the exception and not the rule.

[manlyboy]

I'm with GEPIK. My school originally tried to put the wife and I in a stanky little dogbox which was worth much less than the accomodation budget they had been allocated (25 million key money, and 300 000 per month). We went out and found a two bedroom place for ourselves, but the area around the school is so expensive that we have to kick in an extra 300 000 per month of our own on top of the allowance. It was either that or the dogbox.

[rothkowitz]

How did you find out the housing budget for Gepik?

I'm not with them,but I know that Kyunggi and Seongnam Edu Board gets upwards of 60 million for housing.Last school year it was 45 million.

I pay some rent which I just had to accept-it was either that or I'd end up living miles away from school.

I know some money gets mis-appropiated.

[two roads]

In Korea, isn't a "two bedroom" apartment the same as a one bedroom back home, and a "one bedroom" apartment the same as a studio? The number of "bedrooms" is actually the number of total rooms (not counting bathroom)? I knew a married couple that were both working in the same district and they were given a "one bedroom" to share. They were pretty mad about being stuck in a studio apartment. Last I heard, they were trying to get a "two bedroom". If you don't want to be in the same room as the other person all the time you might want to make sure that you get that "two bedroom".

I am in my first year here, though, and don't really know much, so I could be wrong.

[Missile Command Kid]

For us, a "two bedroom apartment" means two distinct bedrooms and a shared kitchen/living/dining/family room. It's cozy, but even a two bedroom apartment has another room with kitchen appliances in it.

[mrsquirrel]

I recieved an appologetic email saying that they could only find a studio aparment within their budget.

I could well believe this.

There are two ways of looking at this.

1) They honestly tried hard and really couldn't come up with anything
2) This is the start of problems.

I'm being optomistic for the time being. The studio is still wrapped in plastic so it's freshly made.

We will just have to see.

[jellobean]

If the studio is nice and has a decent bathroom/storage porch its doable for a couple (although it might be a bit tougher if you can't use either, yo, twin bed or pull-out couch).... We lived in one for about a year (that was what my bf got for housing and I had no housing/allowance w/my job... Without the porch, it will be tough unless y'all are minamalists...

If the place doesn't look like it would work I'd ask them what the budget is and do some looking around during your first few weeks before your wife shows up... If you contract says a two bedroom, that's what they should be giving you... If they object to your looking or won't give you the budget numbers, I'd be suspicious....

[mrsquirrel]

I'm a minimalist she is a hoarder.

It appears to have a storage porch which is ok.

I am spoiled here in Thailand though with a three bedroom house and gardens so it's going to be a shock to the system no matter what happens.

[fusionbarnone]

It is a real crap shoot allright.

I've heard of teachers who score accommo. with 3 bedrooms (+bath) in sought after locations.

I've also heard of "couples" who've hauled themselves out of their "One-room" apart. by paying their own key money only to find the school refusing to pay them the housing sub. of 300,000.

What's up with all this job stress foreign esl teachers are having to endure????

[spliff]

I live in a studio w/ my wife. Not too bad. Easy to maintain..clean. It has a walk in kitchen, walk in bathroom and a balcony storage area. I suggest anyone getting put up in one not to get a bed frame. Just get a good mattress and you can stand it up against the wall when not sleeping and open up a lot more space in the studio. And, anyway, Korean cheap bed-frames are crap and will collapse after about the third or fourth boink, anyway...