Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mooncalf]

I just arrived in Seoul yesterday and found out that the "one bedroom apartment" I was promised is actually a one room studio measuring 10 feet by 12 feet (about 4 pyong). The bedroom is the same room as the kitchen (no divider -- I can touch the stove, fridge, sink, clothes dresser and bathroom door from my single bed). It is not large enough to 1) cook a real meal, 2) have friends over 3) read or study (there's no room for a chair or desk!).

So give me advice:

1) What is a reasonable sized apartment for a newbie? (Perhaps you could tell me how large yours is?)

2) How do I get my school director to give me a better apartment? (I have been to the school and met my fellow teachers. It is a nice place with a good atmosphere. The other teachers say the director is a good person and always works with teachers to meet their needs. So I want to stay at this school.)

Many thanks!

[timhorton]

In their minds i'm sure they feel they have "met your needs" by assigning you to a free apartment ( i'm assuming it's free ). 4 pyong is small...but look on the bright side "it's free". And you can cook, watch tv, put out the cat, vacuum the floor, and turn off the lights all without getting up from your computer chair! Now that's convenient!

[Kimchieluver]

Talk to yout director, unless you really like breakfast in bed.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Your boss is an assshole. Does he think you're from Somalia or something?

[rhinocharge64]

I once had a 8 pyong room, and it was hell, it felt like a shoe box!!! If I was you, I would speak to your boss, and explain the obvious difficulties you are going to have. You will feel like the walls are closing in on you, and the world is nigh. He may have paid a years lease on this place; and if so he will not be wanting to resolve your problem.

All the best The Charge

[chachee99]

wow, you live in shoebox. You can't even add things to your apartment! Ask the other teachers what their apartments are like. If they got better ones let your director know. If he is a good person to work for then he should understand the quality of fair treatment for all employees, including housing.

On the other hand, if all the other teachers are suck in cells like you got, I guess you will have to learn to live with it.

[hubba bubba]

Yeah, tell bossman that you really arent happy living in a jailcell. You're probably SOL, but it's worth a try.

You could try to rent a place yourself???

[Ya-ta Boy]

Many of us put in our time in shoe boxes. While you might well WANT something bigger, you don't need one. You would be amazed at how much you can cook on a two-burner gas 'range'. I had two friends over for Indian food when I lived in a shoe box.

I advise you to be careful about asking for a bigger place. You might come off as just a spoiled, greedy foreigner.

[yingwenlaoshi]

Nah. Fk it. Tell him how thick-skulled he is for not thinking about your well-being.

Maybe the boss would really appreciate you if you offered to live in a tent. Or in your classroom. Betcha he'd go for it. Think about how nice he would be to you. Wow.

[Rteacher]

On my first hagwon job, I had a pretty small studio apartment with noisy, domestically-violent neighbors. After a few months, the director on his own moved me to a better, bigger apartment in a high-rise - although it was still a studio...

My second job (I had to use a recruitor...) in Gangneung I settled for the same pay (even though I now had two years experience and a TEFL certificate...) largely because the recruitor told me that the owner promised a large apartment, and that Gangneung was a nice place to live...

Well, Gangneung is a nice, scenic place, but I was shocked at how tiny the apartment was - and there wasn't even a bed in it. I actually bought my own king-size air mattress from a camping store, and there was practically no room to walk around it when it was inflated (though I leaned it against the wall much of the time...)

That wasn't even the worst part - my room was in a building across from Gangneung University, and it was basically off-campus student housing. And the room next to me seemed to serve as an all-night party room at least two or three times a week. Even with ear plugs I couldn't screen out the loud music and laughing and yelling from what had to be the worst students in town ...

Eventually, after enduring ten months there because the job was actually fun and very easy for me, the recruiter advised me to quit (on one day notice) because the hagwon owner told her that they were on the verge of bankruptcy and couldn't give my severance pay (they did manage to give me some money beyond my last month's pay - even though I only worked a couple weeks - while some Korean teachers weren't paid at all...)

Ironically, while waiting for a public school position, the recruiter got me a temporary gig that housed me in a huge, three bedroom apartment with large, fully stocked kitchen, really big living room, and balcony...

But, it was a very cold winter - and the price of heating that place was so high that my utility bills totalled over 300,000 won a month - and I was still cold ...

[Real Reality]

Foreigners Fight Bias
No Foreigners Allowed: Nationality Discrimination Legal in Korea
By Christopher Carpenter and Jane Han, Korea Times (December 12, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/special/200612/kt2006121219555767650.htm

Trafficking of English Teachers?
By Chris Brockie, Korea Times (March 17, 2006)
http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/opinion/200603/kt2006031716054754060.htm

[Captain Corea]

Anything below 10 peyuong is cutting it pretty tight.

[lover.asian]

[tophatcat]

4 pyoung! I say, "put a wall down the middle of the place!" Now you have a duplex! Rent the other half out! Now the extra cash is rolling in! Who really needs all that extra room?

[Mr. BlackCat]