Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ernie]

ok, so maybe not all of them suck, but mine certainly did.

i moved into my apt in sept 07. it was a 'loft' style, which means that instead of having one room that could comfortably fit a couch and table, i got 2 rooms about 6 feet across that could barely fit the smallest sofa i've seen in my life. there is a reason why people don't live in closets or hallways. i never appreciated the concept of shelving until i realized that there was nowhere to put my clothes. or my food. or my dishes. or my books.

ventilation was non-existent. there was no exhaust fan in the bathroom, so the floor would be wet for an entire day following a shower. the windows only opened about 30 degrees so getting fresh air or a breeze was impossible. there was moisture in between the panes, which explains why the room was impossible to heat. clothes left out to dry would have to sit out (with the fan on them) for 2 days or more. somehow random smells (cigarettes, rotting kimchi, bowel movements) had no trouble seeping into my bathroom through the floor drain.

the neighborhood totally sucked. it was noisy, polluted, and far away from my school or anywhere worth going to. having a window open at night was out of the question.

after living there for a month, i received a piece of paper telling me that i must pay 100 000W 'kwalibi' (management fee). when i inquired about this, i was told it was a one-time payment. no problem, 100 bucks for a whole year isn't that much. the next month i receive another invoice. when i ask what exactly i'm paying for, they refuse to answer. after raising hell for 6 months with my school, i finally receive a breakdown of the costs.

on top of cleaning, elevator, insurance, and other miscellaneous stuff (what did RENT cover, i wonder?) i was paying for a security system AND a guard (who was asleep half the time, never stopped anyone from entering, and who i would have paid to NOT be there) and a 'parking tower' (they must have thought i drove to korea)!

make sure your employer knows that your accommodations are of UTMOST priority to you. koreans think that officetels are great (and this apparently justifies their insane maintenance bills), but like any place they are hit and miss. mine sucked. instead of thinking 'let's create a place that someone would want to live in', the designers thought 'hmm... i bet we could squeeze another body into the corner of this building'.

i'm sorry for the poor bugger who took over the place. i hope they get out of there asap. my new apartment is probably less square footage but feels much bigger because the design makes sense. my total bills now (kwalibi, internet, cable, water, electricity, and gas) are about what i paid last year for kwalibi alone. my floors are dry, i can open my windows at night, and the apartment staff actually care about me. thank god i'm out of there!

[Lekker]

[Fishead soup]

I stayed in a complete hellhole. Could not fully close the window because the cable line went out the window froze to death every night in winter. Kept awake by noisy drunks from the singing room below. Huge gas bills.
Landlord fiddling with the gas meter and pocketing his ill gotten game.

[ernie]

typo. corrected.

[Lekker]

Find your own flat next time round that falls into your needs.

Your employer will either A. be annoyed,
or B. be very proud and relieved, and have a lot more respect for you.

I couldn't be happier with what I found.

[ernie]

also make sure to tell your employer that you need to account for your expenses, because:
1) they affect your budget,
2) they may be tax deductible in your home country, and
3) you're likely not korean, so you probably don't understand what kwalibi is or why you're supposed to pay it. "all koreans do X" is an observation, not necessarily an obligation!

[The Hammer]

Don't worry mate. It's always a little rocky for newbies starting out in the highly rewarding career field of ESL. Give it some time and you can be like the Korean version of the Jeffersons and start... ('erbody sing) Movin on Up, To the Top!

[The Hammer]

[ernie]

re: finding your own flat

this sounds simple, but is actually ridiculously difficult. do you have 5 grand (or more) lying around for key money? i don't. would you trust some landlord to pay you back? i'm skeptical. do you know where your school is located? seoul is a big place and it would suck to live an hour or more from your workplace. in both of the last 2 years, i was told where my school was literally hours before i was expected to start work.

i guess what i'm saying is that if your employer is annoyed by your insisting on a decent place to live, you're probably better off finding another job. also don't decide on a place until you actually see it, since square footage does not reflect how big the place feels.

if you have the money and the wherewithal to find your own place, know that you can always camp out in a yeogwan or at a love motel or at a friend's place for a week or two while you look for your own place.

[pkang0202]

Officetels have generally been really nice as far as I know. Much nicer than one-room buildings.

OP, you should go check out a rooftop One-room. Its a cargo container with a sink and bathroom, I'm dead serious.

My gf lives in an officetel in Gangnam and the place is pimp.

[ernie]

my new place is a one room apartment and i'm really happy with it. i guess i got lucky this time!

[Underwaterbob]

I think generally in Korea the newer it is the better is it. Maintenance is not high priority when you can throw up a building for cheaper than it is to renovate the old one.

[princess]

Well, my apartment is OK, but I live in the Bangi area. That neighborhood is not all that great either. I have to take a taxi/bus/subway to anywhere fun, and I get those disgusting smells coming up from my bathroom drain once in a while. Just get a bottle of bleach and pur down the drain. Takes care of it for a few weeks. The people who live in Hangyang apartments behind Galeria Department store are sooooo lucky. They can walk right out the door and go to many nice shops/restaurants/bars across the street. You'd never have to take public transportation, unless you left your neighborhood. I'd feel like going out after work more if I lived there. But, I guess Bangi helps me save more money when I'm too lazy to bother going anywhere.

[fortysixyou]

My Officetel in Ilsan kicks major booty. Big room, storage loft, great ventilation, huge windows, excellent bathroom.

I feel lucky for having such a great place that suits my needs perfectly.

The only thing I do wish is that I had separations between the kitchen, living, and sleeping areas. The whole one-room thing kind of freaks me out and there's not much privacy when more than one person is staying there.

[Zutronius]

My officetel in Mokpo is small but nice. I have no complaints with it. You win some and you lose some.