Korean Job Discussion Forums

[trish91198]

I'm leaving for Korea on Saturday...I just received an email from my recruiter stating that I would be placed in a motel near the school for the week of my orientation. I'm not paying for it, so it doesn't bother me, but I am wondering if this is typical and why I'm going there instead of my apartment.

[polonius]

It is probably being done as the school is in a transition period. Let's say that the current semester ends on Feb 27, which is the last day of the teacher you are replacing. That teacher has the right to stay in that apartment until they fly out. The school wants to bring you in early so you can train, and rather than bunk you in with another teacher, they are putting you up into a hotel until that apartment is available. It doesn't make sense for the school to get a whole new apartment.

I think it is the honorable thing to do. If I don't have apartments available for my incoming teachers, I would rather put them in a hotel than on someones couch. I finally convinced my director to implement my idea.

[yeremy]

Yes, it is a common practice if you're going to work at a hagwon.

[joshuahirtle27]

Yeah I stayed at a hotel for the first 3 days I was here. No big deal except it was frigging cold.

[Xuanzang]

No ondol or room heaters? WHat kind of dump was it?

[joshuahirtle27]

[trish91198]

a love motel...wonderful haha!
im hoping my accomodations are better

[Rae]

[TDR]

As I was the first teacher that my public school had ever had, they didn't have an apartment ready for me. I had to live in a love motel for the first two weeks before we got one set up. It was very decent, with free internet in the room and a sweet bath set-up. The downside was that I was living out of a suitcase and I had no facilities to cook in so I was reduced to eating take-out for every meal. I had already been in Korea for over a year at this point and I was used to having a home.

The upside to this was that I got to look at a few apartments and choose one that I felt was the best suited for me. In fact, the couple who was living in the apartment had a family member pass away the day before I was to move in. They asked for a bit more time to put their affairs in order and I obviously agreed. However, I ended up getting to move into an even better apartment with a better location! Who knows OP, maybe your situation could be a blessing in disguise!

-TDR-

[yeremy]

Korean love motels, like their Japanese counterparts, basically serve two types of customers. It is true that they are often rendezvous points for amorous couples, who may not be married to each other, or not all. On the other hand, they are often reasonably priced, cheap lodging which many people in Korea use when they travel for pleasure (no pun intended) or for work. Don't feel funny about staying in a love motel. They're often very reasonably priced and conveniently located housing, especially in rural areas, which are safe. Generally, they aren't the seedy, cheap and dirty hovels you may be thinking of.

My first encounter with a short-term "love motel," the kind you are probably worried about, was just before my wife and I got married. We were moving to a new neighborhood in Seoul and we wanted to spend the night there to see what it was really like. So, we spotted an inn and went to inquire if they had a room. The woman working in the inn looked at us and listened to my then fiancee's inquiry with an uncomfortable look on her face. She said something in rapid-fire, machine-gun Korean. My then fiancee, my wife today, turned to me and explained that the owner felt uncomfortable renting a room to us because they only rented them for three hours at a time to couples who weren't going to stay very long. She was worried that we would "scare off" (disrupt) her business. Hmmmmm... I was beginning to figure out what was up. She showed us a room, just in case we wanted to stay--for three hours. It was a very small, triangular-shaped room whose bed filled the room so there was less than a meter's clearance on all sides. Yeah... It was not what we were looking for, so we thanked her and left.

So, when you get to your motel, just make sure to lock your doors and take the normal precautions as you would back home. I hope this helped to set you a bit more at ease. A professor I know from the US, once told me that he often stays in a Japanese love motel when he goes to Japan to teach and for research, because they're cheap, clean (enough) and convenient. It's usually the same here.

One way to usually ID a love motel from the outside is to look to see whether or not the entrance to the parking lot/garage has a series of flaps which obscures one's view of someone's profile who is in the parking garage. However, that does not always work.

My wife and I stayed in a love motel a couple of months ago in Uljin near the coast, which did not have the curtains because the parking lot was outside and not inside the building. However, the room had a computer with internet access and there were adult movies saved on the monitor. I just forgot the correct term.

Another love motel, which is where I stayed in 2003, when I came to work at a hagwon had an unusual vending machine whose contents I cannot describe here.

Yet another sign, is whether or not your room has a 24/7 dedicated adult channel. I recently worked at an English camp in a rural "eup" or village, and there was the 24/7 adult channel.

Next, does your room have a circular bed with a mirror above or on the wall next to it? I

Finally, is red a predominant color scheme in the room?

[nomad-ish]

my hotel room for the school board orientation was great, in fact, it was a little over 300,000 won (we checked)

more like a mini suite, i guess

[hang10]

[justaguy]

Some of my best experiences in Korea were in a Love Motel.

[Xuanzang]

then why are you posting here hang10?

[hang10]