Korean Job Discussion Forums

[g35doc]

Any recommendations for where to live in Seoul? Nicer/cleaner teacher apartments, less noisy (if possible), etc. Any places to avoid? Thanks.

[PRagic]

Any clean enough place within a 10 minute walk to a subway station and a 20 minute commute to where you work.

[Scamps]

I used to live at the Daecheong Tower Officetel. It was clean, very quiet and super convenient. There was a gym with a swimming pool in the building, a food court in the basement and the subway (Daecheong on line 3 in Gangnam-gu) was also attached to the basement. You didn't even have to walk outside! It was spacious for an officetel and had a nice view as well. There were other little shops in there too like convenience stores, a dry cleaners, travel agency, clothes shop, a hair salon, etc. Great place! Rent was cheap too. 5,000,000 KRW for key money and 500,000 for rent each month. Bills were seperate.

[phoneboothface]

Lots of areas of Gangnam are cleaner than any other gu, and in general the places are nicer cuz they're newer. And it's not as noisy cuz the people here are... dare I say... a little more cultured... so I don't see as many street yelling matches, spitting, etc as I had seen living in other gus.

It's expensive.

Many foreign teachers live in Gangnam, Itaewon (Haebangcheon), and Hongdae if you don't want to be too isolated...

[RobLeeTeach]

What exactly is an Officetel? Is it equivalent to a "bachelor" apartment in the US. A studio apartment being smaller than a 1-Bedroom, and a bachelor being smaller than a studio with no kitchen and just a hotplate?

[Harpeau]

My wife and I are really enjoying our place in upper Kyunleedan, Itaewon 2 dong. Where we are it's fairly quiet and close to Namsan Park. A more healthy vibe and has a bit of a Europa feel to it, IMHO.

[Scamps]

Officetels are buildings used for either single people, young couples saving up or people using them to do some business.
They can range in size but they all have a kitchen and a bathroom although sometimes you're left to furnish it.
The buildings are always high-rises and they usually offer other services in there because they also cater to businesses.
In my last officetel there was a TGIF's, a bank, beauty parlor, etc.
They also have garages (a large underground one) for parking.
They have security guards too and if you receive a package and aren't home to get it they can hold it for you.
I think officetels are more luxurious, modern and clean than a normal apartment or villa.

[Xuanzang]

Avoid places on the outskirts of the subway lines or without decent bus service.

[CA-NA-DA-ABC]

this question depends on whether you're single or not, whether you can speak Korean or not, etc. etc.

Personally, I give thumbs up to Mokdong. Plenty of recreation facilities and parks.

[zappadelta]

[CA-NA-DA-ABC]