Korean Job Discussion Forums

gmarthews · Joined: 20 Sep 2005

Hi there, I've just arrived at my public school placement but I have a massive problem.

I was told I was being placed in Goseong town (in Gyeongnam) which is obviously pretty rural in itself but I and my wife were fine with that, we lived in a small town (Hongseong) in Chungnam before and really liked it. However we've arrived and found that my school is in Goseong-gun rather than the town itself which is also fine in itself except my school is insisting that it is only possible to live in this tiny one street village which is frankly awful.

I requested a small town from my recruiter but did specify that I didn't want to live somewhere with nothing at all, and he was fine with that and believed that my school would be fine with that too.

Since I'm married but my wife isn't working they said we'd need somewhere a little bigger than usual so didn't arrange for accomadation before we arrived but now we're here they wont help us find anywhere in Goseong town and just keep saying it isn't possible and there are no apartments available there and that we must live in this village, if you could even call it a village.

What do we do? How do we find our own accommodation? Where do we look? Online? In magazines/newspapers? Where? Help! We really can't live here, it has the basics, but it is really just a street with a few shops and nothing else....

djsmnc · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Dave's ESL Cafe

Go to a 부동산 in the area you like! Boo-dong-san

D.D. · Joined: 29 May 2008

They pull this on so many new teachers. They will cave in if you say there is no way you will live in the small town. I would sit down and say you want some sort of help or you are leaving. Try to explain you are really cool if you are treated well. Not many teachers survive those small little towns and Koreans should know this by now. My school learned this lesson the hard way by having a runner so I was put in the larger city and given rides out to the country schools. Problem is after 3 months they took the rides away and I am out of pocket 200000 a month for taxis and buses.

zipper · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 3:19 am Post subject:

What's worse is that if the prior NEST was able to hack the small town life, and tolerated the mold infested shoebox, then they will think among themselves that you can do it, too. I know because I live on a farm where the entire community knows when I come and go...They also watch to make sure I don't bring any girlfriends home...I have to thank the previous camper for that.. Laughing

gmarthews · Joined: 20 Sep 2005

Thanks guys, we've just emailed our recruiter telling him we wont stay here and we're making it pretty clear we're not happy to our school.

What's a 부동산 when it's at home though? And how will it help us?!

Any more advice?

seonsengnimble · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:05 am Post subject:

gmarthews · Joined: 20 Sep 2005

Thanks to everyone for their replies, I've got a place in the town now thank god, the school dragged their feet but when we got up and said we'd go back to England it all started to move much quicker. LOL!

I've met a few people in this gun who have dumped in the middle of nowhere and I really feel for them. Sad

pavement burns · Joined: 24 Sep 2006 Location: Pocheon, Kyonggido Korea

Hi there,

I believe you may be quite near Samcheonpo (now Sachon) which is fifteen or twenty minutes west. Why not just insist on living there? You might find something quite near the large electric power plant which is closer to local beaches, buses, larger supermarkets, etc.

KuroBara · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 11:56 am Post subject:

blackjack · Joined: 04 Jan 2006 Location: anyang

I got mine by myself and I am on an E2.

First step decide on what you want officetel, villa or apartment, officetels will normally accept a minimum of 5 million key money while villas and apartments typically require more (but some villas can have low key money as well).

Next step decide what area you want. It typically doesn't matter which realtor you go to as they share listings.

Walk into a realtor (my korean is really bad so I had written out my key money and monthly rent maximums). Try to find a realtor you like and get a good vibe from, you will be visiting several rooms.

Be clear if you like a place or not to the realtor, don't let yourself get pushed around. Look for any trace of mold, a loft, storage space, natural light, heating/cooling.

Say yes or no to the realtor. They will normally ask for a deposit. For me it was 1 million out of a total of 5 million key money). You pay the balance when you move in. Also don't forget about the realtors fee, becareful they may ask for much more than they are meant to (they tried to ask for 600,000 in my case), you should be paying no more than 300,000.

If you have any questions I am sure there are plenty of people willing to help

http://www.lifeinkorea.com/Information/find.cfm
http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2905246