Korean Job Discussion Forums

[vsiddy]

This question is aimed more so towards public school teachers.

How big is it?
Is it modern, clean and nice?
Does it have good transport links?

How much do you think your school pays for it?

I am having trouble finding a better place than my current digs (which is a hole), so I want to compare with what others have.

[NYC_Gal]

My place is pretty nice. I'm having a friend crash with me for a couple of weeks, so it is a tad cramped with my yo on the floor, as I've got furniture, but it's still pretty comfy. I often have friends stay overnight and there's enough space for yoga, my stair stepper, kitchen set (a small one but still seats 3 comfortably, 4 if I pull it away from the wall), my bike, some appliances, and super single bed (a little smaller than a double).

I'm in a satellite city (to Seoul), so rent is a little lower, though, so one gets more for their money.

[vsiddy]

[Chet Wautlands]

I'm at a public school and I have a two bedroom, two balcony apartment. Bathtub, full sized fridge... my neighbours are shocked I live alone. While this is uncommon, I'm not the only one in my city to have this same setup.

Take home lesson: every school is different.

[Italy37612]

I have a two bedroom as well. No balcony though, first floor I live an hour outside Seoul, where space isn't at a premium yet. I have a full size kitchen and even an oven. Apartment is only 2 years old. I lucked out with my accommodations. They even let me screw a dartboard into my wall. Have a nice couch and love seat in my living room and a 50 inch plasma that they also let me screw into the wall (TV did not come with the room though). I use the separate room as my office / reading room. Half the reason I haven't changed schools is because my apartment is so great.

[Senior]

Mine is great. The kitchen is separate, and quite huge. Maybe a third the size of the entire place. The living area is spacious. Big enough for a king-single bed, a wardrobe, a huge desk, my computer, a TV, two arm chairs, plus other miscellaneous junk-eg drying rack foot stool, coffee table, piles of dirty and clean laundry, a little vanity unit.

Downsides are-it gets zero sun. Needs the lights on during the day. And it gets ridiculously dusty! My old place was bad, but this place is insane. Periodically, I dust, within 12 hours it's back to what it was. Not goo, as I have allergies like a computer nerd.

The place needs a serious de-clutter. Might get on that tomorrow.

[waynehead]

I live in central Seoul, so, yeah...my place is pretty small. It's clean and modern, and I love my neighborhood, but I've been going back and forth in my mind for a while about moving out of town a little bit and getting a bigger place. My school pays about 700k/month for it, which is more than the contract requires.

[Italy37612]

Senior, my place also has the dust issue. I replaced all the filters on my AC units and I clean them once a week. I'm in the same boat. I dust and just a few hours later there is a layer all over my place again. It really pisses me off. The only real complaint I have about my place.

[The Gipkik]

I live in an expensive part of Seoul, so my place is quite small--like a hotel room really. But it's really quiet, it's fully furnished, convenient, and large enough for me to do my kettlebell routines inside with high enough ceilings. I can blast my air-con day and night without added expense. It's all that I need. My landlord really likes me, too. I am close to everywhere: convenience stores, subways, bus stops, department stores, bars, supermarkets, groceries, pc bangs, banks, restaurants, gyms, saunas, bookstores (in English), parks, and places to ride my bike. And when I say close I mean 1 to 10 minutes by foot. I don't think I'll ever find this combination of conveniences again in Korea.

[namerae]

My place seems to be bigger than most my co-teachers, so I'm happy about that. Mine is longer, kitchen is almost separate from everything else, so I can put a table there if I want (since I haven't tried to cook yet).

My bed is REALLY small, though. It's a proper twin, and the mattress is hard as a rock. I wonder, if I upgrade the bed, will the landlord get mad? The frame is basically cardboard. Mattress feels like a box spring box. Closet is small, but enough. TV is super old but that can be fixed.

The floors are super dirty because I guess they didn't bother to mop the floors before I moved in, and I've been having a hell of a time trying to clean them.

Otherwise...everything is great!

[Italy37612]

Namerae I highly doubt your landlord would mind. Of course ask him/her first. My room also had two twin beds, one for each bedroom. I asked if he would take them out and store them so I could buy one (not as hard as a board) queen-size bed. He didn't have a problem with it. He even helped me move out the beds and my new one in. And we had a beer afterwards.

[furtakk]

I live in an old, tiny villa. It's garbage and I can't wait to move out. It's the only thing I really hate about my current school, but I'm sure if I stayed on another year I could move somewhere nicer. It's convenient because it's super close to work, subway, shopping. However, it's still old and gross.

My new place is super nice. Not huge (about 18 pyeong), but the building in only 4 years old and it's very close to an emart, homeplus, and costco. It also has proper showering facilities and not the ghetto sink shower business. No more slippers in the bathroom for me.

[Capo]

i love living in a shoe box, i never get lost.

[InDaGu]

I still can't believe how much people are willing to pay just to live in Seoul.

I did my homework and have a 4-bedroom house in the heart of Daegu, for which I pay 400,000/month, and only put down 2 mil in key money.

[tanklor1]