Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Mr. Pink]

So far reading some of these stories:

WHY THE F_CK DO SUCH PIGS LIVE IN KOREA? Seriously? When I did hakwon housing I always had to clean up after people.

This one guy NEVER wore deoderant. OMFG the wardrobe I had to use stunk like an infested crotch. I had to air that sucker out for a week before I could put my clothes into it.

Also what's the deal with 1 real bedroom and 1 closet and the inhumane way directors put teachers into those closets? My first 9-10mths I was in a room no bigger than my mom's walk in closet. It was hotter than a sauna in summer and colder than a beer fridge in winter.

Anyways, reading these stories makes me think as much as company housing is enticing to saving money, I ain't walking down that road ever again.

Curious if anyone can beat the housing I had in university:

We had cockroaches, mice and some wild animal lived in the basement.
The floors were BLACK, the tub was BLACK and the walls which were white when we moved in, turned BROWN cause of the smokers in the house. We weren't pigs, just we couldn't remove the grundge and dirt from the guys who lived there before. However at 200 bucks a month, utils included per person, it was the cheapest place I ever lived in.

[Joe Thanks]

[Mr. Pink]

But Joe, some koreans live in smallass bedrooms, so if your only complaint is the guy who was "here first" gets a room 2-3x larger than your room (was the case my first 9-10mths here) what can the labor board do?

The nicest pads I have seen are the ones National Universities provide for their professors. I went to the SNU ones where a foreign guy was throwing a party and it was nice.

However since 90% of the people over here in the ESL trade are suffering in hakwons, what can be done?

[Joe Thanks]

[Dawn]

First time around: three-bedroom apartment, top floor in an almost-new apartment complex. School supposedly picked it up cheap after the previous tenants were evicted, and boss said it was in less than pristine condition. No sweat. He simply stuck me and my soon-to-be roommate in a decent hotel for a couple of days while a crew of cleaning ladies came in and did their thing. We moved in to new wallpaper, new curtains, all new furniture, etc.

Second time around: slightly three-bedroom apartment in an almost-new low-rise. Previous teacher (occupied it less than a year) supposedly left a bit of a mess behind, but again, school had it cleaned and in mint condition when I arrived. We're talking everything down to framed artwork and and tablecloths that coordinated with the wallpaper. No complaints here! And this time, it's unshared.

Rented one dive in the U.S., but asked the property manger before I signed on the dotted line whether I could repaint/paper the place. She said no problem and even volunteered to waive the first month's rent in exchange for the work. Oh, and after I got wallpaper up, the owner re-carpeted it in exchange for permission to show it to prospective tenants.

[Real Reality]

My building was condemned by the city government. What an exciting time. The dean had to finally admit it was not "okay housing."

[Cthulhu]

My first place for two months was a leaky bunker (complete with a reinforced steel door that would make Norad proud) in the basement of a villa/tiny-strip-mall. The aircon in the rest of the building somehow filtered down to me and my two friends (each having a room the size of a closet with another room the size of a walk-in closet as our "living room" and every morning I had an inch of smelly water on the linoleum to step around as I rose from my single bed with half the room covered by said bed.

Oddest thing is I never complained about it half as much as I should have--I was having too much fun to care.

Looking through Dave's I'm glad to see people still have fun in Korea.

[just because]

House is now cleaned up and looking nice. A little old but it is functional and clean(at 25 pyeong I am happy).