Korean Job Discussion Forums

[jst]

How clean do you leave your apartment when moving?

I'm curious, because my school pays for someone to come in and clean up the apartment after I leave, and I don't want to be "hit" with any cleaning fees.

So, is it common to shampoo the carpets, dust above the lights, scrub down the bathroom walls .....? Or will that stuff be taken care of by the cleaning company at no cost to me?

[eamo]

The convention in Korea is to not clean up the apt at all when you leave. For Koreans, it's more important to clear out the apt completely. Don't leave any crap behind.

The incoming tenants usually foot the cleaning bill. r just do the cleaning themselves. If your boss is saying otherwise then he/she might be trying to scam you.

[Illysook]

Many schools keep the same apartment from one teacher to the next. Take out all of your garbage and try to leave it in good shape. After all, would you want to move in after you?

[Riker]

I've always left a place spotless when I move out. I think it has something to do with my German heritage...

[northway]

A pit of filth is fairly acceptable.

[pandapanda]

Spotless. I paid an ajumma 35,000 won to spend 4 hours cleaning it for me.

[ktkates87]

When we first got here, there were two teachers moving out who we were replacing (2 different apartments). They placed us in one apartment but took us across town to the other teacher's place so we could swap beds and I was horrified at how the guy had left it. It looked like frosh week of college-- dirty dishes, clothes all over the place, garbage everywhere, and crap just EVERYWHERE. I could not believe it-- and the Koreans (boss, his boss and the secretary) didn't seem phased by it at all.

The apartment we were given was pretty dirty, but not at all in the same way the other place was. I would be horrified to have my boss as a reference for future jobs after leaving my place like that for them to clean up. So i guess what I'm getting at is that it didn't seem abnormal to leave your place dirty when moving out.

[sojusucks]

I've left 4 apartments looking spotless and have received 2 that were spotless and 2 that looked like a bomb went off in a dumpster.

[sojusucks]

[taobenli]

Our place was absolutely disgusting when we moved in. Old food in the drain in the sink, etc. BUT it is not teacher housing- we found the place ourselves. We had just gotten done cleaning the place we moved out of and then had to spend days scrubbing this place. I doubt we are even half as filthy as the last people who lived here (a young Korean couple), but yeah...I think we will NOT be cleaning it when we leave. If it the norm for Koreans not to clean it anyway...

[sojusucks]

At least throw away the food in the fridge. No one wants a half-eaten piece of chocolate or half a bottle of screw cap wine with a picture of Papa Smurf on the label. You don't want to know of the other stuff I've seen foreign teachers leave in apartments.

[cyui]

I left it in the same way I found it..dirty..Wha do they expect?

[Troglodyte]

[Riker]

[cyui]

Nope-just 8 months..I cleaned it daily ,but just let it go the last week or so..

My horrible boss also charged me to have a maid come (so the next teacher could to a nice clean apt), but didn't recporicate such curiosty before I moved in..( becasue I was the first foreign teacher).,so guess that meant I didn't deserve to have the same things' the next one did