Korean Job Discussion Forums

taobenli · Joined: 26 Apr 2004

I posted about this before and I got a lot of rolled-eyes emoticons and people saying "there are hasook jips everywhere." But this really is a serious question. I'm a grad student in the U.S. and I've never been to Korea before, except just passing through (and then never to Seoul). I'll be coming to Korea on June 8th and will be doing Sogang's program till the end of August. Then I plan to travel around Korea and other places in Asia until the end of September. So I need a short-term place to live. Dorm, room in a house (but then I'd want an ajuma who didn't nag me to death), whatever is fine. I just need a tiny room with a desk, bed, maybe TV, would kind of rather not have a roomate. I have $2000 to spend from a fellowship for the whole summer for living expenses, so the cheaper the better. (I plan to do the traveling on some of my own savings).

For those of you who live in Korea, finding somewhere to live doesn't sound so scary. But for me and people in my program coming to Korea, it's scary. I spoke more Japanese when I went to Japan than I will speak Korean when I get to Korea, and negotiating apartment stuff in Japan was still really hard.

So, please please give me advice on what to do in preparation. I just don't know what to expect. I don't want to get out of the taxi in Shinchon on the evening of June 8th and be like, "What now?"

Thanks,

taobenli

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Why don't you try homestay for a while, first? Then you can ask questions of the people living there, and perhaps get more personal help.

I used www.komestay.com three years ago. It was excellent, and very worth-while. (oops, I see it's not available now).

There are other homestays out there, like www.homestaykorea.com

taobenli · Joined: 26 Apr 2004

bump!

Hmm...a homestay seems like it could be a good idea, but too expensive (at least the website you linked). I want to spend 400,000-500,000 max...I have no income here.

Any other advice? Please?

pushpin fantasies · Joined: 05 Mar 2005 Location: Seoul

I'm sure you've probably thought of this, but what about contacting Sogang University itself for support? I see they have an office that states one of its purposes as helping foreign exchange students - http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~interrel/index_english.html

casey's moon · Joined: 14 Sep 2004 Location: Daejeon

I had a free 2-week homestay. If English is your first language (certainly seems like it is) then you should be able to find one too, at least for the first few weeks, or maybe a month. Do you have any contacts who are currently studying at Sogang who could post an ad for you or something?

taobenli · Joined: 26 Apr 2004

Casey's Moon and Pushpin-

Thanks for those helpful responses! I hadn't seen the Office of International Relations website before...I had just gotten an e-mail from the adjumoni of a boarding house near Sogang, and I think while I will ultimately stay in a boarding house, I would rather be able to see places with my own eyes before committing to them. I noticed that the Sogang dormitory (apparently not available summer term?) is 935,000 won for four months, including two meals a day (not sure how good the food is). That' more like what I want to spend- 300,000 or 400,000. One of my Korean friends said to get good food you should pay about 700.000, but I just can't afford that.

So I'll see about a homestay for the first few weeks. For those of you who have stayed in hasook jips, how much did you pay?

I am getting more excited about going now that it is only 6 weeks away!

taobenli

jajdude · Joined: 18 Jan 2003

I bet you could find a family with a spare room happy to take you in for a chance to meet you and try to communicate with you in English! At least for a while.

So many parents are paying a good bit each month hoping the kids learn some English. If a native speaker is around a few hours per day, well, that might sound good to many parents. As long as you are OK with that situation.

Perhaps one could live here like that a while, but to get income requires other means. Wink

Good luck.

God love the internet.

Mashimaro · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Location: location, location

mithridates · Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:00 pm Post subject:

Here's where you want to go for goshiwons and one-rooms:

www.gosi1.net

I've used it to find rooms for other people before but I suspect you could navigate the page yourself. I could probably recommend a place or two though. Going to Shinchon?

taobenli · Joined: 26 Apr 2004

Hi, Mith-

Thanks for that! I can do some of the navigation on my own by now, but I'll ask a friend to help, too. Can you let me know any recommendations you have, too, in a pm or something? I don't care if the room is at all fancy, I just want a place to sleep and study for 3 months. It would be nice to have a TV and decent food, too, if food is provided. (Is a goshiwon the same as a hassok jip, with food provided? Or is it different?)

Thanks for your advice!

Bonnie