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Change the lock on your door now!
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bellum99



Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: don't need to know

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 10:29 pm    Post subject: Change the lock on your door now! Reply with quote

I was thinking that maybe many people hadn't thought of this. Always change the deadbolt on the door when you move into a new place and don't give anyone the key. It is cheap and easy to do this and then you can be sure that people are not in your house easily. I think 90% of the time a boss will check the teachers house or get the landlord to do it at least once in your contract.
Don't throw away the old lock...just keep it until you are going to move and have it changed back. This may save a lot of trouble and hassles. Remember that the landlord will always a copy of the keys that you have unless you do this and the d!!cks know your work times and so does the boss.
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seoulkitchen



Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Location: Hub of Asia, my ass!

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Plus, you might get robbed by the former tenants, this happened to my friends.
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Kimchieluver



Joined: 02 Mar 2005

PostPosted: Fri Dec 09, 2005 11:57 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

PLUS!!! (enter another reason here)
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jacl



Joined: 31 Oct 2005

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe it's against the law to get a deadbolt or at least change the lock. But do it anyway if it makes you feel safer. I, for one, couldn't care less.
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Shooter McGavin



Joined: 22 Nov 2005
Location: ROK

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 1:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Good advice...
I told my boss of a mold problem in the bathroom in my place. Of course, the solution was "open your windows and let air flow through," which is fine, except in the winter when I will FREEZE TO DEATH.

Anyway, I came home and the cupboard I had in my kitchen was moved to the living room, and everything in it had been taken out and moved to other cupboards. Naturally, when I came in I was like WTF?!?! The landlord explained that she felt that my laundry would dry better in the kitchen so she had done me this "favour." My clothes will dry better, even though there is ondol in the living room and not the kitchen, so there is nothing to actually heat the clothes with in there! But what do I know, I'm a stupid foreigner.

I told my boss, and to his credit, he told her to leave my stuff alone. Still, I didn't appreciate that my things would be arranged according to the whims of someone else. Nothing was stolen, but it was aggravating as heck. So I would follow this advice if you can, because at least one landlord out there views tenant's property as their own, so the potential for more exists.
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SuperHero



Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

jacl wrote:
I believe it's against the law to get a deadbolt or at least change the lock.

wrong.
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jacl



Joined: 31 Oct 2005

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shooter McGavin wrote:
Good advice...
I told my boss of a mold problem in the bathroom in my place. Of course, the solution was "open your windows and let air flow through," which is fine, except in the winter when I will FREEZE TO DEATH.

Anyway, I came home and the cupboard I had in my kitchen was moved to the living room, and everything in it had been taken out and moved to other cupboards. Naturally, when I came in I was like WTF?!?! The landlord explained that she felt that my laundry would dry better in the kitchen so she had done me this "favour." My clothes will dry better, even though there is ondol in the living room and not the kitchen, so there is nothing to actually heat the clothes with in there! But what do I know, I'm a stupid foreigner.

I told my boss, and to his credit, he told her to leave my stuff alone. Still, I didn't appreciate that my things would be arranged according to the whims of someone else. Nothing was stolen, but it was aggravating as heck. So I would follow this advice if you can, because at least one landlord out there views tenant's property as their own, so the potential for more exists.


Holy Jebus! I have to sign off now. That's just ridiculous. I think that she thinks you are a monkey.
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JongnoGuru



Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 2:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

(not meant as an alternative to changing the doorlocks, etc.)

Okay, now here's how we play this game. I mention something that might be practical for some people, and then the rest of you all jump in and kick my idea to pieces. Got it? 'course you do! What could be simpler, right? Okay, here goes:

Buy a fire-proof, new or used, big metal safe for storing small valuables.

Cheaper and easier to arrange than renters' insurance from a Korean insurance company, and what an annoying headache you JUST KNOW that's going to end up being for someone likely to live here just a year or two. And they're everywhere. Costco, Home Depot, speciality shops, online.




Begin kicking...... now!
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I_Am_Wrong



Joined: 14 Sep 2004
Location: whatever

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 5:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

what happens when they steal my safe?
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bellum99



Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: don't need to know

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 5:59 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

It is not illegal to change locks. Koreans actually expect you to do it. The boss doesn't want you to and neither does the landlord, but you just call the lock guy and they come and change the locks. It is very easy.
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JongnoGuru



Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 6:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I_Am_Wrong wrote:
what happens when they steal my safe?

Well, there are many different types, IAW, and the smaller, lighter ones -- they can usually be anchored to something that a thief or employer can't possibly steal. The bigger ones (and they're more heavy than they are large), trust me, they're not the sort of thing a light-fingered cat burglar is going to be stuffing into his bag as he scales down the side of your apartment building. Many are equipped with obnoxiously loud alarms as well.
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kangnam mafioso



Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: Teheranno

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

oh, don't be so dang paranoid!
not all koreans are out to get you!

with that said, i never had a lot of valuables in my apartment. clothes ... a few books ... discman and a few cds. everything else was stuff they furnished it with. i always kept the bulk of my cash in the bank (korean and american accounts) where no one could touch it but me. passport, tickets and a little emergency cash was hidden in the apartment. photocopies of all vital documents (passport, alien card, return tickets, drivers license, social security card, bank account info) were hidden in my books so if they turned up missing, it would not be a catastrophic problem.

korea is one of the safest countries in the world, and if you are there for only a couple of years, there is no reason to have so much expensive stuff in your apartment that you have to change the locks! just use common sense. don't leave 5 million won laying in your bedside drawer and your passport on the kitchen table.
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kangnam mafioso



Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: Teheranno

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:31 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

ps -- it's also nice when you lose your keys to be able to call someone who can open the door for you ... instead of having to go through the rigmorale and expense of korean locksmiths.
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turtlepi1



Joined: 15 Jun 2004
Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kangnam mafioso wrote:
...don't leave 5 million won laying in your bedside drawer and your passport on the kitchen table.


It's true...that's what happened to me...I left 5 million won laying on the table and it went missing...Oh wait...my boss actually forgot to pay me the 5 million won...different problem... Twisted Evil

Miss Koreans, don't miss some of the problems of working in their country...
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seoulkitchen



Joined: 28 Dec 2004
Location: Hub of Asia, my ass!

PostPosted: Sat Dec 10, 2005 10:49 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

kangnam mafioso wrote:

korea is one of the safest countries in the world, and if you are there for only a couple of years, there is no reason to have so much expensive stuff in your apartment that you have to change the locks! just use common sense. don't leave 5 million won laying in your bedside drawer and your passport on the kitchen table.


Although Korea is pretty darn safe, thievery is pretty rampant.
One morning I awoke to noise coming from my bathroom.
Someone had just been trying to break in through there. I opened my front door and there was some dude kneeling there, probably trying to pick my lock.
The dude stood up, mumbled an apology and took off runnin.
Being half naked I decided not to pursue.

At a hotel we were staying at on the east coast the door didn't automatically lock. Someone strolled right in while we were sleeping and ripped us off.

Korea, safe but annoying.
Changing locks just takes a screwdriver.....
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