Korean Job Discussion Forums

[casey's moon]

Come on Guru -- you don't have a Korean father-in-law! No reason for you to have a designated smoking room, is there?

BTW, I've successfully made our balcony the smoking lounge, and it's only been used as such on one occasion. My father-in-law seems to be uninterested in visiting ever again after being informed that we now have a comfortable place for him to smoke. I am...... pleased.

[JongnoGuru]

[Zyzyfer]

So, Jongno, are you going to pimp my pad?

[Hollywoodaction]

I'd probably be able to pull off paying the deposit for a house in Seoul, but I certainly don't have enough cash saved up to buy one. So, the questions I've been itching to ask are, "One floor or two floors?", " Is it a rental, or your own place?", "How much did it set you back?", and "What the hell do you do for a living?".

[Veronica]

You could always quit smoking - that would eliminate any smells in the house.....

[JongnoGuru]

Veronica, I'll pass along your friendly advice to my guests who smoke. But no, cigarettes are not the source of all smells in a home. Can't be bothered to track down the threads right now, but there are many non-smokers here living in apartments that reek like an open sewer due to bad plumbing.

Hollywood, All you need is the deposit and the ability to make the monthly interest payments. Few people "buy" their entire home -- the bank will typically own a large chunk.

My standard advice is this: I like seeing foreigners finally being permitted to own property in Korea in their own name. It was a very long time coming. However, not all foreigners in Korea who can afford a home here should buy one. Foreigners need to carefully weigh many different factors and variables and "what ifs" than Koreans do, and more than they would if they were buying a home in their own country.

And if you're married, while the desire and ability to buy a home naturally increases, so can the complications (for foreigners in Korea). The fact is, I've met very few foreign couples or Korean/foreign couples where the husband and wife were completely "in sync" about how long they plan, expect or desire to remain in Korea. They might put up a fairly convincing 'front' when you meet them together, but talking to them individually usually reveals some major differences in outlook, and it often becomes clear that one spouse has been twisting the other's arm on the issue. Then throw a few school-age children into the mix and you're entering a whole new world of decisions, worries, confusion, quarrels, unanticipated expenses...

While all of this is true to some degree wherever you are in the world, I really cannot stress enough that it's a wholly different and simpler equation for Koreans. And of course for foreigners buying a home in their own country.

Perhaps I'd offer a lighter, more upbeat, less cautionary assessment of things were I not sitting here looking at listings of three nice homes purchased by foreigners (at least one spouse) that I personally know, each of whom had to leave the country before they expected, and bang in the midst of a two-year supply glut of similarly-priced homes in the area. Trust me, whatever mistakes you might make in life, YOU DO NOT WANT to spend a year of it trying to sell or lease or otherwise get out from under a property in Korea when you're in Germany or Belgium or Toronto or Bangkok, all the while paying loan interest to a bank and regular taxes to the gu office. Indeed, you don't even want to leave these matters to Korean in-laws should you have any.


Zyzyfer, what exactly would that involve?

[Zyzyfer]

You know, kinda like makin' it pimpin' and stuff.

(I'm just kidding...sort of.)

[Rteacher]

I don't think anyone's suggested (I skimmed the posts quickly, so I might have missed it ...) one of those volcanic (?) or whatever their called mostly orange-colored lamps that are sold at the "well being center" and at Pharoah's (Egyptian) restaurant. They also have one at the Visitor Information office at the Itaewon subway station. They purify air and release negative ions and look pretty neat. They are available as electric lamps (that sell for around 90,000 won for larger ones) and also as candles (which I think go for around 15 to 20 thousand won...)

[JongnoGuru]

I know you're all the edge of your seats awaiting the next instalment of my cig-ass-smell adventure. Well, your cliff-hanging stops now, you need wait no more.

I've found something that works fairly well based on two separate real-life, real-guests, really-smoking situations. Glade "Anti-smoke" Plug-ins. I was concerned that just one plug-in wouldn't be powerful enough to handle a large room, so I tested the first one in a smaller room. When it seemed to do the job, I ran down and purchased three more so I'd be able to place them in sockets of all four walls in the big room.

And just what's so good about these things?

Cost: It was a small gamble that paid big savings. At just under 5,000 won/plug-in with a single 30-day "fragrance refill", they aren't terribly cheap as these things go. But alongside the other ideas I had -- some running well into the 100s of 1000s of won -- they are essentially free. Boxes of three fragrance refills are about 4,500 won, and each refill is supposed to last a month, though I only plug them in on the days I need them. Two boxes of refills should last me for nearly ever.

Effectiveness: If they don't entirely eliminate all cigarette smoke odour, they come close enough for my money and purposes. With all four of them running, the room is as un-stanky as the freshest-smelling smoking-permitted coffee shop or bar I've ever been in. And it's a whole world of difference from how it had been. ()

Convenience & Safety: They're very small and as the electrical outlets are nestled between shelves or hidden behind side tables, they aren't even visible. They're completely silent. You don't light anything, so there's no flame and no hot wax, and absolutely no chance of someone accidentally tipping them over, spoiling a carpet or burning down my home.

[PaperTiger]

This is obviously a question regarding the final boss in San Andreas GTA.

Charge in with the M-16 blazing, keep your gun trained on smoke until he collapses in wheezing pile of lard and cancer cells. Punka$$ mofo, dontchoo dare front on Grove Street or I"ll have to kill you TWICE!!!! Yee-ah.