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Dumb question #1 -- Renting apartment in Seoul.
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R. S. Refugee

Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:50 pm Post subject:

edit error. Last edited by R. S. Refugee on Thu May 05, 2005 7:05 pm; edited 3 times in total

itaewonguy

Joined: 25 Mar 2003

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:51 pm Post subject:

mithridates wrote:

Here's the place I'm moving into the day after tomorrow: right in the centre of the centre of Seoul, within 1km distance of �� and ��û stations. Five pyeong, everything included, which means free internet, free rice, kimchi, ramyeon, eggs, free laundry, electricity, free tv, all furnished, etc. Rent is 600 000 a month.
I .

5 pyung!???? jeeez man... how can anyone live in a 5 pyung place!?
add a zero to that and you have my place..
sure it aint city centre but 30 minutes away isnt that big a deal..

R. S. Refugee

Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 9:58 pm Post subject:

itaewonguy wrote:

5 pyung!???? jeeez man... how can anyone live in a 5 pyung place!?
add a zero to that and you have my place..
sure it aint city centre but 30 minutes away isnt that big a deal..

But how expensive is it? And for commuting, are we talking car or mass transit?

Oh, and could you explain the photo in your sig line.

Daechidong Waygookin

Joined: 22 Nov 2004
Location: No Longer on Dave's. Ive quit.

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:02 pm Post subject:

itaewonguy wrote:

mithridates wrote:

5 pyung!???? jeeez man... how can anyone live in a 5 pyung place!?
add a zero to that and you have my place..
sure it aint city centre but 30 minutes away isnt that big a deal..

5+0 is 5 isnt it?

Anyway, you live in Bundang heheeh. Didnt we cover the fact that Kangnam is the center of the universe and Bundang is like pluto?

Nice house Jognoguru. How much?

R. S. Refugee

Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK

Posted: Sat Feb 05, 2005 10:10 pm Post subject:

Daechidong Waygookin wrote:

Anyway, you live in Bundang heheeh. Didnt we cover the fact that Kangnam is the center of the universe and Bundang is like pluto?

Oh, well. As long as it isn't like Uranus. Very Happy

canuckistan
Mod Team

Joined: 17 Jun 2003
Location: Training future GS competitors.....

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:35 am Post subject:

Derrek wrote:

canuckistan wrote:

Derrek wrote:

canuckistan wrote:

4-6 million key money down, 450,000 W a month gets you a decent place and a stable home where if your hagwon goes belly up you don't have to move in 3 days, just find another job. In Seoul that's easy. You can negotiate with your hagwon to pay the rent too, they generally like that they don't have to put key money down for a teacher and get tied up in a lease. It's win/win.

If you don't mind travelling across town back and forth to work every day. Oh, and don't forget how much fun said situation would be if you were stuck at a bad school, wanting to leave, and not getting a release from a director. Would be fun to have to leave Seoul and worry about how you'd get your deposit back.

Next post, please.

Well Derrek, Some of us just don't have those kinds of problems with Koreans Laughing

Good for you... but what about the OP?

Isn't that what this thread is about? Laughing

I doubt the OP will have any probs; the OP sounds like a very cool, reasonable, unbaggaged individual.

mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 2:56 am Post subject:

Quote:

Congrats mithridates, you live in the smallest most-overpriced apartment in this whole damn country.

I'll be sure to tell that to the cool Japanese girl I just met who lives in one of the rooms downstairs.

mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:03 am Post subject:

Quote:

With that said, I can also see why mith likes where he is for convenience and time-saving. After all he said he's so focused on other things like his writing project (what are you writing, by the way?) that he doesn't even want to take time to cook.

Writing newspaper articles...I also have to take time to respond to people that come to my home page. I'm not at the stage yet where I can just ignore people and expect them to come back again and again.

Quote:

So, mith, where are you going out to study? Hanging out at a StarBuck's or something like that? Or something else?

Usually at The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf in Gangnam. There's a nice seat where I can see people and they can see me, and then I can finally get some study done. I need distraction to study well.

Quote:

but what about you, mith. Any city parks or long green strips dedicated to walking in your central Seoul location or is it just city sidewalks for mile after mile?

Just about 5 minutes walk away is a nice park, actually. I was walking by there on the way back and I smelled something weird. What is this scent, I've smelled it before...ah, tree smell! Haven't smelled that in almost a month.

Quote:

Oh, by the way, mith, I've decided to keep one of my banjos and bring it with me. If I were in a situation like yours, how would that work out with neighbors? It's actually a much quieter instrument than piano or drums.

This place you can bring people over and hang out, listen to music and what not,but I'm not sure about a banjo...I haven't spent a full night here yet so I'm not sure how soundproofed it is. They say it is.

Quote:

Oh, mith, how about an exterior photo of your new building.

The exterior's bland (big surprise):

That white veranda-like thing in the middle of the left side of the building is where my room is. That's my window.

R. S. Refugee

Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:16 am Post subject:

mithridates wrote:

The exterior's bland (big surprise):

That white veranda-like thing in the middle of the left side of the building is where my room is. That's my window.

You may say bland, but I tell ya; it's a much homeier feeling that I like compared to those monstorous hi-rises that jng showed us. No offense intended to any of you living a hi-rises; it's just doesn't feel as homey to me.

mithridates

Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:30 am Post subject:

That's true. I do like being up in the air though, so it's a tough call. I remember launching paper airplanes out my friend's place who lives on the 18th floor and they would circle around for a few minutes before they landed. Did I mention that I make a mean paper airplane? Totally different from the standard one, much wider wingspan. I like this place because everything's new. The washing machine is tiny and spins around on a horizontal axis, the tv's only 20 inches but it's a flat-screen monitor, and everyone I've seen here has been friendly. I like knowing my neighbours, and they're all in their 20s like me.

R. S. Refugee

Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 3:09 pm Post subject:

mithridates wrote:

That's true. I do like being up in the air though, so it's a tough call. I remember launching paper airplanes out my friend's place who lives on the 18th floor and they would circle around for a few minutes before they landed. Did I mention that I make a mean paper airplane? Totally different from the standard one, much wider wingspan.

I like this place because everything's new. The washing machine is tiny and spins around on a horizontal axis, the tv's only 20 inches but it's a flat-screen monitor, and everyone I've seen here has been friendly. I like knowing my neighbours, and they're all in their 20s like me.

My impression has been that violent non-domestic crime is virtually non-existant in Korea, but that there is a fair amount of burglary which officetels are probably more secure from than villas. Is it a good idea to have a place with bars on the windows if you're in a villa, or have I gotten this all wrong?

OiGirl

Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 4:18 pm Post subject:

R. S. Refugee wrote:

But, also from my "Culture Shock -- Korea" book, I hear that going out to eat alone falls into to the realm of cultural taboo there. I'm hoping, big city, less taboo. .

I wouldn't say taboo...I have never been denied service, spit on, ostracized. And I do it in a medium-large city as well as much smaller towns when I'm travelling.

R. S. Refugee

Joined: 29 Sep 2004
Location: Shangra La, ROK

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 5:00 pm Post subject:

OiGirl wrote:

I wouldn't say taboo...I have never been denied service, spit on, ostracized. And I do it in a medium-large city as well as much smaller towns when I'm travelling.

Good to hear. The other one that I worry about is compulsory drinking where underling employees have to pay Confucian respect to the boss by going out for a long period of drinking regularly after work and at his insistence drink excessively to avoid giving offense. I enjoy going out and drinking a little too much occasionally, but I would hate to have to deal with the delimma of compulsory booze ups to avoid offending a boss. I'm hoping that this tradition is to be found more in the corporate world than in the ESL teaching world and that the crazy foreigners are exempted from that tradition anyway.

JongnoGuru

Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 6:55 pm Post subject:

mithridates wrote:

That is nice, don't get me wrong...though if scenery were my number one priority I think I'd be back in Canada still.

I, however, have a 5-minute commute to my nearest coffee shop. Perhaps mindmetoo would care to jump in and extol the virtues of living close to a coffee shop with me?

Like most people, my needs and wants in a home have increased and changed over the years. Scenery definitely wasn't a factor until recently. My priorities were always: (1) Will I be able to make the rent & deposit without fail, every month?; and (2) Are the number, size & layout of rooms suitable for studying and working? After I reached the point where I could start to afford some luxuries, it wasn't a view or scenery that I wanted first. It was space to entertain friends.

Also, I didn't care much about the commute time to the office, and indeed most Koreans I've worked with generally don't seem to make a large deal of that either. Certainly not enough to drag their home and family across Seoul just to be closer to dad's job.

A side issue: Am I wrong, or do ex-pats here tend to byatch louder about a 45-minute commute in Seoul than they would about a 90-minute (and much more expensive) commute back in their own countries? They definitely byatch louder than most Koreans who have even longer commutes.

phaedrus

Joined: 13 Nov 2003
Location: I'm comin' to get ya.

Posted: Sun Feb 06, 2005 7:02 pm Post subject:

JongnoGuru wrote:

A side issue: Am I wrong, or do ex-pats here tend to byatch louder about a 45-minute commute in Seoul than they would about a 90-minute (and much more expensive) commute back in their own countries? They definitely byatch louder than most Koreans who have even longer commutes.

Commutes in small towns are usually five minutes by car. That includes getting in and out of the car.

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