Korean Job Discussion Forums

[R. S. Refugee]

My ps wants me to re-sign with them. I said OK but I want a bigger apartment -- 2 rooms, 15 pyeong instead of the current 1 room, 7 pyeong. I'm tired of living in a toaster slot.

They said OK, but I would have to move out to where the school is because the rents are cheaper there. Currently, I live at a transportation hub and have to commute by bus for a 1/2 hour out to the boonies where my school is. So, I'll be a 1.5 hr. commute to Itaewon instead of the current 50 minutes. I think I'd rather have that than spending an hour commuting to work and back m-f.

But now they say they are having trouble finding a place out there. My co-teacher's explanation was difficult for me to understand, but (don't laugh) I actually trust my Koreans at this school to be straight with me. I've never felt like they were being sneaky or dishonest in any way.

I'll give you her explanation as much word for word as I can. Then I'd like to know if this explanation rings any bells of understanding among any of you. Oh. She is relaying the explanation of the school comptroller.

"Many of the people out here are poor and have loans from banks. Mr. _____ (the comptroller) is worried about renting from them because they might skip out with the key money (because they are poor) and leave the school with a big financial loss. You understand?"

I told her that, no, in fact, I don't understand that much about how a rentor is assured of not losing key money to some unscrupulous landlord.

Anyway, it wasn't something that she was able to explain in any way that I could understand. She did say that another teacher (Korean) who just started there this semester also wanted to find a place to rent out there, but had given up on doing so because of this problem.

Knowledgeable explanations, anyone?

While I'd rather be in Seoul, I'm willing to stay out here for a while if I get a decent, bigger place to live. The people at this school are really just about unbeatable in terms of positive attitudes and easiness to work with (especially after a couple of somewhat defective previous employers at colleges, no less). But if not, I'll be looking for a ps job in Seoul at the end of my contract in May. Of course, that's not a great time to be looking for a ps job, but what are ya gonna do, eh?

[bassexpander]

I'd say your boss is only half playing with you, at most.

His excuse is sort of valid, but there is a way for him to check if an apartment owner is up the ying-yang in debt or not. I think it sounds like he doesn't want to go to the work of it all, or maybe for some other reason.

Where, roughly, is your school? Maybe we can suggest a better area for you and your boss to consider housing you in.

[Hyeon Een]

Sounds about right but there are ways they can protect themselves.

They can register the key money thing with the local city hall. Then if the landlord is unable to pay back the key money they can be forced to sell the property in order to pay their debts. This would be a LOT of hassle for the school though. So i can kind of understand why they wouldn't want to give tens of thousands of dollars to someone they think will run off with it =) Anyway i think the school should be able to find someone to rent a place from though. Surely the principal or one of the teachers are friends with someone in the village who's got some property..

[R. S. Refugee]

[Hyeon Een]

[dethe]

I have heard that they do have insurance for that. It is part of the fee you pay the house finder person. Ask about that.

[R. S. Refugee]

[wings]

Poor people generally don't own rental property. Just a thought.

[Ut videam]

[poet13]

Wow, what kind of place in teh country costs 10mill ksy +370k a month?
I do understand their argument, especially if what they are renting out is worth less than the key money + rents. I would also guess that they haven't done any kind of research into how to protect themselves. A lot of schools hiring foreigner teachers have no experience in dealing with us, and just guess as they go.

[R. S. Refugee]