Korean Job Discussion Forums

wanderingsalsero · Joined: 23 Dec 2006 Location: Houston, TX.

I'd like to ask the advice of the sages on Daves..

I've got an issue with the new apartment my new school got for me.

It's way, way too damn small. Here's the details:

I just arrived last night in Suwon. My supervisor lady, who I'll refer to as Ms.A came to my previous school last night, near Namyangju, to pick me up. We loaded all my stuff into her car, and then drove back to Suwon to get me into my new apartment.

When I'd earlier signed the contract she'd asked me if I wanted her to (a) just go ahead and get a place without checking with me or (b) if I wanted to come back and see the apartment before they actually obligated for it.

I suggested a happy medium.....that she simply take a few pictures of it and email them to me for my approval. She said, 'OK'.

In the interim between then and now(about 2-3 weeks), I had called her several time just to see how things were going and share some of the developments about me leaving the school where I was. Her phone rang but she didn't answer. I managed to contact her, I think, once only.

The point here is that she did have 2 or 3 conversations with my supervisors at the school where I was (i.e. working out visa details, etc.). I yesterday came to find out that she had had some problems with her cell phone and that's the reason she didn't answer or return my calls.

So at that point my thought was, "Well......OK. But it seems like you could have conveyed that news to me via your conversations with those other people you were talking to at my school."

Anyway........we get to Suwon last night, drive up to what obviously is a new building. It looks nice......it's 4 stories and apparently has some shop space on the bottem floor which is still being built-out.

She tells me my apartment is up on the 5th floor and there's no elevator.

OK...not a big deal with me. I'm not adverse to exercise. But when I walk into the place.....geez! It's a well decorated prison cell. It's a friggin cracker-box!

You walk in the front door, the kitchenette is on the right. Then you proceed into the 'main living area and it's something about the size of a small to average motel room in the US.

To the right, in that corner, is the door to the bathroom/shower area(half the size of where I'd been before). Across the room is the 'porch' area where there's a washing machine and a window to the outside world. There's also a pantry/shelve at the left end room and they also bought a small cabinet type thing with two shelves and a couple of doors.

This whole main room though is about 4 paces square! From my bed you can literally stand up and get to the TV on the opposite side of the room in two paces, you can get to the kitchen area in 3 or maybe 4 paces, and you can go out into the porch area in 2 paces. You can get into the bathroom in 2 or 3 paces (depending on where you're sitting on the bed).

This place, size-wize.........sucks! I really can't see myself being happy there.

I don't know what they're paying for it but I just cannot believe that much thought went into selecting it. And the thought of me spending the next 365 days of my life there is not a happy one.

There's only two electrical outlets in the whole place (two that I can see anyway). There is no desk but only a table (so I'm thinking, 'Where the hell am I supposed to use for my computer when I'm home surfing the net?!).

They also bought me a micorwave. That's now sitting on top of the refrigerator (that's another story!).

I told them I didn't want a rice cooker but I would appreciate a toaster so they bought me a little toaster oven. OK. That's nice. It's now sitting (in the interest of space) on top of the microwave.

There's one electrical outlet near the fridge. The power cord form the microwave is long enough to reach the outlet but the power cord from the toaster oven, because it's sitting up on top of the microwave, is too short to reach the outlet.

That means I'm going to have to buy an extenion cord to splice the two. And that's not even taking into any consideration the possibility/probablitiy of the connections I'll need to hook up my computer, modem, speakers, and desk lamp later on.

Ito occured to me that for a country that's supposedly 'wired' solidly into the digital age, there was piss-poor planning went into how they wired this particular apartment. I can just envison the fire hazard and rat's nest of extension cords and multiple plugs I'm going to need to get my various domestic devices powered up.

The fridge is another issue. It's one of those little mini things like you see in apartments. There's ZERO room for putting anything of any height anywhere in it except for maybe two or three items in the inside of the door itself. That's where the half gallon of milk I bought last night is now.

The place is just too damn small. I'm wondering what's the best way I can handle this with the school. Do I

* Tell them it's too small and 'ask' if they can find me a bigger place?
* Tell them it's too small and insist they find me a bigger place?
* Tell them it's too small and ask for a housing allowance so I can find a place on my own?
* Or........what?

My thoughts on the issue are that I think Ms.A should have consulted me before she consented on getting the place. In reality, she told me that she had been super busy taking over the workload of another of their teachers who was absent on pregnancy leave and she admitted that she did not actually see the apartment before they signed for it. It was done by the 'school administrator'.

Regardless of that.....in my mind, she didn't pay attention to something she should have paid attention to. I don't care what the Koreans do or do not think is normal. I don't see how they can be so stupid as to expect a Westerner to live in a splace that small.

Somebody should have considered what it's going to be like if their 'native English teacher' has to live in a place so friggin' small that he/she comes to school every day with a piss-poor attitude. Nor did Ms A do as I asked her to do in consulting me before they got my apartment.

I don't 'buy' the claim that decent places are too expensive in Suwon. I know at least 3 people in Seoul, of all places, who have apartments that are much bigger than this and they're all less than 700,000 KW. a month. I don't know what the public school budget is for our apartments but I assume there's some sort of standard parameter for what's reasonable relative to the local market, right?

Anyway......that's what's going on and I'd sure appreciate some advice. I'll see her Monday.....my first day at my new school. The school itself looks very nice....especially compared the the blackboard jungle I came from.

Regards,
Art

cruisemonkey

hagwonnewbie · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Asia

It's unlikely you'll get a new apartment unless you get a new job, but it never hurts to complain. Giving them a solid ultimatum is probably the only way you'll see any action.

Get used to your new apartment.

ChinaBoy · Joined: 17 Feb 2007

forget changing, get used to it

Oreovictim · Joined: 23 Aug 2006

Can you put a link to some pics of your apartment? I want to compare. I've been in Bundang now for almost 8 months. I can't stand my place. I've seen some foreigner's apartments by Migeum Station, and those apartments are nice.

But for me? My apartment is just right outside of Ori Station in Yongin. I live in a dump called Easy View Apartments. I lived in a really tiny place for a few months. It didn't even have a sliding door to the laundry room. It was a window and you had to climb up and crawl through it to get to your washing machine.

http://www1.snapfish.com/slideshow/AlbumID=264144804/PictureID=6564627716/a=136973023_136973023/t_=136973023

A few months after moving in, I took the apartment of my former coworker. (He got in trouble with immigration - he was a Russian student, and my school tried to pass him off as an New Zealand citizen. He had to leave immediately. The school lied to the students and parents by saying that he got in a really bad car accident. What a great thing to say to a bunch of kindergarten kids.)

So, yeah, I moved in to his old place. It's a little bigger, but it's still really damn small. I need to do one of those youtube Korea vids that all the other foreigners do.

Xuanzang · Joined: 10 Apr 2007 Location: Sadang

Join Me · Joined: 14 Jan 2008

You say it is very clean...sounds new. They gave you all new appliances. So it is a bit small. People do much worse. I would take it for what it is and enjoy the fact it will take you half an hour at most to clean.

sarbonn · Joined: 14 Oct 2008 Location: Michigan

It sounds a little bit like my apartment, except I have more electrical outlets and it might be a tiny bit larger. But I think of it as "cozy", and I kind of like it. I was living in a studio apartment back in the states before this, so it wasn't that much of a change, and with me having none of my stuff here, I am now going through the American process of "filling up my space with new junk".

yingwenlaoshi · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Location: ... location, location!

Tell them you want a bigger apartment. Keep saying it and bug them about it. I was going to tell you to quit your whining, but you're working for a public school. If it's really, really small. Like love motel small, I'd be bitching too.

Depends. It would be nice to see some pics of it. And I don't know how big your paces are.

You could just grin and bear it if it's not all that bad. It's not like you're going to get a palace anyway, but it does seem like that lady was avoiding you. She's probably lying through her teeth.

There's my advice. Razz

shifty · Joined: 21 Jun 2004

Besides the fridge they seem to have had a forthcoming attitude with appliances. You should have accepted the offer of rice cooker.

You really only need a place to hang yr hat. What's this "the next 365 days" as if you're out on a mission and destined for great things??

The essentials are no noise from the neighbors and having everything to hand. You've already lucked into minimal cleaning effort, so you've struck it rich there, count yr blessings.

Along the way of writing this, I've experienced an overwhelming thought that you need a regular kick up the rear, one usually reserved alone for spoiled brats !!

John_ESL_White · Joined: 12 Nov 2008

My first place here was a tiny prison cell, but "hey", I thought, "this is korea and this is how they live".

I didn't care about the size because my home was only a place to sleep.

BUT, when January, Feb came and there was no heat what so ever, I stopped teaching until the owner moved me.

Your post sounds like you have a place in a new villa. Don't sweat it. You are lucky. I've seen guys' apts that were actual prison cell size-step opff bed, touch wall.

How much room does a single guy need? Do you want a walk in closet for your fancy wardrobe of designer clothes? Do you need shelf space for your cosmetics?

Big Mac · Joined: 17 Sep 2005

The size of your apartment sounds completely normal for Korea. In fact, it sounds much bigger than what I lived in for two years in Seoul. I had to dry my clothes in the hallway because I didn't even have space to put a drying rack. My tiny washing machine was in the shower with me every morning. I had a tiny glass table for my computer and no chairs except for the kitchen chair that came with my glass table. The only two windows opened up to the hallway outside...so I had to have prison like bars on the windows for security and I got no fresh air circulation. It was dark and dreary because very little sunlight came in. Mold started to grow because of the lack of fresh air.

I survived. You will too. It's just a place to sleep. I never thought I could survive in such a small space, but after four years of living in tiny Korean apartments, I don't know what I would do with all the space in a Canadian apartment now.

Zulethe · Joined: 04 Jul 2008

You'll get used to it. If it's quiet and everything works and you don't have any kind of infestation or any other problems, don't make a big issue of it.

I have pretty much the same thing as you and this is from one who went from a gorgeous, brand new 2000+ square foot house in Arizona.

Yeah the first couple weeks will take getting used to but in the grand scheme of things, choose your battles wisely and I don't think this is a smart one to undertake.

wanderingsalsero · Joined: 23 Dec 2006 Location: Houston, TX.

A few people suggested I post a picture and/or video. I've got both and I'll post a link to a video later today probably. But for now, just for the record, here's the diminsions on my apartment. I'd just like to know how it compares to the 'norm' in Suwon.

The main room is 10'10" x 11'6".
The kitenette as you come in the entrance is 4'7" x 6'3".
The laundry room, with a window to the outside is 9'" x 2'11".

How does that compare to what ya'll have?

Regards,
Art

sojourner1 · Posted: Sun Dec 14, 2008 7:43 pm Post subject:

Yea, they short size apartments and charge full price in Korea just like they do with many grocery store items. The OP's apartment is larger than the one I had last year, because it has a front porch for the washing machine instead of having to shower with it each morning hoping you don't get electrocuted.

That woman lied out her front teeth that she was having problem with her cell phone as being the reason she didn't call you. She took advantage of the lax situation to bump herself a free bonus and thinks she has an easy one in her hands.

Confront her about this lie and ask her if this is an accurate gauge of what your relationship is going to be like if you stay. She will dodge you on that, becuase she knows she's corrupt to a certain extent and probably intends to screw you over. Tell her you've made a mistake in taking the job and must leave. Get out early before you work very long for her. Next time, you might try being a little more assertive and thorough.