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crabstix
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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 Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 12:47 pm Post subject: accommodation provided by SMOE |
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Hi. I'd like to know what are the quality of the apartments provided when you get a job with SMOE.
I had a friend who chose not to work for a public school and accepted a job in a hagwon. He said that his room had water dripping from the ceiling. I've also heard of people working for hagwons with nice clean comfortable apartments. It seems that with hagwons it depends on how nice the director is.
So what about those provided by the government organisations like SMOE? Do they vary tremendously in terms of cleanliness and condition? Or are they generally adequate? |
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dean_burrito
Joined: 12 Jun 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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Normally what SMOE will give you is what is called a officetel. Basically is like a hotel room plus a small kitchen area. My officetel is clean and quiet but in a crap area. If I open the window I get paint fumes that come in from a car shop that is next door.
It is not uncommon to ask for a picture of the accomodation. I would also ask for a picture of the neighborhood. They should provide you with both if you ask. This is true for a hagwon or a public school. If you live outside of Seoul expect something a little roomier with a tree or two in the view when you look out the window. |
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Ukon
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:18 pm Post subject: |
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| depends on the school they place you in...some I know got palaces and I got an extremely small place with an awesome location. |
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sigmund
Joined: 11 May 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 4:37 pm Post subject: |
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I wouldn't expect any personal attention from SMOE, pictures or otherwise. Generally they spend more on your accommodation than a hagwon, but it is still a crap shoot in what they pick out. More so than anything they don't give consideration to where you live; some places are just more appealing to foreigners, even if the commute is a little further.
Generally, your place will be clean and if not something will be done about it. That can't be said about all hagwon housing. Your best bet for getting housing that you truly like is to take the housing allowance and find your own place. That is, however, a pain in the ass and takes time. |
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pkang0202
Joined: 09 Mar 2007
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 5:02 pm Post subject: |
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| You could also get stuck at the CoOp. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 5:53 pm Post subject: |
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| pkang0202 wrote: |
| You could also get stuck at the CoOp. |
Yes, avoid the Co-op at all costs. It is not an apartment, it's meant for short term living (1 night to 3 months), but SMOE feels like it is ok to stick dozens of foreigners in there like cattle. No Korean teacher would ever consider living there for a year.
There's a long thread about this horrible place somewhere in this forum. It details the problems including unsafe fire policies (no alarm went off during a fire), rude and lying staff (it's a hotel with a front desk), invasive cleaning ladies (don't knock before entering, throw away things that aren't trash), paper thin doors (want to hear your neighbors have sex?), rules banning overnight guests (want to hear your neighbors have sex at 4pm?) and unsafe area for women. It's near "little Russia/Uzbekistan" so any foreign woman there is considered to be *beep*. Some SMOE teachers have been physically grabbed and pulled towards a love motel. Rare, but it has happened.
Does SMOE care about this? They still put teachers there after knowing all these facts. |
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Xuanzang
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 6:20 pm Post subject: |
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http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=89088
The previous FT teacher at my school also lived there. If I had to live there for more than a couple of days...I`d do a midnight if they refused to move me. I dont think it`s unreasonable to demand a better place than the coop dump. |
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egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:30 pm Post subject: |
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I'm pretty sure there is more than one Co-Op in the city though... I know of two NSETs working in Seoungdong-Gu (same district as I'm in) that are both at the Co-Op here and they say they have none of the dragonian rules that plague "The" Co-Op, lol...
I like where I live... My place is a touch on the small side... 21 feet by 9 feet wide, including my bathroom... But I live right next door to a university and a giant shopping mall so I have a great area to go to... I had trouble with ants at first (really small buggers getting into my food, until I started keeping everything in the fridge) but I'm pretty sure I've killed all of them... Havn't seen an ant in almost a month, lol... I have a small mold problem, but some bleach will take care of that... Minor minor problems when all is said and done... Its a 20 minute bus ride to the school, but the bus is only a 2 minute walk from my door and my school has its own stop (as well as a subway station, lol)... Plus my literal next door neighbour is a friend I met in the district office before we met our co-teachers so it worked out really really really well, lol...
Best part about my place though, is we can party on the roof and our Ajumma land lady is really cool, hahaha... I would have loved a loft on the 25th floor of a building in Gangnam, but this is just as good (and probably a hell of a lot cheaper... Hell, my 50k maintance fee gets me free cable and internet!... It could be a lot lot worse)...
It all depends on your school... If you really hate your place though, you have to speak up early... Once you sign a form and fill out a checklist of things in your apartment that the school has provided you with its really really difficult to get it changed before your contract is up... |
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aarontendo
Joined: 08 Feb 2006
Location: Daegu-ish
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 10:44 pm Post subject: |
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| Yeah seems a total crapshoot. When i was with SMOE I had a pretty nice officetel, others I knew got stuck in the Co-op. Hell my apartment was prolly the best thing I miss from being in smoe heh. |
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nomad-ish
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:33 pm Post subject: |
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| with SMOE, is the name of your actual school on the contract or is it just the school board? |
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Ukon
Joined: 29 Jan 2008
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| Posted: Mon Dec 22, 2008 11:56 pm Post subject: |
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| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| You could also get stuck at the CoOp. |
Yes, avoid the Co-op at all costs. It is not an apartment, it's meant for short term living (1 night to 3 months), but SMOE feels like it is ok to stick dozens of foreigners in there like cattle. No Korean teacher would ever consider living there for a year.
There's a long thread about this horrible place somewhere in this forum. It details the problems including unsafe fire policies (no alarm went off during a fire), rude and lying staff (it's a hotel with a front desk), invasive cleaning ladies (don't knock before entering, throw away things that aren't trash), paper thin doors (want to hear your neighbors have sex?), rules banning overnight guests (want to hear your neighbors have sex at 4pm?) and unsafe area for women. It's near "little Russia/Uzbekistan" so any foreign woman there is considered to be *beep*. Some SMOE teachers have been physically grabbed and pulled towards a love motel. Rare, but it has happened.
Does SMOE care about this? They still put teachers there after knowing all these facts. |
I mentioned this to my co-teacher and she seemed to be under the impression that co-ops were superior than officetels due to the cleaning lady |
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egrog1717
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 2:31 am Post subject: |
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| nomad-ish wrote: |
| with SMOE, is the name of your actual school on the contract or is it just the school board? |
Just the school board... It lets them place you at any school (or multiple schools if needed... especially during winter and summer camps)
You won't out your school and area until the end of your orientation... About 5 days after you get here if you come in during a normal hiring period (Late August and Early March) lol... |
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crabstix
Joined: 14 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 3:36 am Post subject: |
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| Ukon wrote: |
| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| You could also get stuck at the CoOp. |
Yes, avoid the Co-op at all costs. It is not an apartment, it's meant for short term living (1 night to 3 months), but SMOE feels like it is ok to stick dozens of foreigners in there like cattle. No Korean teacher would ever consider living there for a year.
There's a long thread about this horrible place somewhere in this forum. It details the problems including unsafe fire policies (no alarm went off during a fire), rude and lying staff (it's a hotel with a front desk), invasive cleaning ladies (don't knock before entering, throw away things that aren't trash), paper thin doors (want to hear your neighbors have sex?), rules banning overnight guests (want to hear your neighbors have sex at 4pm?) and unsafe area for women. It's near "little Russia/Uzbekistan" so any foreign woman there is considered to be *beep*. Some SMOE teachers have been physically grabbed and pulled towards a love motel. Rare, but it has happened.
Does SMOE care about this? They still put teachers there after knowing all these facts. |
I mentioned this to my co-teacher and she seemed to be under the impression that co-ops were superior than officetels due to the cleaning lady |
Wow! co-ops provide cleaning ladies to clean your room! That does sound superior! I hate cleaning my own room. How often do they clean it? Weekly? Daily? |
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Xuanzang
Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang
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| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 4:17 am Post subject: |
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| crabstix wrote: |
| Ukon wrote: |
| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| You could also get stuck at the CoOp. |
Yes, avoid the Co-op at all costs. It is not an apartment, it's meant for short term living (1 night to 3 months), but SMOE feels like it is ok to stick dozens of foreigners in there like cattle. No Korean teacher would ever consider living there for a year.
There's a long thread about this horrible place somewhere in this forum. It details the problems including unsafe fire policies (no alarm went off during a fire), rude and lying staff (it's a hotel with a front desk), invasive cleaning ladies (don't knock before entering, throw away things that aren't trash), paper thin doors (want to hear your neighbors have sex?), rules banning overnight guests (want to hear your neighbors have sex at 4pm?) and unsafe area for women. It's near "little Russia/Uzbekistan" so any foreign woman there is considered to be *beep*. Some SMOE teachers have been physically grabbed and pulled towards a love motel. Rare, but it has happened.
Does SMOE care about this? They still put teachers there after knowing all these facts. |
I mentioned this to my co-teacher and she seemed to be under the impression that co-ops were superior than officetels due to the cleaning lady |
Wow! co-ops provide cleaning ladies to clean your room! That does sound superior! I hate cleaning my own room. How often do they clean it? Weekly? Daily? |
Sounds like we have a voluntary co-op resident on our hands. |
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Bibbitybop
Joined: 22 Feb 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Dec 23, 2008 6:45 am Post subject: |
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| crabstix wrote: |
| Ukon wrote: |
| Bibbitybop wrote: |
| pkang0202 wrote: |
| You could also get stuck at the CoOp. |
Yes, avoid the Co-op at all costs. It is not an apartment, it's meant for short term living (1 night to 3 months), but SMOE feels like it is ok to stick dozens of foreigners in there like cattle. No Korean teacher would ever consider living there for a year.
There's a long thread about this horrible place somewhere in this forum. It details the problems including unsafe fire policies (no alarm went off during a fire), rude and lying staff (it's a hotel with a front desk), invasive cleaning ladies (don't knock before entering, throw away things that aren't trash), paper thin doors (want to hear your neighbors have sex?), rules banning overnight guests (want to hear your neighbors have sex at 4pm?) and unsafe area for women. It's near "little Russia/Uzbekistan" so any foreign woman there is considered to be *beep*. Some SMOE teachers have been physically grabbed and pulled towards a love motel. Rare, but it has happened.
Does SMOE care about this? They still put teachers there after knowing all these facts. |
I mentioned this to my co-teacher and she seemed to be under the impression that co-ops were superior than officetels due to the cleaning lady |
Wow! co-ops provide cleaning ladies to clean your room! That does sound superior! I hate cleaning my own room. How often do they clean it? Weekly? Daily? |
2 times a month. What they do would take you 10-15 minutes. They charge 10,000 or 15,000 won each time. Rip off. |
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