Korean Job Discussion Forums

[v88]

Honestly this country isn't that cold, they have the technology...yet in the morning I'm sitting in the office with a t-shirt sweating my a(# off because the heat is cranked yet by 3 I have to wear a jacket hat and gloves hovered over the frosted carcass of my 1984 era office computer because the heat has been shut off never to be turned on again. The doors are all left wide open while Koreans everywhere continuously complain about the cold weather and my building has about as much insulation as a box made of concrete with gaping holes in it...wait, my building is a concrete box with holes in it...never mind my last complaint. That's not their fault, western architecture is to blame...

I wish there was one person who was responsible so that I could smack him and the 'Benz' he rode in on.

[jonpurdy]

Maybe there should be a sticky with just complaints about school climate control. Or two stickies: one for winter and one for summer.

[fortysixyou]

[Steelrails]

The overpowering heat on the inter-city buses gets me. I love getting off into cold conditions, dripping in back sweat.

I did get lucky and got a bus the other day where the guy had the heat blasting AND the vents open. Warm, but with air-circulation. And no dried-squid old people funk.

[eamo]

[KNet229]

the thing that still consistently baffles me is Korea's insistence on keeping windows open for ventilation. in my building the stairway windows are constantly opened making taking the stairs awful. at one point ice formed on one of the landings

also in my building, i'm constantly closing the doors to the building so it retains heat, keeps things warmer and more comfortable, saves money, and doesn't waste energy. however, every single day someone opens them up and leaves them wide open, sometimes opening the windows as well.

aigo

[12ax7]

[ThingsComeAround]

I took my wife to the embassy the other day and almost passed out. The bus was so ridiculously hot, luckily I was near a big departure and got a seat fast. Didn't help conditions on the window- there was frost on the inside

Then later in the day the wife and I took the subway home. There was no way to sleep because the seats were on fire. I thought it would burn a hole through my thermals it was so bad.

I can't understand it.

[darkjedidave]

In my office, the thermostat is often set to 28 C. Thank god I have a wall A/C unit above my desk, I run that thing constantly with confused looks from the Koreans. It's either that, or I'm gonna work naked.

Whats worse to me is fall/spring when the temps first dip into the frigid 60s, the heat in buses, subways and stores are cranked full blast.

[roguefishfood]

I haven't arrived yet but this all sounds positively wonderful to me, as someone who heats every space in the winter as much as I can afford!

[Feloria]

Just to add a little tid-bit:
You know how very often the Korean way to wash a bathroom floor is to basically just toss a bucket full of soapy water on it, right?
And of course the windows are wide open in the winter when they do this.
Last year at the adult institute where I taught, one of my female students slipped on the completely iced over, frozen floor in the bathroom and broke her right wrist. She is right handed.
She came into class the next day with a cast on, and said she fell because she was "clumsy."
And of course, the windows remained open and the floors remained icy.
JHC!

[12ax7]

[weso1]

I kid you not, I've known Korean to turn start yelling "chua" and wear sweaters and a scarf and turn on little personal heaters in September! If they were cold then, then this weather but be freezing.

My school has gotten pretty good about using the heat. It's been on for a few hours by the time I get there and they keep it on as long as we have students. If a student complains of being hot, we tell them to take their jacket off. Just having to say that sometimes baffles me. Obviously, if you're hot, take your jacket off. Are you stupid? You'd rather turn the heat off or open a window and keep your coat on? However, a few days a week we have some down time where there are no students for an hour or so, then the heat goes off. But the residual heat is to keep it comfortable till kids come back.

But in summer, they refuse to turn the a/c on at all. I could be in a t-shirt, shorts, and flip flops and still be dripping sweat. I don't get it. They must be super sensitive to cold or something.

[Lazio]

[Feloria]

12ax7--
I guess I should clarify--this is for bathrooms, primarily.
In every school I've worked at here, granted it's been only 4--in Busan, and Suncheon.
Every morning and afternoon the cleaning people would toss water onto the bathroom floors.
There would be a half inch to an inch of water on the floor until it eventually went down the drain.
My fellow teachers and I would have to roll our pants up in order to keep them from being ruined.
In the winter, the water tends to freeze from the windows always being left open.
I've also encountered this quite a bit in public restrooms; a lot of standing water.
You're right, I shouldn't generalize--but I have encountered this quite a bit.