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Now just wait until after about 8 month in and the same thing continues to happen (and will continue) until you leave Korea and tell us it's fun 
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Mar 4, 2013 06:15
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Tao Jones posted:I've been having fun terrifying the kids who've been brave enough to open my office door (by saying hello to them, generally resulting in screaming and running away), so it's not a total wash. Is this your second time in Korea or is that someone else?
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Mar 4, 2013 08:02
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Toussaint Louverture posted:Is this your second time in Korea or is that someone else? Someone else. I'm totally new at Korea, which is probably why I'm not jaded yet.
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Mar 4, 2013 09:09
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tirinal posted:
Sometimes I wonder when my lessons will start.
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Mar 4, 2013 10:06
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I'm at a hagwon but we started a new schedule too. 8 loving classes on Monday... 50 minutes each I get a 20 minute break for dinner and that's it. Then 4 on Tuesday with a 2 hour break (and I dont start until around 3.) I'm not saying this like I didn't expect it, I get it that's how hagwons are but I'm still gonna complain. And all my worst classes are condensed now on Monday. I got a new class that just moved up from phonics. They are the lowest level kids I have ever taught in my life. Cute but... Today was 50 minutes of practicing "a." Didn't help that I didn't actually have a schedule until this afternoon or have any idea what kinda classes I'd be teaching (even though I asked before.) So, first class is the new little kid one. "Okay so what book do they use?" "they don't have one just, teach them English." (not paraphrasing.) This week is gonna be hell. I try to be prepared for my classes but this week that will literally not be possible, just gonna have to wing it all week.
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Mar 4, 2013 13:53
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Today was my first day at the new hagwon. If it wasn't for immigration trips, my day would be a snap. I'm looking to buy things for the new apartment, but Craigslist is really just an awful front for spam mailers. Waygook is okay but slow. Is there a preferred method for picking up a used 32'/40' tv? Maybe a decent desk? Like, I know smaller cities have their own groups for this purpose. What are some Seoul-centric buy/sell facebook groups? AmbientParadox fucked around with this message at 14:30 on Mar 4, 2013 |
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Mar 4, 2013 14:06
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Just go to a 'recycling' used furniture store, there should be plenty around. The big problem for me is going to be getting rid of a lot of the furniture in my place. It's all busted up and since I think it technically belongs to the school I have to run it all past them.
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Mar 4, 2013 23:08
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Try Facebook groups, there's a daegu flea market one that has a lot of traffic. Soldiers are always coming and going, but most teachers come and go in waves. Question: wifi is a little weak through my apartments walls, anyone know where I can get some powerline or MoCa(coax) Ethernet adapters?
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Mar 5, 2013 02:27
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politicorific posted:Try Facebook groups, there's a daegu flea market one that has a lot of traffic. Soldiers are always coming and going, but most teachers come and go in waves. Before I could figure out Gmarket by myself I just got them from Homeplus and they've lasted almost two years and still kicking.
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Mar 5, 2013 07:39
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Can someone help me interpret this? Ordinarily I'd be happy for it just to make my clothes wet, but it has a dryer function which, while surprisingly effective, will murder my electricity bill. 
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Mar 5, 2013 09:18
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Job update: Unless something crazy happens with Visa stuff or Medical stuff I have the SMOE job near sangwangsimni. The head guy seems to think that you get two years from when you set foot in country to be tax free if you work for the government, but this goes against the IRS reading of the US/Korea tax treaty. I'll ask both Korean Tax System and the IRS again, but according to him, if you leave the country for a year and come back you can get the two years all over again. Our goon down south was asking about this. Only thing that leaves me nervous is that the guy at the school left suddenly for "family emergency or something" and SMOE gets to keep my apostilled diploma forever, even after the contract. Also it's an 11.5 month contract so no severance or airfare  . I have to go to Suwon immigration to transfer too, so I wonder what kind of fun documents they will want from me this time that are not known by Immigration HQ. I am excited that I got a job, just not as excited as I would be if it was under normal conditions. They don't have or won't share pictures of the apartment, I'll see how excited I am on March 15th when I move into mystery apartment.On other stuff: Does anyone have the instruction manual for the SK Broadband router, or know how to find it online? The SK customer service seems to think this is top secret knowledge, but all I need from it are a few codes and I can set everything up.
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Mar 5, 2013 09:48
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joedevola posted:Can someone help me interpret this? Ordinarily I'd be happy for it just to make my clothes wet, but it has a dryer function which, while surprisingly effective, will murder my electricity bill. 1 Laundry (reg wash) 2 Rinse cycle 3 Dehydrate 4 Electricity bill murderer 5 Water temperature 6 Time reservation 7 Clog toilet (prevent water drainage) 8 Course (type of fabric) 9 Open sesame! 10 Start/stop DontAskKant posted:On other stuff: Does anyone have the instruction manual for the SK Broadband router, or know how to find it online? The SK customer service seems to think this is top secret knowledge, but all I need from it are a few codes and I can set everything up. I messaged you.
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Mar 5, 2013 11:21
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Kant, some of that sounds pretty sketchy... You have experience, surely you can get something with a 12 month contract. It sounds like they wanna cheap out as much as possible. Have you seen the cheapest Korean apartments? You don't want to live in one.
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Mar 5, 2013 11:23
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What is everyone doing for St Patrick's Day in Busan? I remember it being a reasonably big deal in Seoul, or at least there being a lot of drunk gringos on the subway.Themata posted:1 Laundry (reg wash) Thanks boss.
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Mar 5, 2013 14:10
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BrainDance posted:Kant, some of that sounds pretty sketchy... Well when your employer doesn't allow you to do interviews, you take what you can get. It was a 12 month contract right up until I saw the contract. Of course they want to cheap out as much as possible. I lived in an apartment that had barely enough room to walk and had no stove and mold problems. It made Hong Kong apartments seem big, could be worse, but hope not. Anything that is being offered now would be a poo poo hagwon job. Guess I can look on the bright side and see it as a free pass to leave without losing anything.
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Mar 5, 2013 15:06
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THE LUMMOX posted:...the whims of a megalomaniacal administrator who runs the place like a feudal lord. My principal ran on a platform of 'No vacations for after school teachers'.
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Mar 5, 2013 15:12
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Does anyone know how the Korean eye sight ratings work? At the medical check today she said it was 11.25. Not 20/11.25, just 11.25. She said it was good, but I want to know if my eye sight is getting worse or not. I am the only member of my family without glasses and when I was young I would consistently rate at 20/15.
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Mar 5, 2013 15:57
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My prescriptions always been about the same as it was back home. But I don't know much about how all that works, what's the difference between the 20/whatever thing and like, -1.75 and all that? It's 2am, but now I don't have to be at work until 3pm 4 days out of the week... I could stay up but that'd start a bad habit, but I can always wake up at 1pm so, hmmm.
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Mar 5, 2013 17:52
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DontAskKant posted:Does anyone know how the Korean eye sight ratings work? It's the same everywhere. Optometry is standardized
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Mar 6, 2013 01:04
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joedevola posted:What is everyone doing for St Patrick's Day in Busan? I remember it being a reasonably big deal in Seoul, or at least there being a lot of drunk gringos on the subway. Kant, if they can, get them to set it all up. I've had a lot of trouble with Korean routers for some bizarre reason.
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Mar 6, 2013 01:49
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joedevola posted:Can someone help me interpret this? Ordinarily I'd be happy for it just to make my clothes wet, but it has a dryer function which, while surprisingly effective, will murder my electricity bill. Ise my dryer all the time, electricity is so cheap that it adds about 2-3,000 won a month to the bill at most and saves me the walk across my apartment to the clothes line.
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Mar 6, 2013 03:35
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Speaking of bills, I got 1000,000w bill for gas a few days ago and a 55,000w bill from eapat.co.kr today, whatever that is. The building adjosshi was pretty mad about the last one. What's my liability here? My co-teacher took the first one off me, saying the last GET had left some money for bills, but definitely not enough to cover both bills. I don't mind cleaning up her dirty rear end apartment, but the gently caress if I'm gonna pay her outstanding bills when I'm living on 20,000 a day.
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Mar 6, 2013 13:48
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Yeah, no. Tell anyone who tries to make you pay someone else's bills to gently caress off. You're not liable at all. If you weren't living there or the service is in someone else's name (like cable TV or internet) then it's on the holder's name to pay that poo poo and/or figure it out. Also you got a 1000,000 bill? Do you mean 100,000?
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Mar 6, 2013 14:44
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I don't have the bill to hand, but looking back at my FB status, yeah it was the guts of 100,000 won for gas. I don't know if the last GET was warming her hands over the cooking hobs or what. My main concern is that my go-to co-teacher could not possibly seem less concerned with me and my bullshit. I don't blame her, but until I've got some cash behind me I'm sort of at her mercy.
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Mar 6, 2013 14:55
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If the period of the bill is from before you moved in, then you don't have to pay. Let it sit in your mailbox and rot. If the landlord comes to talk about it just keep pointing at the date on the bill. It's between him and the old tenant to sort it all our before they leave.
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Mar 6, 2013 14:58
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Then what does 11.25 mean? That's off the charts. slacjs posted:Kant, if they can, get them to set it all up. I've had a lot of trouble with Korean routers for some bizarre reason. Oh man, no way am I letting an SK guy near any of my electronics again. I'm not sure how many more times I can fix them. It's Touisaints' wifi anyway, he doesn't have the codes and doesn't care as much as I do. I just hate failing at something. Going to check this in the morning in case anyone not on chat has any advice. The situation: My school is being amazing enough to let me choose which housing I want, that they will provide for me. They gave me some options from the realtor today. They were all goshiwon size or just barely larger for 700K a month with no key money. Apparently SMOE doesn't do key money anymore and that's their budget. I can't use my own key money (I guess that makes sense) and the realtor was admanant (probably full of poo poo) that these are places for newly weds (they are right across from Hanyang University) and that they usually go for 700k + 30 mil key money. Yes 30 mil, not 3 mil, 30 MILLION WON!!! I understand that the SMOE contract is a pretty sweet gig as they are pretty good at sticking by their contracts, but that still won't get them to lower the one place that I can work with (read as has more than one burner and 6 inches of counter space and has a place to put a drying rack of clothes). Unless I can find another realtor around the area and find a place that I can move into next week then I'm stuck paying 150k out of pocket. Still cheaper than eating out most of the time because of the kitchen, but still... The co and the realtor described Hanyang and Wangsimni as Tokyo in terms of rent. WTF??? I will say this again. I am glad I have a job (even if I don't get severance or airfare and my non-full year contracts screw me out of pay raises) and I am glad they are letting me choose which apartment when they didn't have to (even if the choices are poo poo). Just trying to see if I have any way of improving the selection. Does anyone have a realtor for that area that isn't a piece of poo poo? I do not have an unemployed Kfriend or Kgf so that option is off the table. The co has gone out of her way in even offering so I don't want to ask her for help with a realtor. Any websites or references would be nice. I know a few search terms, but specific sites would speed up my search. Thank you in advance, LOVES 
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Mar 6, 2013 17:10
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For what it's worth, Seoul actually is more expensive than tokyo as far as housing is concerned (on average). However I have a pretty new, nice large-ish officetel in Sinchon (surely more in demand than Wangshimni) and the key money was only 10 million. I think you should go to different realtors. I've never heard of anything more than 10 million for an officetel unless it was brand new or massive. I suggest going to naver and searching for something like "왕십리 오피스탤" and seeing what it comes up with. There's lots of sites out there. How much key money can you get? 10 million?
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Mar 6, 2013 17:41
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My officetel fees were poo poo. I was paying maintenance for a car garage I never used and for people to clean up all the vomit left by drunk people leaving the bars and restaurants on the ground floor of the building. Like 300,000 for December and January. Of that less than 100,000 was gas/power.
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Mar 6, 2013 19:01
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DontAskKant posted:I will say this again. I am glad I have a job (even if... I think this kind of attitude is why conditions (and I can really only speak for public schools, here, as I've never worked hagwon) have degraded so much over time. Stand up for yourself!
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Mar 6, 2013 23:11
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Oh geez, was that a can of worms to open...
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Mar 6, 2013 23:30
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Yeah man, Kant's problem is that he isn't diligent enough when it comes to getting pay/benefits. 
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Mar 7, 2013 00:36
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erobadapazzi posted:I think this kind of attitude is why conditions (and I can really only speak for public schools, here, as I've never worked hagwon) have degraded so much over time. Stand up for yourself! Yeah, we can do that. There isn't a huge swath of unemployed people with degrees looking for jobs we are competing against or something.
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Mar 7, 2013 00:43
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DontAskKant posted:Going to check this in the morning in case anyone not on chat has any advice. In the case that you have at least 5 million Won for key money and speak passable Korean to communicate with a real-estate agent, it's perfectly possible to get a place in the 300-400k range in some parts of the city. There's a reason why the public transportation here is so good. I am currently living between Bomun station and Anam Station and my housing contract is 5 million key money / 300,000 rent, no hidden maintenance fee. That neighborhood is only a 20 minute ride from Hanyang University. Tips: 1. Walk around adjacent neighborhoods and go into 부동산's. Tell them what you want and what you want to pay. Base the number you give them on the prices you see taped to the front. Do this first; realize that a 10 minute walk can be a huge difference in housing prices. In my neighborhood, it's the difference between 300k and 500k. 2. Get a subway commuter card (장기 승차권)--it costs 47,500 Won for 60 pops uses within 30 days (only on the subway, not buses, and only within Seoul, not Gyeonggi). 3. If you want to be closer, consider bus routes too. 4. Basement and roof apartments are cheaper. Ask directly whether the apartment has ever had a mold problem (곰팡이) if you get a basement apartment. 5. Realize that they're showing you those small officetels not because they're cheap--they're probably not--but because they think that foreigners don't like to live in older places, and they're usually right. Cheaper places are probably going to look cheap as well. The places they showed you probably cost as much as the prices you're aiming for. If you get another place, it won't be because it's objectively better. It will just have different disadvantages. 6. Go with a fairly legit agent. Go to the local community center and get your contract certified. If you do these two things and obey your contract, you have nothing to fear regarding your key money. Good luck.
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Mar 7, 2013 02:28
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Here is a simple query I did of all rent places costing between 500k-1000k rent in the Hangyang University Area: http://realestate.daum.net/maemul/area/3133070/A1A3A4/*/summary#t:AreaMaemulList&c:A1A3A4&s:R&scond:monthPriceCode|D3 I am seeing 3 bedroom apartments in this building: http://postfiles8.naver.net/20120814_167/naturepoem_1344871900451KYdhj_JPEG/%B9%AB%C7%D0_00000.jpg?type=w2 costing 9million down and 600k a month. Don't believe their lies. Wangshimni Tokyo LOOOOOOOOOOOOOL quote:For what it's worth, Seoul actually is more expensive than tokyo as far as housing is concerned (on average).
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Mar 7, 2013 03:12
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erobadapazzi posted:I think this kind of attitude is why conditions (and I can really only speak for public schools, here, as I've never worked hagwon) have degraded so much over time. Stand up for yourself! Arctic Baldwin posted:Oh geez, was that a can of worms to open... But Erobad if you stand up to the wrong people it gets you blacklisted at hagwons apparently. Or you just shouldn't stand up for things like an employer screwing you out of 4 million and stealing 600k of insurance money. Or when they take 100-200k out of your pay check for 'gifts' every so often. Standing up only works for reasonable people or if you have the backing of a strong ajumma like TheBible. The Gay Bean posted:In the case that you have at least 5 million Won for key money and speak passable Korean to communicate with a real-estate agent, it's perfectly possible to get a place in the 300-400k range in some parts of the city. There's a reason why the public transportation here is so good. I am currently living between Bomun station and Anam Station and my housing contract is 5 million key money / 300,000 rent, no hidden maintenance fee. That neighborhood is only a 20 minute ride from Hanyang University. I have until the 13th to have a contract for them to sign, so I guess I am canceling the Ulsan trip unless I find something today or tomorrow. My Korean friends are all busy this Saturday too, so no Korean there. op187gb posted:Here is a simple query I did of all rent places costing between 500k-1000k rent in the Hangyang University Area:
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Mar 7, 2013 06:00
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There is no hagwon blacklist, dude. I'm still surprised that after you've been here just as long as I have that you're still working with public schools and hagwons. You gotta move up in the world, bro!
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Mar 7, 2013 06:16
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Cameron posted:There is no hagwon blacklist, dude. I'm still surprised that after you've been here just as long as I have that you're still working with public schools and hagwons. You gotta move up in the world, bro! Did you miss the part where I couldn't really do any interviews until after my contract was finished? Yeah all the jobs are gone by then. Instead of moving up in ESL I'm trying to move out.
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Mar 7, 2013 06:20
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Cameron posted:There is no hagwon blacklist, dude. I'm still surprised that after you've been here just as long as I have that you're still working with public schools and hagwons. You gotta move up in the world, bro! They are illegal but there are multiple blacklists kept by hagwon chains and recruiting firms.
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Mar 7, 2013 06:57
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So, if I'm not allowed to put down any key money am I just screwed for decent housing? This is the important part I know that there are great places with key money, but am I only thinking of sinchon and noksapyeong and hbc when I am thinking of decent places with no key money?
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Mar 7, 2013 07:49
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DontAskKant posted:Thanks, my Korean is far from passable and I am apparently not allowed to put down my own key money since the school is paying for it. Am I just screwed? If that's the case, they're probably only giving you the option because the contract says so and they want to give that lip service. Nobody in Korea rents without some amount of key money and they know that. You're not exactly screwed, though. I lived in a tiny place for two years. Embrace it and you'll be fine. It will be cheaper to heat/cool, warmer in the winter, cooler in the summer, easier to clean, you can cook and clean all while watching TV, and usually those buildings have super thick walls so you won't hear your neighbors. Go through your stuff, throw some poo poo out, and give a good bit of thought to anything you buy.
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Mar 7, 2013 07:55
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