Hello readers.
IT'S COLD!
So much for that lovely autumn weather I wanted to keep for another week before winter winds started blowin' in.(After writing this sentence, I felt like something was strange. When I went back to read it again I realized that it rhymes awkwardly. I like it! I'll keep it!).
Anyway, enough of the rhyming shenanigans for now. I'm serious, it's COLD. WHAT HAPPENED? I stuck a hand out my front door yesterday morning to test the air. It seemed chilly, but nothing too bad. I was pretty sure my light weight jacket and a scarf could handle it.
WRONG.
My hands were freezing in the cold air, and my legs were starting to shiver. The added discomfort of not wearing enough layers was the fact that my jeans were so big that they continually worked their way down and caused the butt and legs to sag like a family of 5 had just moved out.
Now, I'm not complaining that I've lost weight. No, I'm super excited about that! What I am complaining about is the fact that almost half the clothes I brought with me aren't fitting me properly now.
I LOVE clothes shopping, and I really want to go and buy new stuff to replace everything that's too big. But, there are a few problems.
Problem Numero Uno:
If I lose anymore weight, it'll be the same story, and I'll have wasted my money on more clothes that I can't wear. I'm still striving to lose a bit more, so I have to be careful.
Problem Numero Dos, ya'll:
It's costing so much extra money to move into a new apartment, that I have to be uber careful with what I spend until after payday (a week and a half. Not too bad).
THE DOWNLOW OF APARTMENT RENTING:
The following information could be rather helpful for those of you thinking about finding your own place in the ROK .
For the new teachers here in South Korea, I'm going to tell you it's not likely that you'll be able to afford to live anywhere other than where your school provides unless you've got quite a bit of money stashed in your savings account back home.
RENT:
A nice 1 bedroom apartment usually varies from 400,000-500,000₩ per month. Now, when I heard this I was ecstatic. That's cheaper than back home, and I don't even live in a big city, so I can't imagine what that price is compared to someplace else.
The ones I looked at were between 450,000-500,000₩ . This affords me a nice building, with a nice (CLEAN) apartment. There's plenty of storage space in the kitchen, and closet space elsewhere. If you're lucky you'll be able to find a 2 story apartment (a 1 bedroom with a loft area) for about 500,000₩.
These prices WILL be higher in Seoul and in the highly populated areas of Busan. If you live in a more suburb city in Busan, though, you'll probably be able to find pretty much the same.
If you decided to move out of your school provided housing your school should offer you a monthly stipend for rent. The standard in Seoul and Busan is usually 400,000₩ per month. The standard in smaller cities is usually 300,000₩ per month.
Don't get too excited, here comes your possible financial crisis.
Key Money/ Deposit Money
This is where it becomes difficult for a lot of foreigners to afford to live in an apartment on their own. The Key money, or the deposit money, required is usually much higher than what any new expat has in their savings account. The standard key money IN MY AREA (not in Seoul or Busan) is about 5,000,000₩. Yeah, it's not cheap.
Now, you get this deposit money back when your lease ends and you move out of the apartment, as long as there wasn't any kind of horrible damage done while you were living there. But, it's still kind of difficult to cough up that much before hand unless you've been saving.
If you and your S.O. are planning on moving in together it might be a little easier. Combining forces with a partner or a roommate is going to be your best bet in regards to affordability. However, if you're out to live on your own (like me), good luck!
I'm really lucky, honestly, that everything worked out. I feel 100% blessed about this entire situation. I hope that it'll be as easy for you if you make the decision to move into your own place.
And last, but not least,
REALTOR COMMISSION
Finding an apartment is a lot easier through a realestate agency. However, most of us don't speak enough Korean to handle speaking to a realtor. This is where having Korean friends helps. Or, if you trust your school enough, ask them to help you! I wouldn't recommend that though, because it's usually good to keep the relationship with your school as low-stress as possible.
If you use the assistance of a realtor to help you find your place, you have to pay their commission. In my area it's 9%. Double check with your realestate agent about the commission percentage before you make any commitment to one realtor or another.
The 9% commission is based off of the key-money. The commission price for an apartment with 5,000,000₩ key-money deposit is going to be about 450,000₩.
You have to pay the commission, key money, and first months rent up front. So, you're looking at about 6,000,000w upfront payment for renting a new apartment.
That's not cheap, ya'll. Not cheap at all.
That's why I commented earlier about new expats not being able to afford living separately from their school. If you're a new expat and you plan on staying in Korea for a few years, it would be a good idea to start saving for the apartment now.
Well, and look at it this way. That 5,000,000₩ key-deposit is really just 'forced-savings'. You get it back when you move out! And then look what you've got! You're 5,000,000 richer. :D
Har har har.
Anyway, if you're looking for your own place I wish you the best of luck!
Back to the Previous Topic of Clothes
I and two of my Korean co-workers went clothes browsing yesterday at a little shop at the bottom of our school building. We were drawn in originally by the 5,900₩ long sleeve shirts out front. They were really cutsie (can't wear them to work), but it grabbed our interest so we went in.
It was so fun shopping with them! After looking around and being all girly, we each managed to find an article that we really really liked.
Teacher K found a lovely sweater dress just bursting with color. It matches her personality well. She's a very warm and friendly person and she absolutely ADORES those kids at school. When I mentioned that they'd want to hug her even more now because of the softness of the sweater she gave a happy squeal.
Teacher S found some cute black dress-shorts. You know the kind. They're made out of dress-pants material but are shorts. Really short ones. But they looked so cute on her! I was so shocked to see her legs! They were PERFECTLY TAN.I thought she was wearing pantyhose at first, but then noticed that she was wearing sheer ankle socks instead. When I gasped and mentioned how perfect her tan looked she smiled really big. She's naturally that color! I can't lie, I was kind of jealous! haha
And finally, after much rummaging (I liked about 80% of the clothes in this store, but I needed something practical that I could wear both outside of work and at work), I discovered the skirt wrack. I rifled through and pulled out one after the other. All of us had a good laugh about the majority of them (the floral prints were just... ugh!). My hand landed on a grey flannel skirt that I originally thought wouldn't look cute at all.
When I pulled it off the wrack, it swished to life! It was LOVELY! After much coaxing from K and S to buy it, I decided that I'd actually consider it. But, I put it back for the time being. We had to get back to school!
K decided to wait on the sweater as well, so for the rest of the day we were telling each other "You should buy it! You should buy it! I'll by the skirt if you'll buy the sweater! I'll buy the sweater if you buy the skirt!" and so on.
Finally, when it was time to go, I looked at K and grinned and she said "Let's go!".
We went back to the store and purchased our items, and left feeling giddy and satisfied with ourselves.
I wanted to put up a picture, but I didn't have time. Hopefully an update later with some pictures added? Maybe.
Possibly.
It was nice making a clothing purchase for myself. It will be one of the last 'frilly' items I can buy for a month or so until my finances get settled with the apartment/school. Then, all will be well, my period of transition will be winding down and I'll be ready to get back to living a full life (- financial worries, please!).
Everyone have a great Wednesday!
Until next time,
~A.
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