Hope all of you are having a beautiful day! This week’s topic will be about my apartment in Korea. I will be giving you an overview of what to expect when living in a Korean apartment and some helpful tips. It might be quite different than living in an apartment in Vancouver!
My apartment:
I lived in a small and cozy studio apartment. A studio apartment is an one-room open style apartment. I had a small washroom and laundry room inside, and an open kitchen. It was a perfect place for one person to live in.
Entrance
For most Korean apartments, it uses an electronic door lock. There are no keys and you unlock the door by entering your own passcode. When I enter the doorway, there is a shoe storage closet in front of me.
Bedroom
The bedroom is an open area. It was cozy and comfortable, but not a lot of light can get inside because my window was very small and in the laundry room. It also looked out to the cement building of the apartment next to me. I left my lights on most of the time because it was so dark. I also had to leave a nightlight on at night because I was not use to living alone by myself. It was very scary the first few months living alone for the first time!
Kitchen
The kitchen does not have its own separate room. It was on the other side of the room and was a very small area. It did not have a lot of space to store my kitchen supplies and groceries. The fridge was quite small too, but I do know that it varies throughout different apartments. Some of my friends had their own separate kitchen and a much larger fridge. Another important thing to note is that in order to use the stove, you must turn on the gas valve! Don’t forget to turn off the valve after cooking!
Bathroom
What I found the most different were the bathrooms in Korea! The bathrooms are usually very small with no curtains or glass door to shower inside. It was not common to have a bathtub inside smaller Korean apartments like mine. It is an open space inside the bathroom so everything gets wet and moldy. I had to be careful not to get my clothes wet while showering. It was definitely my least favourite part of the apartment.
Laundry room
I did have a sliding door that led to a really small laundry room with only a simple washing machine. There are usually no drying machines inside these small apartments. Instead, there are hanging long bars or racks to hang your clothes. The ventilation inside the laundry room is usually not very good, so the clothes can have a musty smell. Luckily, my only window was inside the laundry room so I was able to leave it open when I hung my laundry out to dry.
Rent
Rent is usually super cheap in Korea! It was around 400,000 won ($470 cad) a month. Through my teaching program, we are actually provided with free accommodation so my apartment is paid for by my school, but we do have to pay for electricity and gas bills!
Electricity and gas bills
During my one-year stay in Korea, I thought my electricity and gas bills were quite affordable. My electricity bill ranged from 4,430 – 32,000 won ($5.00 – $38.00 cad) and my gas bill ranged from 14,360 – 75,410 won ($17.00 – $89.00 cad). In the winter, the gas bill turns a lot higher because of using the floor heating. I only hit the amount of 75,410 won once because it was a tremendously cold and freezing month in December. Otherwise, in the summer, the gas and electricity bills were not very high.
Heating system
Next to my light switch is a dial for turning on the floor heating or hot water system. I found it to be so unique because in order to use hot water, we must turn on the hot water dial. If we forget, we will be showering in cold water!!
Neighbourhood
There are numerous stores, cafes, and restaurants in my neighbourhood. I lived next to the lively areas of Hanok Village and Gaeksa. It was always so safe walking around in my neighbourhood, even at night. The night scenery was amazing too! I also conveniently lived near the post office and banks.
Tips:
1 — When shopping for apartment supplies, I suggest going to Daiso because it has almost everything you need for only 2000 won ($2.35 cad) or more for each item!
2. — I regret going to the large department stores first to look for apartment stuff because it was quite expensive, but I do suggest going there if you need new pillows or bedding sheets. I bought some super cute pink Hello Kitty blankets and pillow sets there!
3 — Please get some mold cleaning supplies! I assure you that it can turn very moldy inside your wet Korean bathroom.
4 — Make sure to pay the bills on time, we can pay the bills by going to the nearest bank and depositing it to the landlord’s account number when we receive the billing invoice.
More pictures!
Would you like to live in Korea? 🙂
