Advice for Light Fellows (Part the Fourth?)

The final word on housing.  If this + the other bit from Advice for Light Fellows – Part the First doesn’t cover what you’d like to know/need to know, then feel free to contact me – but please read everything carefully first!

First up: What are your options?

Essentially, you have four choices for short/long-term housing in Korea:

1. Dormitory (기숙사).  It of course goes without saying that every school is different and will have different options/availabilities for on-campus housing (Sogang hasn’t got much, but it’s worth asking about if you’re interested in the option) – but in general (or at least at Sogang/Ewha/Yonsei), dorms do not operate quite as they do in the US.  For example, Sogang’s largest and most badass dorm, Gonzaga Hall, has separate WINGS for males and females – and a strict policy on no intersex mingling.  Gonzaga has a 1am curfew that is also strictly enforced, and I believe the grand majority of the rooms in the dorm are doubles – meaning you’ll have a roommate, and you probably won’t be able to pick who that roommate is.  Depending on where he/she comes from, you may not speak a common language (a lot of exchange students at Sogang live in Gonzaga, and not all of them are enrolled in the 교육원 – but there is a reasonable expectation that anyone taking classes at the graduate level probably speaks a bit of English).  On the plus side, facilities are top-notch; Gonzaga is almost brand-new and is majorly tricked-out and comfortable (dorm rooms even have air conditioning!  If you think this is inconsequential, just wait until July).
2. Goshiwon/Goshitel/Livingtel (고시원/고시텔/리빙텔).  Fun fact: 고시 means exam – and the word 고시원 means (literally) “exam room.”  Essentially, goshiwons were created to give students preparing for exams temporary accommodations where they could focus exclusively on studying without the distractions of home life (keep in mind that the majority of university students in Seoul live with their parents).  While a lot of goshiwons are now inhabited by students from outside of Seoul and people working, the goshiwon still reflects its original purpose – rooms are EXTREMELY tiny and contain basic essentials – most seem to have a mini-fridge, a small television, WiFi, a wardrobe, and (natch) a bed.  Most also have air conditioning (again, if you are a summer Fellow, do not discount the importance of this).  Your room may come equipped with a shower stall and sink, but toilets are likely to be shared, as are communal kitchens.  Whether or not your room will have a window is also unclear – not all goshiwons are created equal, and certainly not all of the rooms in a goshiwon are created equally (though fortunately the price reflects the facilities).  Walls in goshiwons tend to be paper-thin (this apparently can be dangerous, as fires can spread easily) and security is not always super-tight – a mild cause for concern, but in Sinchon, I wouldn’t worry terribly about it.  As with dormitories, most goshiwons are divided into single-sex floors and intermingling is strictly prohibited.
3. Hasukjib (하숙집).  Essentially a boarding house – popular with both Korean students and foreigners alike.  Slightly more expensive than the goshiwon, and the big draw here is that meals are included.  Additionally, hasuks are more community-oriented than are goshiwons and will generally allow you to come into contact with Korean students or other foreigners living/studying in Korea.  Facilities vary from hasuk to hasuk, but you’ll be hard pressed to find one with air conditioning (don’t know about private bathrooms, but my general feeling is that at least some facilities are shared).  Hasukjibs are generally run by 아줌마/아저씨 who own the place and will have a specific set of rules for you to follow.
4. One-room/Officetel (원룸/오피스텔).  Studio apartments – obviously the nicest option on the list and the most expensive.  Whereas you can inquire about and move into a goshiwon or a hasuk in a single day, apartments are not quite so simple.  You’ll need a visa and a foreigner’s registration card (외국인 등록증) to cut a contract, and finding a place (while certainly a faster process than it is in the US) can take a few days at least.  If you can’t find a place on your own (whether through Craigslist or some other network of expats), you’ll probably need to pay a visit to a local 부동산 (real estate agent) who can show you some options that fit within your budget and means.  I wouldn’t do this on one’s own unless you’re some sort of wunderkid at Korean – and even then, I’d still bring a Korean with me to make sure I’m not getting completely screwed over (legal language is tough, y’all).  Apartments generally offer the greatest variety of facilities – private bathroom, small kitchen, washing machine, decent-sized fridge, wardrobe, shoe closet, etc – but are perhaps not the most conducive to meeting Korean students or engaging with one’s surroundings.

So which option should you go for?  I can’t tell you that – each has its pros and cons depending on your length of stay and purpose of stay.  If you’re a summer Fellow only, a goshiwon is not a bad option, but I wouldn’t live in a goshiwon for longer than that; if you’re gonna be here for a full year, a hasuk or one-room is generally the way to go.  Me, I live in a one-room and have had a generally positive experience, though perhaps have spent more money on housing than have most Fellows (and have perhaps been a bit more lonely at times).  It really depends on what kind of experience you want and what things you are willing to sacrifice/endure for the sake of it.  If you’re positive you’ll die without air-conditioning and don’t especially care about having to procure food on your own, then take a goshiwon; if you’re convinced that the family-ish atmosphere of a hasuk will be highly conducive to your language goals, then maybe forgoing an AC-powered summer for a hasuk is a better option.  Before you depart, think carefully about what is most important to your comfort and happiness and make a list of preferences.  Then choose your housing accordingly.

Next up: I AM GOING TO HAVE TO SLEEP ON THE STREET UNLESS I RESERVE A ROOM IN ADVANCE.

No.  No, you are not.  Besides, none of the homeless people in Korea actually sleep on the street – they sleep in the 을지로 입구 subway station.  So there.

I can’t say this enough, and there are a few reasons for it.  In the first place, why the sam hell would you reserve a room without seeing it?  People even demand pictures of HOTEL ROOMS before they reserve them, and they’ll only be there for like, a week tops.  You just simply cannot be sure what you are getting unless you’ve seen it with your own eyes (pictures do not count, and pictures do not show everything).  You can’t even take a landlady/landlord’s word at face value because obviously they are not going to enumerate the shit points of their proffered housing – and they might exaggerate or overemphasize the good.  Believe me, the relief that you’ll feel in knowing that you’ve secured housing will evaporate almost immediately when you see that your “reservation” is nothing but a windowless cell (this happened to a 2010 Fellow).

But perhaps more importantly, nobody does reservations, guys – nobody.  Really.  Reserving rooms is just not common practice, and this is really important to understand.  There’s no infrastructure in place at most goshwions or hasuks for dealing with reservations, no concrete system of deposits and guarantees – and indeed, one Fellow last year reserved a room at a hasuk and the landlady lost the reservation.  Unlike dorms or apartments, you don’t sign a contract when you move into a goshiwon or hasuk, and so it’s likely that even the landlord or landlady won’t know exactly which rooms will be available when you show up.  And if you think she’s going to reserve you a room when some kid might show up tomorrow and be willing to move in and start paying immediately, you’re delusional.  Additionally, the fact that people come and go in these forms of temporary housing so often means that the things you want in a room (certain size, window, etc) might not be available when you reserve, but might become available later on – and you’re stuck with the crap room because you JUST COULDN’T WAIT.

Here’s another nasty point: reservations will cost you deposit money in a lot of cases.  And ordinarily, goshitels and hasuks DO NOT require deposits.  If you’re all concerned about breaking your budget and not being able to afford a hotel for a night or two (unless you don’t have a place to stay when you first arrive – see Advice for Light Fellows, Part the First), then consider a $400 deposit – which you’ll probably have to wire-transfer over, and that’ll cost you an additional $50.  This is probably more than you will spend on that hotel room, unless you’re a horrid snob who insists upon staying in the Shilla (which, if you’ve got the cash, you might as well – the Shilla is hella nice).

I mean.  Let’s look at this logically.  A Fellow has never, ever, ever had to sleep on the streets or undergone any other sort of nightmarish, homeless-person-esque trauma because they couldn’t find housing.  But Fellows have gotten screwed over because they bucked the system in place and strong-armed the hasuk ajummas into allowing them to reserve a crappy room that they probably wouldn’t have taken had they seen it first.  Jut think about that.

One final question: I heard that I won’t be able to find a room because the semester at a Korean university doesn’t end until July and all places are likely to be full.

I find this to be a difficult argument to accept or substantiate; admittedly, it sounds a touch like excuse-making.  The reason I say this is because Light Fellows almost never arrive when a Korean semester is not in session (NB: spring semester at Korean unis are from March – July, and fall semesters are from Sept – Dec).  Unless you’re one of those rare spring semester Fellows, you’re going to arrive at a time when students will be either starting up or in full swing – and that, to my knowledge, hasn’t deterred anyone who truly wanted to live in a hasuk or goshiwon from living in those.  It’s true that you’ll probably have to make a few more phone calls than you’d like to, and maybe the process won’t be as easy as popping into one or two hasuks and finding a room lickety-split, but don’t give up so easily!  I have it on reliable record that a level 1 Sogang student (who, by the way, spoke not a word of Korean when he arrived), found a hasukjib basically during the week that spring semester started – by his account, he had to call a ton of places, but it worked out in the end.  And with housing in Korea, that is the bottom line 9.9 times out of 10 – it just works out in the end.  Just trust me!

It bears mentioning that I’ve never lived in a hasukjib, though I think I might have liked the experience.  I can recommend specific goshiwons and apartment complexes, but I can’t offer recommendations for good hasuks.  I included in the first post a set of directions for finding an area that is quite populated with hasuks (which is corroborated nicely by my friend Vinh at his blog), but aside from that, I can pretty much only tell you that hasuks are more likely to be on side streets as opposed to main roads, so if you can’t find an available room in the cluster of hasuks that I mentioned, you might have to do a bit of Sinchon exploring.  Level 2 should have covered the basic grammar and vocab that you’ll need to hold a conversation with your hasuk ajumma, but I can expound upon that in a later post or here if there is sufficient demand.  A few good phrases to know (in as simplified Korean as this frog can render hehe):

• 방이 있어요? (are there rooms available?)
• 방을 좀 보여주시겠어요? (will you show me the room?)
• 방안에 어떤 시설이 있어요? (what facilities are there in the room?)
• 특별한 규칙이 있어요? (are there special rules here?)
• 월세가 얼마예요? (how much is monthly rent?)
• 다른 방이 있어요? (is there any other room available?)

A NB for Light Fellows Only: If you are REALLY, REALLY, REALLY cosmically and catastrophically and irrevocably screwed and absolutely cannot find housing (I can’t even imagine this scenario) when you arrive in Korea, then contact me immediately and I will give you my address & relevant apartment information.  I likely will not be here (I’m planning to be in NY from May 20-June 10ish), but you can use my room for a night or two as long as you don’t trash the place or steal my crap.  Again, this is for EMERGENCY SCENARIOS ONLY, not just because you’d like to kick it in my crib while I’m not here.  Additionally, I’ll post my finalized travel plans once I figure them out, but if my being in Korea coincides with your arrival, I’d be happy to accompany you  on your hasuk hunt.  I’m still not FLUENT at Korean, but I can talk my way around an ajumma or two ^^

 

Advice for Light Fellows (Part the First?)

I had a dream last night in which I visited this year’s intro Korean class at Yale (full of people who definitely do not go to Yale; actually, one of the girls was a high-school friend who wound up at Harvard.  I don’t know, either), and asked how many had applied/received the Light Fellowship to go study in Korea over the summer.  Only one of them (the Harvard student) raised her hand.  Disappointed and seething, I began to scream at them about the merits of doing the Light Fellowship, countering their lame excuses with argument after argument.  I woke up with a sore throat and a slight fever: my first cold of 2011.  What the hell?  It’s like my body has decided to condense all of its sick-time into February.  At least I’m on a week-long break from school now…

Anyway, inspired by a dream that was almost definitely inspired by post-graduation euphoria + feverish delusion, I decided I should probably do that “advice for Light Fellows” post that it seems I will never otherwise get around to.

I can try to do this categorically, but it is almost certain to devolve into a disorganized, sloppy, anecdotal mess, so bear with me.

Starting with the obvious: Programs.

Yale’s Light Fellowship website indicates that, in theory, you can choose from 5 Yale-approved Korean language programs from 5 of Korea’s most prestigious universities: Sogang, Yonsei, Seoul National, Korea, and Ewha.  Practically speaking, only the first three programs get any traffic from Yale: Sogang gets the most, Yonsei gets the second most, and Seoul National hardly gets more than one or two (if that) a year.  I can’t even remember the last student who studied at Ewha or Korea.  For more detailed information on the programs, it’s recommended that you check out the Light Fellowship bulletin board, where you can read specific program reviews written by students who have actually done the programs; having only done Sogang, I can really only speak to the merits and weaknesses of that particular program.

That being said, I think it’s becoming something of common knowledge at Yale (now that the Light Fellowship is about 15 years old) that the following breakdown is more or less on target when it comes to Korea:

1. Sogang University’s KLEC specializes in speaking.  While you’ll definitely get a well-rounded Korean language education, you’ll spend more time than you would at other universities engaged in speaking practice.  As such, Sogang is an excellent program for beginner or intermediate students who need that emphasis on speaking to take them to the next level. Translation: if you are a non-heritage learner or a heritage learner with weak speaking skills, Sogang is probably the program for you.  As for me, I obviously fall into the former category, and I’d say with confidence that my speaking, while obviously not native, is quite good for a whitey.
2. Yonsei University’s KLI places a premium on reading, writing, and grammar above speaking.  I’ve heard (disclaimer: I did not study at Yonsei) that grading is meticulous and really emphasizes total and complete perfection, whereas Sogang seems more likely in general to let small mistakes slip by as long as students are actively engaging with the language.  Yonsei (to me) seems a better fit for heritage learners who feel decently confident about their speaking skills, but feel themselves lacking when it comes to written Korean.  Yonsei’s purported focus on reading and grammar was one of the reasons I considered transferring there for my final semester, but that was only because I felt that my speaking was solid enough for me to do so; personally, if I felt that I needed to develop my speaking seriously, I wouldn’t have even bothered.
3. Seoul National University’s LEI is a program about which I am curious, but actually am woefully under-informed.  Seems to me that this program caters to seriously advanced speakers, readers, and writers; I would recommend speaking to your Korean teacher about SNU if you are a heritage speaker in Levels 3, 4, or 5.  But I really have no idea; the only thing I have to go off of is that since I’ve been involved with Korean at Yale, only gyopos (heritage learners) with solid speaking and already decent reading/writing skills have gone there.

The bottom line is that you should pick the program from which you believe you will get the most out of.  If you’re planning to study at a university simply because you think it’ll be the easiest and thus allow you more time to party/visit your grandma/drink soju/go clubbing/have more fun in Korea, then I really don’t know what to tell you.  You should probably stop reading here.

Next up is probably the most common query: Housing.

Yeah, I know, it sucks that [most of] the programs don’t provide dorms for you like the China and Japan programs.  Yeah, I know, it sucks that the dorms that do have spaces for foreign students have a 1am curfew.  Yeah, I know, it is daunting and panic-inducing to come to a foreign country and not know where you are going to spend the night.  I know you are going to be tempted to reserve a room in a hasukjib or goshitel before you arrive to avoid this feeling of uncertainty.  Here is what I have to say to you: SUCK IT UP.

Sorry, that is harsh, but literally, I was asked this question a couple of times last year and always gave this answer, and yet a few people still felt it necessary to ignore me and book rooms ahead of time, despite the fact that this is not common practice in Korea at all.  And of all of the Light Fellows, they were the ones who hated their rooms the most.  I am only going to say this once, so listen carefully: DO NOT BOOK A ROOM UNLESS YOU HAVE SEEN IT WITH YOUR OWN EYES, SPOKEN WITH THE LANDLORD/LANDLADY, AND ASKED ALL RELEVANT QUESTIONS ABOUT IT.  If you even think about ignoring this piece of advice, then you automatically forfeit your right to bitch about it if it blows up in your face.

Of course, this means that you will arrive in Korea without having a place to sleep.  This is a scary reality, but it is not the end of the world and you should also keep in mind that pretty much every single Light Fellow to Korea goes through this process and all have come out alive and well.  Here are some tips to find housing:

1. If you have a Korean friend, ask if you can spend your first night at their place.  This will remove some of the post-arrival anxiety and allow you the chance to rest a little bit before starting your search.
2. If you do not have a Korean friend, then you have two options: either book a stay at a hotel for your first night or two in Korea (and don’t whine about your budget, it’ll be just fine, I promise), or book a flight that arrives in Korea early in the morning so that you have a full day ahead of you to find a place.
3. When you are ready to start looking, I’d recommend starting on the hill behind McDonald’s where all of the love motels are.  In order to get there, go out of exit 3 of Sinchon’s subway station, walk straight until you hit Paris Baguette, and make a right onto the small side street.  Walk straight until you see a MiniStop convenience store; make a left.  You should see a flight of concrete steps.  Go up and make a left.  Ta-da!  Street chock full’ o hasuks.  There are also more hasuks BEHIND all of these, if you go up the small hilly street instead of making a left when you ascend the stairs.
4. If you don’t want to live in a hasuk, there are goshitels and livingtels in the area as well.  I stayed in the Shereville Livingtel my first stint in Korea, and if you want to get there, read the above directions and stop in front of the MiniStop.  The Shereville is right next to it, and there’s a big orange sign with the name on it.  There were some other goshitels (one name that I remember was the CoCo Livingtel) popular among Fellows, which I can try to mine some information on.
5. If you want to live in an apartment, procedures are different.  You’ll need a visa and a 외국인 등록증 for this, and you can either contact a 부동산, a real estate agent, or search on Craig’s List (this is actually how I found my apartment).  Beware of high deposits, but keep in mind that almost everything is negotiable – my deposit was originally 5,000,000원, but negotiations with the landlady brought it down to 3,000,000원 with a slight increase in the monthly rent.

I remember last year that one Fellow got a bit snarky with me about housing because when I arrived, I lived with my best friend’s family for 3 weeks before moving out into my own apartment.  She insinuated that I was in no place to talk about housing because my arrangement was so damn cushy.  My response to this is that this is my second Fellowship, and if you’ve already done one Fellowship, you’re more likely to have met friends and lovely people in Korea who want to help you if you ever come back again.  Consider it a privilege earned from slogging it out the first time – like how seniors at my high school school were implicitly allowed to cut freshmen in the lunch line.  The first time I was here in summer 2009, I did the same find-the-goshitel song and dance that all other Fellows do, and it worked out just fine for me.  Relax and don’t freak out.  You WILL have a roof over your head for the summer.  I promise.

The more ambiguous: Integrating yourself into Korea.

This one is definitely less clear than the others, but the reason I wanted to address it is because a Summer 2010 Fellow once expressed to me genuine surprise that simply going to a bar in Korea and standing around did not magically yield him tons of Korean friends.  This is complete fantasy; if you are obviously foreign-looking [read: not Asian in appearance], there is almost 0 probability that any ordinary Korean will approach you unless he/she speaks relatively good English.  I’ve said before that Koreans operate under the general assumption that foreigners do not speak Korean, and thus any interaction with a foreigner requires that they speak English.  Since a lot of Koreans are embarrassed about their English speaking abilities, they are probably not going to strike up a conversation with you at a bar.  Sorry, kids.

Fortunately, you have options.  You are at a Korean university.  Here is my advice:

1. For the love of God, do language exchange. Capitalize on the fact that Koreans are ashamed of their English!  In an earlier post, I posted links to both Sogang’s and Ewha’s language exchange message boards.  GO ON THEM.  If you are in Sogang’s Level 3 or above, they will probably even find a language partner for you.  Just get one.  Or multiple ones!  Seriously, I am so in love with my language partner that it is ridiculous.  We have gotten so close that I am going to her graduation from Ewha on Monday.  Language partners often set up a chain reaction; you get to practice Korean, so you get better at Korean.  Your language partner thinks it’s so 신기해 that a foreigner speaks Korean that he/she wants to show you off to all of his/her friends (that, or the friends will become curious and ask to meet you).  Suddenly, you are a hot topic!  Everyone wants to hang out with you!  Do language exchange.  You will thank me later.
2. Join a club. This is something I have never done, but Sogang has a lot of clubs and organizations that are apparently very willing to tolerate foreigners; shocker of all shockers, some even WELCOME you!  Other Fellows have had great success with this in the past.
3. Work your connections – and don’t tell me that you HAVE no connections, because I know for a fact that you have a Korean tutor at Yale that you meet with once a week.  Chances are she is a musician from the Yale School of Music, and chances are she is very sweet and will be in Korea over the summer.  This is a connection.  Work it.  Seriously, I had five tutors in my time at Yale, and they have all helped me out in incredible ways and hooked me into larger circles of Korean friends and opportunities in this country.  My very first tutor was a violinist who managed to get a job with the very prestigious Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra.  This translates to invitations to hang out with her and her friends, which translates to making tons of classy and awesome musician friends and free concert tickets whenever I want them.  Another one of my tutors last year became my best friend; this translates to help with housing, introductions to her circle of college friends that I now meet regularly for coffee and shabu shabu dates, and a beautiful relationship with her parents who treat me like a surrogate daughter.  I repeat: work your connections.
4. Uh…call me? I’ve been here for awhile and know people.  If you’re having trouble, I’ll be here over the summer (probably from June 15-sometime in August).  I’m not posting any contact information here, but feel free to ask Kelly McLaughlin for it or drop me a comment.

I will now take questions.  Come to Korea!!