Hey wanna see my apartment? It’s super small! The deposit fee was 5 000 000 ₩ and the monthly rent is 370 000 ₩. Pretty okay, I guess. Seoul is quite expensive, and since it’s small with lots of people my apartment size is pretty normal… If you’re a poor student like me, this is what you’re gonna get. Obviously, Seoul has lots of fancy apartments as well, but that’s unthinkable for my wallet. Also, the area where this apartment is located, has the perfect distance to my university (5 minute walk)! I’ve seen newly renovated apartments for about the same price as this, but they are in high demand and/or not close to my university anyway…
Anyway, I’ve been living here for a year or so now, and even though I have heated floors (Koreans love their heated floors – including me!) I bought a heating fan because it’s cheaper to heat the room with… There’s an air conditioner on the wall but it’s so old and smells like pee. 🤣 So during the summer it’s really not fun because it gets so hot that my regular fan doesn’t help and I’m left with the stinky air conditioner (it only smells the worst in the beginning though).
Under the kitchen sink there’s a hole in the floor or something because I’ve heard and seen cockroaches (do we even have cockroaches in Sweden?) which was an awful experience for me… Overall, this entire building is most likely from the 80s so and I’m getting those ghetto feelings! 🤣 And everytime my stupid ass neighbour decides to smoke in his apartment the smell will go right into my room as well… And sometimes he sings really loud in the shower! Crazy.
Nevertheless, there are both good and bad sides I guess and obviously no country is perfect. For example, Korea is such a safe country to live in! When walking the streets, no matter the hour, you will feel absolutely no fear if for example meeting a group of men. Since I’m a tall Scandinavian girl, they will look or stare at you, but that will be all. Back in Sweden (especially the latest 20 years), I really fear walking past young men in groups because you never know what they’ll do to impress each other, you know? Even though I have been approached by creeps here in Korea, it has mostly only happened during day time on busy streets!
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