| Korean Immigration has recently implemented new policies on the E2 visa requirements, such as requiring medical records, criminal records, and interviews at overseas Korean embassies. This is a very fluid situation and there is a general opinion that the execution of the policy will continue to be refined. As a result, we cannot guarantee that our information will be current, to the moment. If you wish for the latest information and safe guidance, we please encourage you to contact Rowan at ESL-Planet, who is always at the forefront of industry changes and helping teachers get good jobs.
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This article covers what a prospective English teacher can expect from their school-provided accommodation. If you are looking for your own accommodation for short or long-term stay in Korea, please visit our accommodation article.
As an English teacher, one of the provisions in your employment contract will be for free accommodation. Expect to see some different varieties in the way that this will be provided. And it pays to be thorough about qualifying your accommodation, prior to signing a contract. In fact, we'd place weighing the importance of accommodation higher than your offered salary and work schedule. Why? Because 6 months into a contract, no one usually complains or celebrates over the extra $100-200/mnth they are making over the other offers that they originally turned down for this one, and while some schedules can be heavy or the classes inconveniently spread out on some of your weekdays, remember that you're only spending 20-30 hours a week at your job. You still have 138-148 hours/week to think about, when you're not at work. And regardless of how hard you think you can party in Itaewon or Hongdae, or how many travel excursions around Korea and Asia you can fit in, you're still going to be staring at the walls of your school-provided accommodation for a significant part of your stay in Korea.
[edit] Apartment sizes
Accommodation can usually come in the form of single bachelor pads, one bedroom apartments, shared two bedroom apartments, and the like. There is no standardized format, as its up to the individual school to locate, rent/purchase, and provide it for you. Available space, location and real estate prices in Korea are a huge consideration for any school director, especially in Seoul. Having said that, Koreans are used to living in apartments, rather than houses. And those apartments often can be seen as small as 6 pyeong (roughly 180 square feet) to lavish pads as much as 60 pyeong (roughly 1800 square feet) and more. As an ESL teacher, you'll find that most apartments will be in the 10-20 pyeong (roughly 300-600 sq. feet) range.
And don't expect to be able to pick and choose your apartment with the school that you're interviewing with. Schools usually have bought these apartments by way of putting down a moderate to huge deposit and will usually not risk losing it all, on the grounds that you tell him/her that you want something more to your liking. The best that you should be aiming for is ensuring that:
The apartment is fully furnished. The basics of fully furnished would include bed, bedding, TV, desk, chair, gas range, fridge, plates, bowls, cutlery, closet/armoire, and washing machine. Dryers are not common in Korea, as most people hang dry.
One of the big things that teachers overlook when qualifying an apartment is aircon. Ask if the place has an air conditioning unit, as Korea gets intolerably humid at times, in the summer.
Beyond this, anything else is a bonus. If you push them for providing more for you, you run the risk of them losing interest and choosing another teacher, as Korean directors are wary of anyone sounding remotely high-maintenance, especially during the interview process. If you like everything else about the gig and they are only offering the basic listed provisions of what entails the usual furnishings for teachers, try to keep in mind that there are an abundance of Homevers, Costcos, Home Plus', and E-marts in Korea where you can get everything else you need. Keep this in mind, before you decide to blow off an offer that checks out in all other areas, but not for what is being included in the school-provided furnishings.
[edit] Contract provisions
Most contracts will say something to the effect of 'school will provide furnished accommodation and the teacher is responsible for these bills, etc...'.
In some school contracts, you may see a provision for a refundable security deposit which will be deducted from the salary. You can sometimes see things like: For the first three months, the Employer will withhold a deposit of 200,000 won each month, in order for the employer to pay off any excess utility and telephone charges incurred by the teacher. These caveats sometimes make their way into a contract after a school has a very bad working relationship with an ex-teacher who may have took off on them, mid-contract, while leaving a lot of unpaid bills or damages to the apartment. Given the amount of dodgy teachers that come through this place from time to time, seeing this caveat does not necessarily mean that the school is tight-assed or corrupt. It usually just means that they're cautious, due to being burnt in the past. If you're level-headed, easygoing, and not much of a pain in the ass for them, then you can often expect to see a gradual relaxing on their end, often as early as the first month or two. Best advice? Take a look to assess all the other pros and cons in the offer without focusing on the security deposit caveat. Some legit, good schools have that deposit clause. Some bad schools don't. Therefore, don't turn your nose up at the first sight of that clause. Just factor it in with the rest of the qualifying of the offer.
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