it's semi official

i found a new place for me to live come next month when our current lease ends at this apartment.

it's a house owned by a korean grandmother who rents out each of the rooms to foreigners (has been doing so for the past 30 years i was told). there will be 3 (maybe 4) other foreigners living there: 1 from England, 1 from Canada and the rest from the States. they seem to be in there 30s and 40s with various reasons for being in korea from teaching english to working for a korean environmentalist company to working in the consulting business to studying korean.

the location is right in the middle of seoul, in fact, nearest to Seoul Station and Namsan mountain, home of the iconic N.Seoul Tower.

i met with some of the people at that house last night and felt that the vibe and atmosphere was right for me.

just because i'm an anal lister, here goes some pros and cons:

pros:

• my room is big, maybe 12 x 14 feet (i can easily do yoga in there!)
  
• my closet is the length of the 12 foot wall (lots of hanging /storage space)
• wireless internet
• large comfortable living space filled with books and movies that have been donated to the house by previous tenants over the years
• they don't have parties there and so strangers won't be coming in and out of the house all the time
• close to Namsan Mountain; opportunity for outdoor exercise
• new gym with yoga classes located nearby (but really expensive - about 100,000 per month - compared to my current gym membership - about 40,000 per month)
• no rental contract, not locked in; no security deposit
  
• located near a local market - great for easily buying fruits and veggies but also close to Lotte Mark - a discount store like Wal-Mart that has great double deals on fruits and veggies.
• located near major bus routes into "downtown" seoul (city hall and cheongyecheon stream); could be like a 5 to 7 min bus ride
  
• i like the idea of living with other adults from other countries/places; this will add to the varied experiences that i would like to have in my lifetime
• it's a real korean house, with 2 floors; not these mambo-jambo sky-high rises.
• at night, when you go to the roof you have a great view of the Seoul Tower (too bad the radio transmitter tower partly blocks the view and would messy up some otherwise fabulous photo ops)
  
• its location cuts about 10 minutes off my commute to Deokso
  

cons:

• its location ~only~ cuts about 10 minutes off my commute to Deokso; i had hope to get about 30 minutes closer to my job without leaving Seoul area
  
• the kitchen is so small
• the kitchen sink is minuscule, more like a pot thank a sink
• the large standard american-sized fridge is shared by 4 people; i cook often so this may be a problem; but they said if i do a lot of cooking then they can give me one full shelf rather than half shelf
  
• the kitty is too high (40,000 / person / month) and that covers laundry detergent, toilet paper, dish detergent, paper towels, city trash bags, any house maintenance (e.g. light bulb replacement) and the cleaning lady who comes twice per month. 40,000 x 4 tenants = 160,000. let's say the cleaning lady charges 50,000 per visit (i've seen ads for about that). that's 100,000 per month. that leaves 60,000 left over each month for those other items mentioned above. i think we only need about 1/3 of that. maybe they don't bargain shop like i do; they spoke like they had dispensable cash; i don't think anyone is pinching pennies there. anyway, i'm going to suggest a drop in kitty money to 30,000 / person / month
  
• my soon-to-be-room has 3 huge windows and is said to be very poor at retaining heat in the winter. just buy yourself an electric blanket, says one of the tenants, (not what i was thinking). i go for the less-is-more when it comes to household possessions. it all accumulates and the next think you know you have such a hassle on your hands when it comes time to move to another apartment, or back to the States. i will use plastic insulation sheets to trap the heat and see if that works.

i move in on Sept 15th.

cool.

*scratch, scratch* that's me putting another notch in my belt.

(guess it's time to sew closed the opening to my favorite pair of boxer shorts that i wear when i'm lounging at home! LOL)