Seoul Apartment

After traveling from Seoul to Tokyo to Hong Kong to parts of Southern China, back to Tokyo and then back to Seoul, I’ve finally stopped moving and have myself an apartment. It only took 2 1/2 months of country hopping and moving around to settle down in one place, which doesn’t seem like a long time, but feels lengthened and weighted by the number of large heavy bags I’ve had to drag around. Being a nomad is fun and full of adventure, but it sure feels refreshing to sleep in my own bed and have a place to call home to return to after a mercilessly cold and chilly day in Seoul. It’s been below zero everyday since I’ve been here (it’s only been 4 days). 

My apartment search started while I was in Tokyo and I used a site called ‘Near Subway‘, which is run by an English speaking Korean real estate agent. I had one of my friends in Seoul speak to him and he checked out with the standard fees and procedures. The service he’s provided to me has been outstanding and I couldn’t have accomplished many of the moving-in tasks without him.

Here are some of items that felt as if they were beyond the call of duty:  
Called Korea Telecom repairman for me 3x to fix my shotty internet.
Went to the furniture store with me and helped me pick out and negotiate a better price.
Went to the bank with me and helped me wire transfer deposit money.
Helped set up a cleaning of the apartment before I moved in (in Korea, the previous tenant doesn’t clean the place)
Helped me complain to the building manager to fix my broken door and light (they were both broken)
Took me to lunch and explained the entire apartment rental market.
  
It may sound like a minimal amount of extra work or trival tasks, but when no one speaks English, it’s HUGE. So if anyone is plannning to move to Seoul and needs a real estate agent for an apartment, definitely email Gilbert Kang.

  
Pics of my loft apartment layout, the building, and the view at night.