Experience life of a Korean student ~ Staying in a one room 원룸

Other than enjoying the good life staying with my host family, I also chose to live independently in a one room. One room, as its name says, is basically an one room apartment. Many college students studying for the university entrance exam, or undergraduates stay in this type of apartment that is abundant near the university vicinity.

Neighbourhood near Seoul National University

 Building I stayed at

I stayed at an apartment introduced by my friend as she stayed there during her previous stay in Korea. It's about 15 mins walk to SNU, and there's lots of cheap eating places and cafes around the area.

The monthly rent was 450,000krw for my room. Usually a security deposit of about 2-3 months is required, but you can try to negotiate with your landlord. Electricity and water bills are separate and it costs about 15,000krw for electricity bills from Jun to Aug. My landlord doesn't charge for water bills (:

Before

After

Sliding door with the Shinhwa poster given by my friend, and currently in my other friend's apartment 

What I really liked about the apartment was this sliding door that separates the kitchen from the bedroom/study area. I have a sensitive nose so a room without a sliding room means I would have only boiled or steamed my meals.

There's also a good size fridge and washing machine in the kitchen.

My door with my favourite Super Junior and random food flyers and magnets

Another similar type of apartment is called the goshiwon 고시원, which is smaller than a oneroom as there is usually no private kitchen or laundry facilities.

Staying on your own definitely has its pros and cons. You get all the freedom you want to do anything, but you have to do everything yourself! And I really loved decorating my room though I was glad I had my good friend around to stop me from senseless purchases! I spent a total of 220,000krw on household items and supplies. 

As for groceries, I had my breakfast and dinner mostly at home, and spend about 350,000krw for 2 months, mainly on fresh vegetables, fruits and chicken. I'm a person with boring tastebuds and lousy cooking skills, hence my menu consisted of my favourite foods that's easy to cook. 

And of course, the occasional extra effort put into preparing dinner. Definitely not done by me alone! I was merely the chef's assistant :D

My favourite breakfast

My boring fridge

Cabinet with dry goods

Frangcors Coffee, where I spent a lot of my time at

Other than my room where I spent most of my time, I also went to the cafes! There's also supermarkets selling daily necessities at cheaper prices than Lotte mart or emart, though selection is not great.

After the endless homeworks, preparation for classes and roleplays, I didn't want to waste the rest of my time. Since there's a stream of a pretty good length (about 5km) just 15 mins away from my apartment, I went running with my friend regularly in the evenings, until the typhoon season struck. I still remember once when we were drenched in the heavy rain along the stream. Totally helpless and hilarious at the same time.

Though short, it was an eventful 2 months, where I had time to reflect and learn new things about myself. Definitely a good experience and lots of fond memories created!