Sept 15. In a rush, I found a house.
I chose a place close to my wife's workplace. We nested in an old apartment in Yeon-dong, Jeju City.
Even though it's an old apartment... and it's on the 4th floor without an elevator... we still signed the contract.
We signed a yearly lease for 5 million KRW with a 7 million KRW deposit.
With a typhoon approaching, we signed the contract in a hurry and returned to the mainland.
Sept 16 ~ Sept 24
I looked into moving companies and got quotes. It was estimated at one 5-ton truckload, and the price was 2.8 million KRW. (Including the mainland and Jeju Island.)
However, I was asked to handle the disconnection of the washing machine, dryer, air conditioner, and water purifier separately by myself. (They said they could disconnect them, but they might break.)
I recall it cost almost 100,000 KRW to disconnect the washing machine and dryer, 100,000 KRW for the air conditioner, and about 30,000 KRW for the water purifier. About 250,000 KRW just for disconnections.
Sept 26
The move started at 7:00 AM. My father arrived around 8:00 AM to supervise in my stead, and I left for the Wando Ferry Terminal. I think I left around 9:00 AM and arrived around 1:20 PM. The ship departure was at 4:00 PM. (I arrived early because vehicles needed to be loaded starting at 2:00 PM.) When boarding a ship with a large dog, it is best to board last. If you don't board last and board in the middle with the other passengers, you have to put the dog in a soft or hard kennel and carry it in, which isn't easy since Bori is 22kg.
We boarded last and moved straight to the outdoor pet zone.
~ Sept 29 ... ?! When finding a house....!!
While settling in and checking this and that, I must have been a bit more stressed than I realized. I find myself getting rapidly exhausted quite often... haha.
The landlord has not yet fulfilled the special terms in our initial contract regarding the installation of a water pressure pump and the replacement of the door lock. Still... (They say that if a water pressure pump is installed, it could burst the water pipes, causing problems for the floor below.) Because of that... I am currently living with water trickling out. To try to increase the pressure, I even changed the showerhead, but it wasn't enough. And to make matters worse... the boiler isn't working either, so I've been taking cold showers for 3 days now...
I don't want to get into a huge fight with the landlord, so I'm holding back and waiting for now...
You really must check these things when looking for a house... especially in Jeju Island.
Must-checks
Check the water pressure - Shower, kitchen, toilet (Note: If a water pressure pump is installed, you cannot install a direct-flow water purifier. Since we are using a direct-flow model, the technicians who came to install it told me they didn't know if it would work properly due to the low pressure. When I asked if it would work if we added a pump, they said then we couldn't use a direct-flow purifier at all. This is because the pressure spikes initially, which could break the purifier.)
Check for rust in the water . (There is no answer... old houses are all in a similar situation.)
Check if the boiler works. (You must check if the hot water works well.)
Check the voltage (Sometimes the permitted voltage is low, making it difficult to use multiple electrical heating appliances.)
I'm a bit stressed because things that should be taken for granted aren't working, but when I'm working, it's quiet, so I can concentrate well, which is nice. And finishing the day by walking on the nearby beach with Bori and my wife, and talking together, I'm glad we have more time together. I even saw a rainbow during our dawn walk on the 27th.
The song "Luxury" by Han Dong-geun suddenly comes to mind.
What's the big deal about a picture-perfect house
If you are there, that's the picture