Ten Things About Adulthood that Change when You Live in Korea

Recently, Korea was described to me as a good halfway point between college and real adulthood. If this is the halfway point to adulthood sign me up as a permanent resident. I get it, a little bit. It is much easier to live independently here than back home, but that doesn't mean this old/new world doesn't have its own set of challenges. These first few months of truly being on my own as an adult haven't been a carnival ride of fun, or maybe they have and I'm just not a carnival ride kind of person....Either way, here are ten things I don't have to deal with as an adult in Korea.




1. Rent.

That's right folks, my rent is paid by my employer. The way I look at it, rent is kind of  a direct deposit portion of my paycheck. Instead of paying me more money and then having to help me muddle through paying the bill every month they just take care of it directly.

2. Large utility bills.

This past week I paid a three month overdue gas bill for my apartment (they haven't been delivering my bill regularly) and it was $14. For three months. Granted I don't cook that much during the week and I have been traveling a lot on the weekends this past month, but that was for THREE MONTHS.

Now heating  can get expensive in the winter time, I'm talking in the hundreds (if you heat your apartment all the time), but since I live on my own and my apartment is fairly well insulated, I have yet to leave the heat on for more than a couple hours at a time, and I don't even turn it on every day. My last electric bill was under ten bucks.

Cable + internet (all 99 channels) is twenty a month, and water is another flat twenty that gets pulled out of my paycheck and is paid to the building.

My most expensive bill is my smart phone which is close to fifty a month.

3. Expensive doctor's bills.

That's right, even if I didn't have health insurance here (which I do), I wouldn't be worried about visiting the doctor. So far my most expensive doctor's visit has still been under $40 bucks, and I've been to four different doctors. All my pharmacy visits have been even less than that. I think the most expensive bill I've had was in the mid twenties, antibiotics and all. And as long as I have all the paperwork and receipts my insurance covers it.

4. Car payments.

Yup, I don't have a car. Which leads us to...

5. Car insurance.

Don't have to pay for that either, or...

6.  Gas.

I walk past a gas station on my way to work every day and have yet to look at the price.

7. Parking my car.

Thank GOD I don't have to do that in this country.

8. Maintaining my car.

None of that either.

9. Lamenting over the fact that I have no car.

Rarely do I ever wish for a car here, there are a few instances where it would be nice, but public transportation is a dream come true and I'd rather knit or pinterest my travel time away than drive.

10. Taking the flyers off my car every time I go to drive.

The flyer trolls are everywhere.