Goshiwon in Korea : Where do all the foreign students who left their distant hometowns to study in Korea live? Most of them probably live in the dormitory provided by the school, right? Or they pay monthly rent in a studio apartment near the school and live alone. The place we’re going to look for is Gosiwon. You’ve probably heard of Gosiwon at least once. Goshiwon is a unique residential facility in Korea, so let’s take a look at what characteristics it has?
Gosiwon is a facility that allows people preparing for difficult exams to continue studying by solving accommodation and meals. Originally, the Gosiwon was a space for poor students who wanted a space where they could study at the same time while solving simple meals (sleeping and eating) at low prices near schools and academies. There are several rooms on one floor of the building, and there are only beds and desks in the room, so it is an uncomfortable facility where you can actually do nothing but study and sleep. Therefore, it is rare to live here for a long time, and most of the students only use it while preparing for exams or attending school for a short period of time.
In general, goshiwon only has desks and beds.k.a. bed. It’s very small and there’s no room to move, but there are several rooms on one floor, so you can’t make loud noises in the room, and you can hear the small noise in the next room. Also, there is a room without windows, so the air is cloudy and the humidity is high, so there is a disadvantage of mold. These old goshiwon vary depending on the region, but based on Seoul, they usually cost about 250,000 won to 350,000 won per month.
There are not only old and dirty goshiwons. The monthly rent is a little expensive, but there is also a clean and good goshiwon. This place is usually called Gositel or One Roomtel. The characteristic of this place is that there is a bathroom in the room. So it’s very convenient not to use the bathroom together. The room size is a little big and clean, so it’s good to live in. However, the monthly rent is expensive as it provides such a good environment. It also varies from region to region, but it costs about 450,000 won to 550,000 won per month based on Seoul.
I will tell you the things you must check when choosing a goshiwon.
Check for windows (price varies depending on exterior and interior windows)
Check if the air conditioning and heating work well
Make sure hot water is coming out well in the bathroom
To verify that Wi-Fi works fine
To make sure that food such as rice or ramen is free
Make sure it’s well-managed by the boss or staff
Make sure you are prepared for emergency situations such as fire
You must check these seven things and decide on the examination center!
When you search for a goshiwon, you can search for “Goshirak” in the Naver search box or download the “Goshirak” application to see the goshiwon in the desired area at a glance. It’s very convenient because you can see the facilities and monthly rent of the goshiwon at a glance. And if you choose a place you like, you can ask for admission by text or phone.
I’ll briefly introduce how to use Goshirak (for finding Goshiwon in Korea)
If you go to the website of Goshirak and search for the local name, subway station name, and university name, you will see a list of related Goshirak.
You can also filter the price range, room type, gender, and additional information, and you can check the list of goshiwons through the map
If you click on the examination center you want, you can check the phone number and picture of the examination center along with brief information on the examination center. In the facility information, you can check the number of floors in the building, parking lot, air conditioning, elevator presence, heating, gender floor separation, and what type of room there is. It also basically tells you what furniture and products are placed in private and public facilities.
Then let’s hope all the international students who need the Gosiwon find their favorite place!