Living in Seoul as a developer

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CCL: Matthias Ripp

I have lived in Seoul for 4 years. Seoul is a demanding city because of the high cost of living and rent, changing trends, crowded subways, and microdust, but even so, the city gave me so many opportunities. When I started working as a software developer at Seoul, it was hard to survive. Since I was independent of my parents, I had to be self-sufficient. It was so hard for me at the beginning but now its second nature. As 2017 comes to a close, I want to take a review of my life. So, I’m writing my story about living in Seoul as a developer.

Living in Seoul

Humans need three things to live, clothes, food, and housing. When I first arrived at Seoul, it was really hard to find housing. Although rent is cheaper than San Francisco or New York, rent is expensive for junior developers since salaries have stayed constant for over 10 years. Since I was unable to get my own place at that time, I had to live in a 고시텔 (gositel) for 6 months. A gositel is a temporary living space, usually just enough space to lie down. There were no windows, and it was depressing living there. As a result, I really wanted to leave.
In Korea, to rent an apartment of any size, you must put down a sizable deposit, usually about a year’s rent. If you don’t already have enough savings, it is very difficult to find a place to live.
It was really hard to get enough money for a deposit, so I looked for a loan. I was mostly denied because I didn’t have any credit ratings and my pay was low. I was so depressed. But thanks to a sympathetic co-worker, I was able to find a loan and get a nice, quiet place near a subway station. I was able to figure out my goals at my new place. These days, I’m preparing to move to another place, even now, it is hard to find housing.
The links below are sites that I wish I knew about when I first moved to Seoul.

셰어 하우스: https://www.woozoo.kr/houses
2030 청년 주택 사업: https://www.facebook.com/2030.house
희망 두 배 청년 통장: http://www.welfare.seoul.kr/youth/index.action
중소기업 청년 소득세 감면 제도

Self Development

Seoul has so many conferences and interesting meetups. My college was in a smaller city at the time, so I made many trips to Seoul to try to learn from professional developers that I looked up to. Whenever I talked to other developers, I figured what I was missing and tried to learn from them as much as I can. The slides below (How To Be A Better Developer) really inspired me.

1. Contribute to open source
2. Blog more
3. Finish a side project

During my first and second jobs, I was attending school and working at the same time. Even though I was tired, I tried to do as many things as possible, such as contributing to open source, working on personal projects, and blog. I even graduated college. By doing so many things, it made it easier when I talked to other developers or went through interviews. They were able to see my code online due to open source, and even learn a bit more about me through my blog. To help me achieve my goals, I try to make myself accountable by telling my friends what my plans are.

Community

I didn’t have many friends in Seoul so I looked for a good developer community to find other developers who work in different fields. Finally, I found Django Girls Seoul. This community was full of opportunities. No one there cared about my age, college or where I worked. They just wanted to talk about interesting technologies. With my Django Girls Seoul friends, I was able to discuss different ideas, work on side projects and was able to work at a great company due to a coach at Django Girls. Also, I was able to attend PyCon US 2017 in Portland. Working with Django Girls really helped my growth as a developer. Thank you, Django Girls!

And..

Previously, I was telling another developer my goals when he said, since you didn’t come from a good school and you’re not a good developer, you should just marry someone. This was enraging to me but I ignored him. I believed in my goals and if I keep working towards my goals, I’ll achieve something big.

I watched a variety show called ‘무한도전(Infinite Challenge)’ which had the writer of ‘시그널(Signal)’, a famous TV Drama, and her husband, a famous producer was on as guests. Her husband said, when my wife was a starting out as a writer, her goal was to get 0.001% better than yesterday, and as time went on, she got better and better and was able to write an internationally famous TV show.

It is not easy to live in Seoul. As time passes, I want to study more and improve my skills. I am always thinking about how to be a better, more productive developer and how to make software development more fun.

As 2018 approaches, I want to grow. Tomorrow, I will grow 0.001%.