SK Global House and International House (I-House) are the two main dorm buildings at Yonsei University for international students. They provide affordable housing and plenty of amenities for students. I chose to live in SK Global House because of the extra features and bathrooms inside the bedrooms (in I-House there are common bathrooms). SK Global House is only slightly more expensive than I-House. Here are my pros and cons of living in SK Global House after living here for almost a semester:
Pros:
- Washing machines and dryers are located on the Basement 2nd floor of SK Global House.
- A dry cleaning service is available for students on the Basement 2nd floor and very affordable. As an alternative you can pay the dry cleaning service to wash your clothes for you and they will even fold your clothes for you.
- Each floor in SK Global Lounge has a lounge and study room/media room for you to go to when you get tired of being squeezed in a small dorm. There is also a lounge on the main entrance where you can hang out with your friends since each floor is gender-restricted.
- SK Global House rooms have bathrooms inside the rooms – nice because when I need to use the bathroom, I would rather use it in the privacy of my own room. I-House residents share public restrooms.
- GS-25, a popular convenience store chain, is conveniently connected to SK Global House so you don’t have to leave the building to grab some food or home items – although I will warn you the prices here are much higher than your average restaurant in Korea. There’s also an ATM there if you one. The same goes for the food options connected to SK Global House – Burger N Shake, Caribou Coffee, Cafe Kikini, and a tonkatsu/ramen place. If you’re hungry for some Korean food I suggest the Korean restaurants in New Millennium Hall and the Korean Language Institute building. They also sell snacks there.
- Living in the dorms makes it easy to make friends and you will likely meet the same people on the elevator, at the convenience store, in class, and then later on roaming in Sinchon.
- There are a number of places that will deliver food to SK Global House since students regularly are ordering food there.
- There is a kitchen in the Basement 3rd floor of the SK Global House and you can buy storage space for pots and supplies.
Cons:
- There is a constant mosquito problem in the two dorm buildings. They seem to be living within the vents and if you leave your window open prepare to be harassed by mosquitoes.
- Living with lots of students means you will no doubt be prone to whatever illness is spreading around. It’s hard to avoid when everyone presses the same elevator buttons and opens the same doors.
- No member of the opposite sex is allowed on your floor, nor are they allowed in your room. You’re an adult, but you’ll be living like a teenager. They will watch you with security cameras located everywhere.
- If learning Korean is your goal of coming to Korea – you’ll have a hard time doing that as most people in the dorms will be speaking English…it wasn’t a problem for me since I was more interested in meeting people from around the world.
- Although there is a fridge on each floor in SK Global House – people steal each others food regularly and its such an issue that I can’t even buy anything to store in a fridge.
- Although there is internet at SK Global House – it is painfully slow and sometimes randomly disconnects.
Carlos Travels 