31
LIFE IN KOREAPosted by Sudden-Bagel-1902 🇵🇹 Portugal · 5 h ago
Is the free rice and kimchi thing actually real?
every listing mentions it and it sounds too good to be a real feature.
is it genuinely unlimited? what else is usually there and is it any good
is it genuinely unlimited? what else is usually there and is it any good
8 comments
OFFICIAL ANSWER
MinjiALLO TEAM
Korea local tips · Seoul
It is real, it is genuinely unlimited, and it is one of the actual reasons goshiwon work for students on a tight budget.
What is normally stocked:
- Rice, in a large cooker kept on all day. Take as much as you want, any time.
- Kimchi, in a communal container, refilled regularly.
- Eggs, usually. Sometimes limited to a few a day at busier buildings.
- Ramyeon, at many buildings, sometimes a set number per day.
- Sometimes: toast and jam, instant coffee, gochujang, laver (김), a basic soup base.
The quality is honest rather than good. It is standard rice, standard mass-produced kimchi, and the ramyeon is whatever was cheapest in bulk. Nobody is doing this to impress you — it is there so that residents who are broke at the end of the month can still eat, which is a real and decent function.
What it actually means for your budget: you can eat something at zero marginal cost, any time, forever. Rice with kimchi and a fried egg is a genuine meal and it costs you nothing. For students in the last week before money arrives, this is not a small feature.
What it does not do: sustain you. Rice and kimchi every day for a week gets old fast, and students who try to live on it end up eating out more than they planned. Budget 400,000 to 600,000 a month for food regardless, and treat the free food as a floor rather than a plan.
The unwritten rule attached to it: take what you will eat, do not take it back to your room in bulk, and do not treat the communal kimchi as your personal supply. Eggs in particular are the thing people get quietly annoyed about.
One tip: add your own gochujang, sesame oil and a bag of frozen vegetables and the free rice becomes a proper meal for very little money. That is what long-stay residents do.
What is normally stocked:
- Rice, in a large cooker kept on all day. Take as much as you want, any time.
- Kimchi, in a communal container, refilled regularly.
- Eggs, usually. Sometimes limited to a few a day at busier buildings.
- Ramyeon, at many buildings, sometimes a set number per day.
- Sometimes: toast and jam, instant coffee, gochujang, laver (김), a basic soup base.
The quality is honest rather than good. It is standard rice, standard mass-produced kimchi, and the ramyeon is whatever was cheapest in bulk. Nobody is doing this to impress you — it is there so that residents who are broke at the end of the month can still eat, which is a real and decent function.
What it actually means for your budget: you can eat something at zero marginal cost, any time, forever. Rice with kimchi and a fried egg is a genuine meal and it costs you nothing. For students in the last week before money arrives, this is not a small feature.
What it does not do: sustain you. Rice and kimchi every day for a week gets old fast, and students who try to live on it end up eating out more than they planned. Budget 400,000 to 600,000 a month for food regardless, and treat the free food as a floor rather than a plan.
The unwritten rule attached to it: take what you will eat, do not take it back to your room in bulk, and do not treat the communal kimchi as your personal supply. Eggs in particular are the thing people get quietly annoyed about.
One tip: add your own gochujang, sesame oil and a bag of frozen vegetables and the free rice becomes a proper meal for very little money. That is what long-stay residents do.
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8 comments
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It is real, it is genuinely unlimited, and it is one of the actual reasons goshiwon work for students on a tight budget.
What is normally stocked:
- Rice, in a large cooker kept on all day. Take as much as you want, any time.
- Kimchi, in a communal container, refilled regularly.
- Eggs, usually. Sometimes limited to a few a day at busier buildings.
- Ramyeon, at many buildings, sometimes a set number per day.
- Sometimes: toast and jam, instant coffee, gochujang, laver (김), a basic soup base.
The quality is honest rather than good. It is standard rice, standard mass-produced kimchi, and the ramyeon is whatever was cheapest in bulk. Nobody is doing this to impress you — it is there so that residents who are broke at the end of the month can still eat, which is a real and decent function.
What it actually means for your budget: you can eat something at zero marginal cost, any time, forever. Rice with kimchi and a fried egg is a genuine meal and it costs you nothing. For students in the last week before money arrives, this is not a small feature.
What it does not do: sustain you. Rice and kimchi every day for a week gets old fast, and students who try to live on it end up eating out more than they planned. Budget 400,000 to 600,000 a month for food regardless, and treat the free food as a floor rather than a plan.
The unwritten rule attached to it: take what you will eat, do not take it back to your room in bulk, and do not treat the communal kimchi as your personal supply. Eggs in particular are the thing people get quietly annoyed about.
One tip: add your own gochujang, sesame oil and a bag of frozen vegetables and the free rice becomes a proper meal for very little money. That is what long-stay residents do.
What is normally stocked:
- Rice, in a large cooker kept on all day. Take as much as you want, any time.
- Kimchi, in a communal container, refilled regularly.
- Eggs, usually. Sometimes limited to a few a day at busier buildings.
- Ramyeon, at many buildings, sometimes a set number per day.
- Sometimes: toast and jam, instant coffee, gochujang, laver (김), a basic soup base.
The quality is honest rather than good. It is standard rice, standard mass-produced kimchi, and the ramyeon is whatever was cheapest in bulk. Nobody is doing this to impress you — it is there so that residents who are broke at the end of the month can still eat, which is a real and decent function.
What it actually means for your budget: you can eat something at zero marginal cost, any time, forever. Rice with kimchi and a fried egg is a genuine meal and it costs you nothing. For students in the last week before money arrives, this is not a small feature.
What it does not do: sustain you. Rice and kimchi every day for a week gets old fast, and students who try to live on it end up eating out more than they planned. Budget 400,000 to 600,000 a month for food regardless, and treat the free food as a floor rather than a plan.
The unwritten rule attached to it: take what you will eat, do not take it back to your room in bulk, and do not treat the communal kimchi as your personal supply. Eggs in particular are the thing people get quietly annoyed about.
One tip: add your own gochujang, sesame oil and a bag of frozen vegetables and the free rice becomes a proper meal for very little money. That is what long-stay residents do.
0
completely real and genuinely unlimited. rice, kimchi, eggs, ramyeon, 24 hours a day. it saved me in the last week of every month
20
that's a bigger deal than i realised. good to know
8
the psychological value of knowing you can always eat something is underrated when you're broke abroad
6
the quality is exactly what you'd expect for free. it's not good. it is however free and unlimited and warm at 2am
16
buy your own gochujang and sesame oil. turns free rice into an actual meal
7
eggs are the thing people get annoyed about. take 2, not 8. that's the unwritten limit
12
it exists because goshiwon were for exam students with no income for years. it's meant as a floor so nobody starves, not as your meal plan
10
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