Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

Post by Semaphor » Sun, Nov 13, 2022, 4:54 PM UTC

cromulent wrote: post #68

Schiphol wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Spain every house comes with 'Persian blinds' ( https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persiana ) installed. They completely block the passage of light and are a perfectly adequate solution to this problem. It's a mystery to me why no other country in Europe seems to know or care. So much so that there's no English version of the above Wikipedia page.

In English they are commonly called "venetian blinds". In northern Europe they are often installed between the panes in the triple glazing.

Different things: https://budgetblinds.com/puyallup/community-connection/blog/...

Post by throwaway290 » Tue, Nov 15, 2022, 10:35 AM UTC

rafram wrote: post #78

throwaway290 wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This has less to do with population density or prevalence of tourism and more with high-trust culture, tight communities, desire for predictable and safe immediate surroundings for one and one's family, fear of disruption or damage to property, disinclination to let vacationing strangers with unknown behavior and no responsibility or investment into well-being of the community live in your house (and next door to you…

No, the situation in Seoul is not “natural.” It’s not about tight communities or tourism, because those very high costs apply to Koreans renting long-term as well. Renting an apartment can cost tens of thousands of dollars in up-front deposits, and getting a mortgage (actually just a loan) to buy a house/apartment requires putting up a large asset that you already own as collateral. In practice, both of those things…

I suppose even if you are a Korean and/or willing to sign a multi-year contract, owner's ability to have recourse is limited if you decide to break it early and vanish without a trace so high deposits are a more reliable measure to reduce the amount of incidental people.

Whether this has to do with high-trust society or just greed is another question, I like to think it's more of the former but it could be both...

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]

Re: Information for foreign citizens in Longyearbyen [pdf]