Given the fact that my husband is a carpenter who builds homes for a living, I lament the ubiquitous nature of these towering concrete apartment buildings in Korea. Nevertheless, my husband and I also live in one of these–but just until we can save enough money to build our own dream home out of wood. In the meantime, I am frequently confronted with scenes like the one above: a new neighbor is moving in! But in Korea, moving companies will basically bring their own elevator!

Moving companies will not only haul all your stuff in their vans, they will basically bring their own crane to move your stuff via a platform that slides up and down the shaft through the apartment’s window. On the plus side, tenants are spared having the elevator basically commandeered by the moving company for hours on end. The down side? It’s incredibly loud and…