Most ESL/EFL teachers don't want to buy bulky appliances like an airconditioner on their 1-year contract. Here are some ideas I have used to cool my apartment as the hot weather approaches.

1. Buy aluminium foil and wide-roll scotch tape and cover most or all of your window to relect the heat back outdoors. I cover the inside window surface not the outside.
This costs about $2.

2. Fridges keep food/drinks cool inside but unfortunately they radiate the heat out the back. My boss in 1997 suggested I put the fridge out on the balcony in summer to keep the heat out of the apt. I just pulled the plug and saved energy. Cold drinks were in the store across the way any time I wanted them. Yesterday I thought of a way to cool the whole apt. If you place your fridge in the doorway to the balcony with the fridge door open a bit it will cool your rooms while the heat is radiated out the back into the balcony space. Take cardboard or styrofoam sheets and block the open space above the fridge. Make an air-tight seal with the wide scotch tape all around the fridge so that the cool air stays in and the hot air stays out on the balcony. Balconies in Korea are usually glassed in so you have to leave the balcony window open a bit so that hot air escapes to the outdoors. This system will work best if you also run a small fan near the partly open door of the fridge. Small fans cost only $15-$18. Essentially, you are using the fridge like a window-mounted airconditioner.

Give it a try and maybe you will sleep better at night. You can still cool drinks and other foods in the freezer compartment.