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What area of seoul is the best to live in?
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gang ah jee



Joined: 14 Jan 2003
Location: city of paper

PostPosted: Wed May 28, 2003 3:41 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After living in Hongdae for a year i'd find it very hard to live anywhere else. Tiger is right though, if you live in this area it makes it quite hard to leave. I probably make it out of my immediate neighbourhood once every two weeks or so.
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kangnam mafioso



Joined: 27 Jan 2003
Location: Teheranno

PostPosted: Sat May 31, 2003 7:57 pm    Post subject: near itaewon Reply with quote

if i was a new teacher coming to korea, i would try to work and live near itaewon because it is such a central location. i would avoid living directly in the center of itaewon because of the noise and general dodginess, but would live nearby in hanam-dong or oksu-dong -- or another chill neighborhood like that. i would try to pick a neighborhood with the lowest number of GIs, which might exclude hae bang chang and yongsan-gu. wait a second ... is oksu in yongsan-gu? can't remember.... where ever you live, it is important to work in an area that you can get to in reasonable time. i walk to work at the moment and it is a blessing not to have to start each day crammed on the subway. kangnam, hongdae/shinchon, downtown/jongno are all easy to get to from itaewon (under 10,000 taxi fare) and , of course, many of your friends will be going to the 'won anyway -- so you won't have to travel far to meet them. that's just my opinion --- some people prefer the countryside or beaches. some people hate nightlife. some people hate meeting other foreigners. it really depends on what you're into. peace out.
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Alias



Joined: 24 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2003 5:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

crazylemongirl wrote:
My one piece of concrete advice: stay clear of incheon...




I was actually thinking about Incheon after my current job is finished. Why do you think it is such a bad place?
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crazylemongirl



Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Location: almost there...

PostPosted: Mon Jun 02, 2003 6:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well basically it comes down to a whole heap of concrete blocks (like most parts of seoul) but ages from anywhere of interst that isn't incheon.

CLG
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jajdude



Joined: 18 Jan 2003

PostPosted: Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PootyTang wrote:
Olympic park...chamshil


I would agree with that. I don't know if it is the very best, but there are many worse areas. It's pretty clean for Seoul and not a bad spot to just take a stroll and encounter some trees. The Olympic park is nice. Chamsil has good shopping and some good restaurants. Most of the bigger area (Songpa Gu) is pretty good I think.
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jacob7207



Joined: 12 Feb 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Sat Jan 19, 2008 4:35 pm    Post subject: I live in Gwangmyung and its cool because... Reply with quote

I live in Gwangmyung, more specifically Cheolsan. It's not in Seoul, but it is surrounded by Seoul on three sides. It's pretty much enguplhed by the southwestern part of Seoul. I work in Seoul in two different locations as well, both 5 minutes driving distance from where I live. I can walk to Seoul, Gasan Digital Complex area, which is cool if you like to look at modern arcitechture and do some shopping. There are a lot of areas to go shopping there as well as here.

In one direction you can find traditional Korea with an abandoned temple on the side of a hill which is cool. There are also a lot of places to go running here in the summer, which is a bonus. You can even go rock climbing nearby. It's an outdoor gym though, so the summer time is better here. There are a bunch of mountains around here as well which is cool if you like climbing. Oddly enough you can be in Seoul in a matter of minutes.

I lived in Brooklyn, New York for four years when I was in college. I find Cheolsan very similar to Brooklyn in so many ways because it is more family oriented, quieter than the hustle and bustle of Seoul, but it is conveniently located right next to Seoul as Brooklyn is located right next to Manhattan. You can go into the city and get out when you want and still be home in no time at all.

So it's not Gangnam or Hongdae or Apgujeong, but it's definitely nice to live here. I can go into the city whenever I want with no hassle at all and if I want to go into the mountains as well, I have that option whenever I want. Gwangmyoung is good. I have been here for just over a year and extended my contract. I could see myself here for another year. I can't wait for the summer.

I hope you find a good place to live in Korea. I walked into this job just over a year ago feeling somewhat skeptikal about it but now I am glad to be here. Very Happy

I wish I could post some photos but I can't because I think HTML code has been disabled. It has been really nice living here though. I just wish I coul dpost some photos of it to show you.
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koreandefence



Joined: 05 Oct 2007

PostPosted: Tue Nov 25, 2008 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

PootyTang wrote:
Your dogs are safe in Chamshil near Olympic Park. There are no dog soup catchers around there.

.


racist *beep*
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catchshime



Joined: 25 Jun 2009
Location: "I am not born for one corner; the whole world is my native land."

PostPosted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 6:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

What about Mapo-gu where Sogang university is? I want to live in Gangnam/Songpa/Seocho, but also study at Sogang at the Korean language center so my commute is not so bad. I will likely work in the above 3 areas I mentioned, but that is not decided either.
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Tex_Lee



Joined: 09 Jan 2011
Location: Denver, CO

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 1:33 pm    Post subject: How to rent? Reply with quote

I am coming over for the summer on my own. I hope to start teaching at a summer camp and then getting sponsorship. Even if that doesn't work I plan to stay for 6 months of longer on my own. I have tried to find ways to rent through general internet searches but have not found anything. When I was in Japan I was able to find guest houses and have a rental before I arrived. Is there anything like this in Seoul? Does anyone have advice on how to find a place to rent?
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hawkeyz11



Joined: 25 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

catchshime wrote:
What about Mapo-gu where Sogang university is? I want to live in Gangnam/Songpa/Seocho, but also study at Sogang at the Korean language center so my commute is not so bad. I will likely work in the above 3 areas I mentioned, but that is not decided either.




Mapo was a pretty good place to live. I was around an 8 minute walk to both mapo station/daeheung station. Or a 1 minute bus ride to mapo station! It's great location in Seoul because it's only about a 3,500 trip to hongdae or a little cheaper for sinchon. It's also real close to itaewon if that's what you're digging. Being centrally located, you can get just about anywhere in Seoul in a short amount of time.

I hope that helps! Very Happy
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chaiplz



Joined: 21 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

For public transportation, do they have month passes? for example here in Boston I buy a CharlieCard every month for around $30 and can take the bus and train all I want. Does Seoul have the Korean equivalent or is it just cash / tokens?
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hawkeyz11



Joined: 25 Dec 2010

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 8:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

chaiplz wrote:
For public transportation, do they have month passes? for example here in Boston I buy a CharlieCard every month for around $30 and can take the bus and train all I want. Does Seoul have the Korean equivalent or is it just cash / tokens?




http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=181223

Here is some info about a monthly card/pass. If you won't be using the subway/bus each day maybe it's better just to get a regular T-Money card. You buy the card for about 5,000 won and then you deposit however much money you want onto it. When you run out, just refill.
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chaiplz



Joined: 21 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Wed Mar 23, 2011 10:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

^ thanks
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reft4268



Joined: 07 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Mon Mar 28, 2011 7:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Mapo was a pretty good place to live. I was around an 8 minute walk to both mapo station/daeheung station. Or a 1 minute bus ride to mapo station! It's great location in Seoul because it's only about a 3,500 trip to hongdae or a little cheaper for sinchon. It's also real close to itaewon if that's what you're digging. Being centrally located, you can get just about anywhere in Seoul in a short amount of time.

I hope that helps! Very Happy[/quote]

Unreal, good to hear the cabs are that cheap. Cabs here where i live in Canada START with their meters at more than that. 5 min drive downtown is about 8 bucks. If I can get where I want for 3 bucks I'll be stoked.
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attagirl



Joined: 18 Nov 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jan 19, 2012 2:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is a helpful topic!

I've got all my documents ready and am looking for a position. I badly want to find a school around Mapo/Hongdae, Sinchon, Seodaemun, Mokdong but so far the most central jobs recruiters are suggesting to me are Gangnam and Maebong.

I know these areas can be nice, but seeing as the subway closes so early (and I'm a night owl) I worry that living this far east will limit me from hanging out in Hongdae/Insadong/Itaewon (not that I'm not excited to explore other areas too, but I know I will want to hang out in these areas often).

I've only been job hunting for a week, so for those who live near Hongdae and love it -do you think it's worth holding out to find a job nearer that area, or should I just take a job in Gangnam??

Also, if someone could let me know how many minutes it takes to get from Gangnam to Hongdae on the subway and how much a cab costs for the same journey, I would really appreciate it. It can be hard to tell how far things really are from just looking at the map!
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