Korean Job Discussion Forums

Zyzyfer · Posted: Fri Jan 31, 2003 9:14 pm Post subject:

Cheonan, in Choongnam province, about halfway between Seoul Station and Daejeon.

It's one of them "up-and-coming" cities, which basically means there's lots of construction, trash, and also dust floating in the air. The air is cleaner than Seoul, but riding on a bicycle or motorcycle is hell.

Pros: I know so many faces there. People are genuinely kind to me. I'm a regular at several places.
It's pretty close to Seoul, enough to make a long day trip and spend a long, long time in Seoul.
It's not quite so crowded.

Cons: People, especially kids, aren't used to foreigners at all, and I don't think I'll ever hear the end of the arm hair comments.
Thievery runs rampant.
It's got the same concept as my home town, in that it's a small city, but it tries to display itself as a big one, and it ends up just sucking as a city.
It's really really hard to make Korean friends there. I'm social enough, but most people regard you more as an anamoly than an actual person. So, I meet tons of people, and they return calls once or twice, and then that's that.
The bars kinda suck.
Going to Seoul for a night on the town guarantees having to stay at a yogwan overnight. Which means a full day in Seoul adds up to around 100,000 won, easy.

I hate Cheonan, but I know it so well...

Boogie · Joined: 20 Jan 2003 Location: Pusan

Live in Busan (a.k.a. Pusan)

Pros: close to the beach- especially good in the summer, not so big but big enough to get most of what you need, enough forgieners and foreign places to go to get away from it all, spend less money here...

Cons: pollution, always have to go to Seoul to catch a flight out of the country, not as cosmopolitan as Seoul and not as much to offer to foreigners as Seoul, Korean people apparently treat you better in Seoul...

Summary: Seoul would have been better but this place is not so bad and I certainly wouldn't choose any place smaller.

bucheon bum · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Bucheon

Pros: uh well I am a 5-10 minute bus ride from E-mart, Wal-Mart, and Carrefour. Not TOO far from Central Seoul. On the other hand, the crammed "express" subway train can be tiring and annoying. I have a pretty nice apartment and live in a old part of the city. I think I live on the edge of "old" Bucheon since there are very few high rise apt. complexes near me but go a bit further west and all you see is high rise apt. buildings.

Cons: Construction all over the place. Bucheon definitly is not ritzy either. I hear there are a number of factories in the city, but I haven't come across them. There is a reason there are so many south asians that live here (or at least hang out here).

I used to live in Wonju, which I like more than Bucheon. There was little to no pollution, Chiaksan Natl. Park is right there, and I just felt better about the place. Seoul was only a 90 minute bus ride away as well.

VanIslander · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2003 1:14 am Post subject:

I live on the second largest island in Korea, Geoje (old spelling: Koje).

It's known as "The Island of Fantasy" and is quite remarkable. The Lonely Planet said it may have the most scenic coastal drive in all of Asia. And that's just the main road! Three times I have been given the royal tour and I think the best place is up a nondescript, winding dirt road. The view of one of the many small semi-secluded bays is everything I thought Tahiti would be. Incredible. This island has entertained me for nearly a year. I'm surprised I hear so little about it in comparison to Jeju. I guess it's a case of overcommercialized versus underappreciated.

There are two ferry ports and many trips daily to and from Busan. It's a mere 40 minutes journey. The only drawback I can think of to this place is that it's not a 10-minute ferry ride from Busan.

Oh, the other drawback is that I don't see many foreigners on the street. Though I hear there are hundreds at the foreigners' club because of the Samsung and Daewoo shipbuilding ports on the island.

Saxiif · Joined: 15 May 2003 Location: Seongnam

Jeoungpyong, little place (pop 40,000) 20 minutes Seoul-side of Chungju, whose economy is based on the local korean military bases' insatiable demand for soju and coffee girls and lots and lots of ginseng fields.

Con: As far as westerners here its just me and the russian strippers, which can really get to you, that and the ever-present smell of natural fertilizer in all the fields...

Pro: I was in a "why the hell didn't I get a job in Seoul" mood today so I went out walking in the drizzle towards the mountains and in less than half and hour I found a beautiful Buddhist temple that I didn't know existed and a footpath lead out behind it to a whole series of tombs strung out up the mountainside with an absolutely stunning view of the valley the town is in will mountains rearing up on all sides. That improved my mood a good bit.

em · Joined: 15 Feb 2003

Jeju City

Likes
- small city, which suits me just fine
- friendliness of the people of the island
- the beauty
- my job

Dislikes
- dampness, although I hear this is a problem throughout the country

mysteriousdeltarays · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2003 2:31 am Post subject:

I live in Nonsan. I find it a wonderful place. I AM SO HAPPY!

kiwiboy_nz_99 · Joined: 05 Jul 2003 Location: ...Enlightenment...

Seoul

Pros... it rocks

Cons...too expensive

camel96 · Guest

Icheon - Kyonggi do

Pros - Hynix factory - It's the biggest employer in town and at one point it was mandatory for the senior workers to learn English so there are many, many fluent English speakers here.

Cons - Hynix factory - belching out toxic fumes all day.

It's a quiet little town and while it's close to Seoul it feels a million miles away (which I guess is both good and bad)

captain kirk · Joined: 29 Jan 2003

cheonan, half way between seoul and daejon.
pros; emart to the left of you, carrfour to the right, and in between....
love my job. nice little hagwon. skeleton crew on a twisted voyage
this place is WEIRD. i'm daily actively weirded out by 'it'.
cons; nazarene christian university and the snotty dolt foreigner teachers who 'rule' there, waddle, moo, crow, and are generally 'safe aboard their ark'. may anda's deluge plug their snorkles and make their faces stay like that.

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2003 8:20 pm Post subject:

Awesome, conflict with Nazarene.

FierceInvalid · Joined: 16 Mar 2003

The Jamsil area of Seoul.

Pros: Everything that goes along with being in Seoul, it's been said. Close to Gangnam and COEX. There are at least three big parks within ten minutes, including fairly massive Olympic Park, so you don't have to be surrounded by urban madness all the time. I live right next to Lotte World if you're into that kind of thing. People are nice, and not so many foreigners considering it's in Seoul.

Cons: Uh...Hongdae is an hour away. My apartment is really small. I think that's it.

For me, living in Korea means living in Seoul. I wouldn't do it any other way.

whatthefunk · Joined: 21 Apr 2003 Location: Dont have a clue

Pohang!! Wooo-hooo! Pohang! Yeah! Allright!

It a complete sh*thole and I don't mind.

denz · Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2003 10:17 pm Post subject:

itaewon.

the most underrated place in seoul. where else can you get shifty-eyed bandits and short-time girls served with a plate of GIs, a side order of islam and decent smattering of "ethnic" restaurants?

seriously though. itaewon is great foreigner therapy. i never feel the "should i say hello vibe" anymore. plus it reminds one that koreans arent the worst conversationalists in the world.

actual conversation:
itaewon d00d: YO! how you doing, maaan?
denz: not bad, bro. yourself?
itaewon d00d: greeeat. totally awesome. i'm a little drunk. YO so what base does your dad work on?
denz: erm. i'm a teacher.
itaewon d00d: <perplexed....> whoa. cool, man. so, you've managed to taste some of the korean girls, yet? you get me? huh? hehehe
denz: actually, yes.
itaewon d00d: cool, man. me, too. hey, look at this fake plastic food. it looks so good. man, look at me. i'm pretending to eat it.
denz: extrallent.

but then again...

actual conversation 2:
korean guy: ah, so where in australia are you from?
denz: melbourne, basically.
korean guy: ahh many vietnamese gangs. very scary.
denz: erm, not really.
korean guy: i was in vietnam war. vietnam people are very good people.
denz: i guess so. my dad served in vietnam.
korean guy: but your passport is australian.
denz: meaning?
korean guy: only USA and korea fight to protect vietnam.
denz: *
korean guy: your dad must be american GI.
denz: no, he wasn't. maybe you should check your history, d00d. this is my exit. <denz rolls eyes in korean guys general direction>

moral of my 3rd person stories: people are idiots.
maybe gord can do some diagrams.

denz

Blue Flower · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2003 1:44 am Post subject:

Anyang: roughly halfway between Suwon and "Seoul".

Pros: It's not Seoul, small enough to be easily explored, yet large enough to remove claustrophobia. Pretty foreigner friendly, and I feel safe here. Lots of mountains around, so gives the illusion of being green and lush, Though I have recently had a little bit of a hiccup with my hagwon, generally they are fantastic, looked after me really well when i first got here, i have totally decent hours, always get paid on time, etc etc.

Cons: Its not Seoul - therefore I have to travel to get out and do things, I need to bus to get to some supermarkets, It's pretty boring, I spend most of my weekends somewhere in the vastness that is seoul, which sucks up the cash.

I am really happy where I am, and I would very happily live here again if I ever do another 12 month contract in Korea.