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kateinkorea
Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Korea
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 12:54 am Post subject: Help I am alone alone in Dongducheon!!! |
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I am in Dongducheon. I thought I was going to be closer to Seoul as my boss said it was forty minutes from Seoul. Not!!!
I am about a half hour walk from the actual town which makes it worse. Even the simplest of things are tough when you are the only one around who speaks English. Almost no english signs and almost no enlglish speaking people. Only seem to be able to say hello and that is it. My boss barely speaks English adn I am the only teacher at my school. I made contact with a lot of people before coming here (have been here one week) but most of them are a long ways away and they sure don't want to make the trip out to see me and I can't blame them. I really need to meet some people close by as I get up the nerve to get into Seoul more often.
I am hoping there might be some others close by who could contact me so I can get out and explore a bit more. Please get in touch with me. It would even be a bigger bonus if you were close to my ageas I am over forty.
Can anyone give me some tips on how to find some other people here. |
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Corporal
Joined: 25 Jan 2003
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 1:09 am Post subject: |
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For some people, being alone is a reward, for others, it's a punishment.
You fit the latter category I take it?
Count your blessings. There are a lot of weird foreigners out there. See the freaky waygook thread for more details. |
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camel96 Guest
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 1:33 am Post subject: |
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Yeah I just bumped into an Uzbekistani. He seemed nice enough. But he was clearly as drunk as a lord and as mad as a hatter. Thankfully my bus came but Corp's right he's not alone out there. Far from it. You've basically got a couple of choices as far as I can see if you don't want to go mad yourself. Learn to appreciate the quiet time or make some Korean friends.
You're gonna have to start to learn Korean ASAP or you'll be totally dependant on your boss for EVERYTHING and that's usually not such a good thing. Especially if he's a scumbag.
Crap advice I know and not what you want to hear but good luck anyways.
Last edited by camel96 on Sun Aug 10, 2003 7:30 am; edited 1 time in total |
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captain kirk
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 1:40 am Post subject: |
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scooter. 50cc don't need a licence. whizz around. used one; not more than 100,ooo won. there's a korean buy and sell newspaper, someone could pore over that for you. or the scooter shop.
walkman with headphones, right?
with a scooter you could get out to see those other teachers more often.
when you land at a job, and back in korea again, a person's all hyped then hyper-deflated. all that eagerness just flipped over into 'huh, what?'.
pedal on the gas, then on the brake, kind of flummoxed. all that go-juice you have coming in goes to idle, a kind of nervous fast idle. |
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Sucker
Joined: 11 Feb 2003
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Are you working for GnB? Mrs. Son?
For your sake I hope not...... |
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Sucker
Joined: 11 Feb 2003
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 7:43 am Post subject: |
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Actually, I will try and be helpful.
Dongducheon is a military town, so there are a lot of (English speaking) American soldiers around for you to befriend. But a lot (most?) of them are just interested in getting drunk and funding the *beep* situation (I lived in Dongducheon for a year, tell me I'm wrong).
The best place to meet the decent americans (can't think of a better way to say it, I mean the soldiers who are interested in meeting some locals and seeing a bit of Korea) is a coffee shop called "Cofee & Bread." It's several blocks up the road from the bus terminal on the right (go towards the base and away from Seoul).
The owners (husband and wife) are really nice and speak some English. Plus they are the only place in town with an esspresso machine.
There are only two English schools that I know of. One is GnB (psychotic boss who tried to get me deported when I had 6 weeks to go on my contract). They only ever hire 1 native speaker at a time and I think that it might be you.
The other school is larger and more "famous". It's between the main part of town and Tokeri. When I was there they had four Canadian teachers and I was friendly with them. Think the school is called "Global English" or something like that.
You can catch the train or a bus to seoul. The trai takes you staight to the Uejongbu subway station. Trains leave once an hour (at 20 past the hour I think) and take about 30 min to get to the subway. To get to the center of Seoul (Jong-no) from that subway station (Uejongbu) will take another 40 min or so. THe train is the fastest way to get to Seoul, but you will have to schedule to be at the train station on time.
Buses on the other hand leave every 5 minutes. Numbers 36, 39, 136 and 139. Only catch 136 and 139 as they are "express" (stop at fewer destinations) and have better seats. Buses go all the way in to (I think) Dongbosan subway. But if you don't know where you are going on the bus it can be easy to get lost. Buses can take the same amount of time as the train, or a lot longer. Once I caught a bus at 6pm, it took me over two hrs to get to Uejongbu (30 min on the train). Can be very frustrating.
If you need any advice, locations, etc just ask or PM me.
Oh, don't go to the chinese circus. Trust me. |
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kateinkorea
Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Korea
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Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2003 4:47 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks for all of your responses...really!
I am not lonely per say. I am just frustrated at the simplest of things being so complicated and would like to go and see more of the city and it would be a ton more fun to know where to go and have someone to see it all with.
I am good at meeting people and have no problem going out and striking up conversations and connecting with people. I went to seoul this past weekend and would not have been able to figure out the subway stuff were it not for the help of two very nice young military men.
I have actually met about a half a dozen young military soldiers over the past few days. They are all about my sons ages....so I can only imagine how interested they are in hanging out with with someone their mothers age. :) But they were all so nice and helpful.
I mainly want someone to explore the city with.
I will look into the "Coffee and Bread" restaurant.
I am in a new school called Ivy League. I am the only teacher so far and a new one is staarting soon. My boss speaks little English but is very nice. |
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itchy
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:16 pm Post subject: Re: Help I am alone alone in Dongducheon!!! |
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90909
Last edited by itchy on Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kateinkorea
Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Korea
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:43 pm Post subject: Re: Help I am alone alone in Dongducheon!!! |
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quote]
Stuck in the dung dungeon? Nasty. I knew someone out there once. He ended up befriending cattle and pigs and spending his time talking to spiders in his room. Went nuts after ten months. When they brought him back to Canada all he kept screaming was "no I don't want to buy a computer" over and over again.
Are you the same Kate that used to be in Canada? I can't believe you ended up in Dung Dungeon. Why not Jeju or one of the resort towns near Pusan, or the east coast near Sorak san? You couldn't have chosen a worse place if you'd have just put your finger on a map of Korea and said "I'm going here". That is so funny. Every few months there is a posting from someone out there where you are. Usually they are pretty close to going nuts from loneliness and boredom. I know when I was in Korea, if I hadn't have had the group of foreigners I had to hang out with, I wouldn't have made it through my contract. Good luck (you'll need it).[/quote]
I don't seem to mind this place as much as everyone makes it sound so bad. I do wish I had others to explore with...maybe I need to get some spiders or pigs or somehting??? |
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The Bobster
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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Get a handphone asap and start trading numbers with people you know here, Kate. And if you were in Seoul last weekend, why in heaven's name didn't I see you at the party at Yellow Bar in Hongdae? |
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kateinkorea
Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Korea
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 5:16 pm Post subject: Re: Help I am alone alone in Dongducheon!!! |
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qoute:
Are you the same Kate that used to be in Canada? I can't believe you ended up in Dung Dungeon. Why not Jeju or one of the resort towns near Pusan, or the east coast near Sorak san? You couldn't have chosen a worse place if you'd have just put your finger on a map of Korea and said "I'm going here". That is so funny. Every few months there is a posting from someone out there where you are. Usually they are pretty close to going nuts from loneliness and boredom. I know when I was in Korea, if I hadn't have had the group of foreigners I had to hang out with, I wouldn't have made it through my contract. Good luck (you'll need it).[/quote]
I got interrupted whn I was trying to answer this more fully before....
I am the same Kate that was in Canada before...but there is also a KateinCanada on here. We are not the same person.
I don't know how I ended up in Donducheon but I was told I was going to Uijeongbu and was told I would be forty miniutes from Seoul. I was also told my job was a twenty minute walk from work...it is an hour.
Oh well....so far there are advantages and disadvantages to being where I am. I like the small feel of this place in that I can eventually learn my way around a lot quicker. Of course if I were in Seoul I would be able to get more assistance from foreigners and see more for that reason.
Why does Dongducheon have such a bad reputation? |
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The Man known as The Man
Joined: 29 Mar 2003 Location: 3 cheers for Ted Haggard oh yeah!
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Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2003 5:24 pm Post subject: |
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It might, it might not.
Take into consideration that Itchy here is a jackass who needs either a lot of sunshine in his life or a good kick in the arse when it comes to his personality. |
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itchy
Joined: 28 Jan 2003 Location: Busan
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Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2003 1:39 am Post subject: Re: Help I am alone alone in Dongducheon!!! |
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fdsd
Last edited by itchy on Mon Jun 05, 2006 2:58 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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kateinkorea
Joined: 18 Feb 2003 Location: Korea
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 2:59 am Post subject: |
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Okay just for the record...I am really starting to like Dongducheon a lot. It isn't so bad after all......
I am on my third week here now.... |
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scarneck
Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Location: Seoul
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Posted: Fri Aug 22, 2003 10:00 am Post subject: |
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There are a number of military dependants in the Casey area, so with some luck you'll probably be able to meet some good people. Try not to judge all the soldiers on the actions of a few. If you get adventurous, try to hop the train to Uijongbu and hit the market there. It's really a nice daytrip with some great shopping. Just up North a little bit, there's a nice temple up the mountain, some good photo ops there. (Just past Camp Castle) Another good resource is the KATUSA soldiers, they can break the language barrier for you. Hope you enjoy your tour. |
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