Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chevro1et]

noob here, still in Canada, hoping to be in Busan around start of March. Been lurking the forum for about a month now.

Any input on the Hwamyungdong region of Busan? Search function turned up nothing...
I know its kinda removed from other popular areas of the city, its in the northeast of the city, off the 2 subway line...

[Wrench]

Its not a bad area.. Its not great either. Its better then Gupo.

At least there is a Kick ass Muay Thai gym in Hwamyoung.

There are plenty of bars and big department store. Lots of Foreigners around that are as well.

[chevro1et]

Thanks Wrench. Muay Thai, eh? Definitely wanna train some sort of martial arts when i get to Korea.

Additionally, anybody heard of " KJC " in Hawmyungdong campus in Busan? Supervisor/ director is Stanley. Any comments (excluding, 'go away noob') are appreciated.

[TDR]

I lived in Hwamyeong-dong from December 2005 to December just past. Like anywhere in Pusan it's got it's ups and downs.

I trained at the MuayThai Gym there, Ran MuayThai, from November to November as well. Master Lee speaks a passable amount of English and certainly enough to train you. The gym mostly has Koreans and some of the guys in their early 20s speak English, though they're shy at first. It's a great workout and a good introduction to the sport. I shed almost 20lbs of Canadian call center fat when I started there. There's also a gym-gym or two in the area and lots of taekwondo, hapkido, kooksul, and gumdo gyms in as well. Buk-gu playground is a good place to go for a game of soccer as well.

Hwamyeong-dong isn't big but there are a lot of hagwons all over the place and that translates to a relatively large number of foreigners. If drinking is your thing then there are tons of whiskey bars, lots of beer bars and plenty of people to do it with. The community of foreigners there is pretty welcoming and I always had a great time with them.

As mentioned there is a Lotte Department store that is central to everything. If you want an area where everything from work/home/gyms/shopping/restaurants/bars/etc are withing a three block radius then Hwamyeong is definitely your area. However, it's somewhat far from the major bar areas. If you're coming from Pusan University area on your Friday evening you're looking at about 12000won...Kyungsung on your Saturday evening, similar. Haeundae is about 16000won. Something to consider if you like to go out carousing around the city a fair bit and the subways have closed(@12pm). By subway it's about 40 minutes to PNU, and about 35 to Seomyeon.

I don't know about that specific school but I will ask around if I get the chance. All in all I liked the area for it's accessibility, it's quietness and closeness to the mountain for hiking. I disliked it because it's rather distant from the rest of the popular areas in the city. Driving or biking in the other direction to Yangsan (next city) is a good way to find some sights. Post or PM me if you have any more questions about anything in the area.

[chevro1et]

Hey, TDR,

Thanks for the great info. Sounds like a decent part of the city to be in overall. However, the job offer didn't meet my criteria, and I have just accepted a position in Seo-gu, near the toseong subway station. Seems a bit more centralized (from the maps I have been studying) and I am really stoked to get my Korean adventure started. Cheers.

[Treefarmer]

Bumping this cos I just arrived here, and I wanna take up something like Kumdo, although the Muay Thai sounds pretty interesting since it's near. problem is that i don't know anyone who wants to go with me, and I haven't got a clue about which is a good place, where the placs are etc, would really appreciate someone to lend a hand

one thing i've noticed having been here for 3 weeks, is that although everyone is pretty friendly, people seem to kind of do their own thing (myself included i spose) Like I know a few teachers, but there's not really anywhere local to hang out and meet people, or have i missed somewhere? I find myself at a loose end most nights during the weel to be honest (my gf lives in Ulsan so see her on weekends), I spose it's early doors yet, but the area does seem to lack a foreigner bar where i could go and just hang out with people, or am i missing something?

[TDR]

Farmer,

Welcome to Hwamyeong-dong. It's a good place to live, even if it is a bit off the beaten track. What I liked about it was that everything you needed was within walking distance. Minus the beach, I suppose.

Anyway, I can recommend places for both. One is a Kumdo gym that my friend has trained at for a few years. If you want to know more I can get details from him. He speaks Korean pretty well though and I've drank with his master who certainly doesn't speak much English. Being able to speak the language isn't as necessary as you might think, but it certainly doesn't hurt.

However, Muay Thai in the area is what I do know and there are two gyms close to you. I have trained at both.

Ran Muay Thai - This is my old gym and I trained there from December 2005-Dec 2006. The gym is pretty standard as Muay Thai gyms in Busan go. The master is Master Lee and he's a pretty nice guy. There is a boxing ring with gloves, pads, and helmets to use. Four or five heavy bags along the one wall. There is a small weight area with a bench but it's nothing special. Showers with soap that are free to use and a small change room. I believe it was 110 000won for the first month and 90 000 after that. Although prices may have increased slightly as I haven't been training there since December.

About the training: Master Lee has introduced grappling into his teaching and I believe they practice that twice a week. This was introduced after I left so I don't know much about that. As for a typical MT session, it will last about an hour. You'll do some warm ups and then some cardio. A lot of bouncing, stepping, jumping jacks, sit ups, push ups, burpees, leg crosses, etc. You'll work up a pretty good sweat. After that you'll probably do some shadow boxing (but if you're new they'll start teaching you the forms here) and then rounds on the bag or with a partner who holds pads for you.


2nd Gym: TaeHan Muay Thai in Sukdeung. Sukdeung Stn. is the subway stop on the third (brown) line that is right beside Deokcheon. It's actually very close to you but it is not in walking distance. You would have to take the subway to Deokcheon and transfer for one stop. Actually, if you're going there I would urge you to get yourself a cheap bike and pedal over there for a warm up. On a bike it wouldn't be that far at all.

This gym is by far superior. Mostly it's because the Master is better: Master TaeHan is the Korean lightweight champion. He's also much more hands on than Master Lee; he's always around helping you out or making sure that his top students do. It's pretty similar in set up to RanMT but it's a bit cleaner, a bit bigger and has better training. There are also small lockers that you can keep your things in.

The training times there are 630, 830 and 10, I believe. You do less cardio here than at RanMT but I think that's a good thing. I want to get trained for my money, and I can do cardio on my own. Training is pretty nonstop (RanMT has breaks between each round) and so you get a pretty good workout in. He also has something akin to a lesson plan for each day. Once you get past your introductory lessons you will have a day where you only work on kicking, another where you only work on punching, another on knees, and so on. The cost there is 110 000won for the 1st month and 90k won per month after that.

RanMT is good for getting in shape and it's within walking distance. But TaeHan Muay Thai is the better gym if you actually care about learning MT.

To get to TaeHan MT, go out exit #3 (with the escalators) and walk straight. You'll pass a convenience store on your right on the corner. Keep walking and you'll pass a meat restaurant on the right and a bus stop on the left. At the pharmacy go into the building and go up to the 4th floor. There ya go. If you are walking and you his a uniform store and a a police box then you've gone too far. It's on the 4th floor of the Uniform store's building.


As for foreigner bars in the area, there aren't a ton. People do congregate at the Long Life Hof, usually on Thursdays or Fridays but it's by no means a permanent thing. It's behind Lotte Mart, on the corner, above Panamaie Bakery. It has a Penguin on the sign.

Take 'er easy.

TDR

[Treefarmer]

excellent post

thankyou so much

hope to meet up with you at Muay Thai

[travelin_shoe]

I live in Hwamyeong and I'm interested in Muay Thai. Where exactly is this gym? Thanks.