Korean Job Discussion Forums

savage · Joined: 07 Mar 2007

I'm trying to decide where I would like to teach. I'm considering Daejeon, Daegu, and Busan. Anyone have any recommendations?

mithridates · Posted: Sat Apr 14, 2007 8:53 am Post subject: Re: Where to live?

DCJames · Joined: 27 Jul 2006

JMO · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Location: Daegu

I currently live in Daegu. Out of those three I'd choose Busan as it is nice and big and has nice beaches.

savage · Joined: 07 Mar 2007

Okay more info....
I'm in my early 20s, I want to live in a city that has a good esl community where it is easy to meet other teachers. I'm looking for a city with a breadth of activities. I'd prefer a place with nicer weather if theres any real difference between them. The overall appearance and atmosphere of the city might play a role in my decision. Ease of transportation both within the city and to surrounding areas is also important. Is it easier as someone who speaks only English to get around in one of these cities compared to the others?
Thanks for any help!

wo buxihuan hanguoren · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Location: Suyuskis

Korean cities all look the same, and have no character whatsoever. This is fact. Seoul or bust, my man. If not Seoul, then Busan. That is all there is.

princess · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: soul of Asia

Adventurer · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

wo buxihuan hanguoren · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Location: Suyuskis

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

Pusan has significantly milder winter weather than the others.

Adventurer · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

wo buxihuan hanguoren · Joined: 18 Apr 2007 Location: Suyuskis

Yeah, true, I concede this one. Busan and even Ulsan definitely has a more relaxed vibe than the other cities I've been to here. I'd actually say that Incheon is the worst of the lot in that respect, man that city is grim and miserable, filled to the brink with pissed blue collar workers that hate their lot in life.

mervsdamun · Joined: 06 Jun 2006 Location: Seoul

Yeah, Incheon is a dump. The only positive thing I can say about Incheon is that it was my first gig in Korea and I learned so many things about this country while living there.

Busan is relatively laidback, as are some other cities in the vicinity such as Changwon and Ulsan. Masan though is a grim hole that reminded me of Incheon.

Hmmm� of the three cities on your list, all three have a subway systems and all three are connected well with other cities. Daegu and Daejeon are the spine of Korea that links Busan with the Seoul/incheon area. They are all well connected.

In terms of the ESL community, both Daegu and Busan have sizable communities and you should be able to hook up with nice enough people.

Can�t comment about Daejeon, haven�t been there that often. The city is the closest of the three to Seoul though, something like 2 or 2.5 hours on the bus,
If that is of any importance to you.

I�d go with Busan, followed closely by Daegu.

Another sizable city (1 million plus inhabitants) that hasn�t been mentioned is Gwangju. Haven�t been there and haven�t heard anything nice about that place either. Well that�s a bit extreme.

Go with Busan (though I must admit that I�m a little biased).

Oh, and try to learn hangul, the Korean alphabet. Even if you don�t learn a sentence of Korean during your entire stay, it will make your live relatively simple. There are quite a few loan words from English in Korean and of course you will be able to read the map. It should take you no more than couple days to completely master the alphabet, the easiest script to learn in East Asia.