Korean Job Discussion Forums

unc tarheel · Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Location: nc

I have offers to teach in these three towns or cities. I am leaning towards
Hwaseong, because it close to the sea and not too far from Seoul.
But not sure. I have visited websites but not that helpful.
I do not mean the big city in the South(gwangju)
Any advise?

hogwonguy1979 · Joined: 22 Dec 2003 Location: the racoon den

gwangju down south is a big city though a bit provincial, lived there for 2 years and it was boring as hell.

the others are outside of gwangju and are out in the sticks you'll spend most weekends on a bus or train getting out of there

Tony_Balony · Joined: 12 Apr 2007

Namyangju means "hole" in Korean.

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

Gwangju:
It's a little hard to search for it here as "Gwangju" brings up either the big city in Jeollanam-do or user names. Here's one post about it I did find:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=85276

Hwaseong:
Hwaseong has a bad reputation because of a few serial murderers on the loose there. I suspect most people would recommend avoiding it. I've passed through there before and parts of it can be quite rural (maybe that's not your thing). You'd probably spend a lot of time in nearby Suwon.
Here are a few threads:
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=87382
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=86324

I don't know anything about Namyangju.

That said, I think I'd go for Gwangju. There are a few posters here from Gwangju who can give you more details. It's relatively close to a city called Seongnam and a large area called Bundang that has lots of shopping, restaurants, and nightlife.

Mr Crowley · Joined: 23 Mar 2006 Location: Suwon

Kwangju is fine, if you are trying to save money. I lived there for a year, and all went well. You will have to take a bus to get to the Seoul subway. That shouldn't be a problem, maybe 20-30 minutes from a subway station. I lived close to the stadium in Gwangju. There is a bus stop next to it, and it takes about 20 minutes to get to Moran station in Seongnam.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

One thing that I do know now from living in Gwangju (in Gyeonggi) is that it is very well spread out and is more like a series of smaller towns with farmland in between than one large connected city. If you really want to know what it is like in the city it may be useful to know in which part of the city ... I have found it is easier to catch the bus to Moran (in Seongnam) which is the closest point on the Seoul subway for me than it is to travel to many other parts of Gwangju... Because it is only about 20 minutes on the bus that is not really a disadvantage ... because you can get anything that you need in Seoul... But it could be more difficult to find and connect with other foreigners in the city because they are fairly well spread out across the city...

Icicle

YoshaMazov · Joined: 10 May 2007 Location: Suwon

Oh come on now, the Hwaseong murders happened 20 years ago, when it was little more than a farming community. Avoiding Hwaseong only for that reason would be like avoiding Roswell because you're afraid of being abducted by aliens.
OK, maybe it's not quite the same, but you catch my drift.
I live in Suwon, right next to Hwaseong. True it's not the most cosmopolitan area in the world, but it's pretty decent compared to other cities in Gyeonggi-Do.

Smee · Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Location: Jeollanam-do

Well, apparently there was another rash of kidnappings/murders in 2007 in Hwaseong, hence this two-page post: http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=86324

unc tarheel · Joined: 05 Jun 2007 Location: nc

Thanks for the info I still have not idea which i am going to choose I may take Hwaseong because it seems to be close to the coast

YoshaMazov · Joined: 10 May 2007 Location: Suwon