Korean Job Discussion Forums

[traxxe]

I'll be moving somewhere near Suwon in March due to a new position and contract.

My job will be in Hwasung city nearby. I'd live there but doubt many people could point out rent there, etc. If anyone knows though, any info or connections would be appreciated.

How expensive would it be for a studio or one bedroom near Suwon Station? I don't care about wether it is a villa, offictel, and/or apartment. My understanding is that a villa is the cheapest?

How costly is that area versus the rest of Suwon?

What about outside of Suwon station?

If anyone knows anything about Hwaseong that would be great as well.

Feel free to pm or respond here...

I'll have 3 to 5k key money. (3 mil to 5 mil) I'd prefer to stay on the lower end of that though.

[Netz]

Suwon is a lot cheaper than Seoul (easy comparison) by at least 50% I'd say. I payed 600 mnthly/20M Jeonse on 52 Pyung apartment in Suwon, that I never would have been able to find/afford in Seoul.

Also, Hwasung city is about a 30-45 minute bus ride from Suwon proper, and the area around Suwon Station is the old part of the city, meaning it's ugly, smelly, dirty, etc. You'd have to pay me to live there.

You should probably ask your future employer to assist you in finding a realtor, which is the least they can do since they're obviously not providing housing to you.

ALSO, Suwon is still pretty much comprised of country bumpkins (don't let the appearance of the city fool you). They are "cheapskates" compared to Seoulites. The still like to do things the "old-fashioned" way there, and finding a place with less 5m key money, may be the real challenge. There are Koreans in both Seoul, and Osan, that seem to have adapted somewhat to dealing with Westerners (becuase of thier interaction with US millitary people from those bases) especailly in the area of rental properties, but no such luck in Suwon.

Also, Korean language skill helps alot, there are many folks here who have less than 100 word English vocabulary, so a small amount of Korean is essential.

Again, contact your future employer, and ask for some help finding some help. There's some nice places to live in the area, but you'll defintely need the assitance of a Korean to find them.

Good luck

[shipley]

youngtong is the nicest (and cleanest!) part of suwon

lots of foreigners

i've lived in different parts of suwon and would definitely recommend youngtong as my favourite

[Otherside]

I know nothing about renting in korea, but let me give you some info on Hwaseong.

Hwaseong is one of the biggest cities in Korea (In terms of area...NOT population) but only has a population of about 300-400K. So its really spread out and seems more like a collection of micro cities rather than a single city.

So depending where you are in Hwaseong will depend if you want to be living in Suwon. If your job is in the Byeongjeom/Dongtan Area...you aren't too far from some parts of Suwon (i.e. Yongtong is a 15minute bus ride WITHOUT traffic...makpo is even closer). However, it can take 45 minutes or more to get from one side of Hwaseong to the other...meaning an hour or more commuting to work from Suwon, if your on the other side.

Hwaseong as I mentioned is like a collection of microcities... each one is seemingly independent, and thus doesn't have a big city feel vibe. Also a large part of the area is currently under construction, or recently completed, meaning lots of empty apartments and office/retail space. Which seems to suffer from a knee-jerk reaction. First there is one or two restaruants, then they become unbearably crowded at mealtimes...and then the next month there are 7 new places and it feels like a ghost town...and some of them close down etc. Perhaps a great place to be in a couple of years time...but not so right now. Also there is a serious shortage of Western restaruants etc. HOWEVER, depending where you are...you are actually closer to some of the best parts of Suwon than most of Hwaseong.

If you can give me more specifics on your location, I can try to give you some more specific info.

[weatherman]

with 3 to 5 million you would be better moving the Beomjjum in Hwaseong were you will be able to find a newish one-room. Suwon station with that money, you are looking at a dump.

[14391988]

Hi Otherside (or anyone who knows anything about Hwaseong). I'm moving to Hwaseong in Feb/March on a GEPIK contract. I am desperate for more information and the internet does not really have that much. You sound like you have first hand knowledge of the area, could you perhaps drop me a line at [email protected] (I do not yet have the 25 posts to pm you)

Thanks!

[Otherside]

hey 14391988,

As my previous post said, Hwaseong is like a collection of micro-cities...and area wise is VERY big (considering the population), If you can tell me where in hwaseong you will be, I can give you more info.
I can tell you one thing... It's very different from stellenbosch

[14391988]

Hi Otherside

I have a sneaking suspicion that my Stellenbosch background is not really going to prepare me for life in Hwaseong

I will ask my recruiter exactly which part I'm placed in. What I know is that we (I am going over with my girlfriend) have been placed at Gojeong Elementary School and Mado Elementary School (Location: Suwon station Cheonan line, station no.p154). I'm not sure if this tells you anything. I see on the map, that my recruiter gave me, that our schools are very close Sagang Bus terminal. Once again, not sure if that helps. I tried looking for the area on Google Earth, but the high resolution part cuts out just before our location. It seems to fairly close to Namyang.

I really appreciate you helping me out. How did you know I was from Stellenbosch?

[Otherside]

Suwon Station is in Suwon, for my money that is a better location than Hwaseong. Close to most western amenities (food, shopping etc) and also an ok spot to absorb the Korean culture. There is a world-heritage site within walking distance (though i'd recommend the bus!) and a pretty big red-light district just round the corner! You are also reasonably well placed for travelling around Korea. You can catch a bus/train from Suwon to pretty much anywhere, and are less than 45 minutes from the Southern Part of Seoul (which includes the "trendy" areas of Gangnam and Apgujeong). Being on the subway is nice, though most times overrated (chances are you will only use it to go to Seoul, and most times its quite a bit quicker just to take a bus and then transfer to the subway once you're in Seoul).

There is also quite a decent expat population in Suwon, and I'm sure you'll become familiar with the one or two expat bars in the area (I tend to frequent them less and less...but its nice to have them there nonetheless).

Suwon, while not bad...isn't the best - my take is that its quite a working-class city. Most importantly, its NOT Seoul, you will most likely find yourself spending a bit of time most weekends commuting to Seoul, with the biggest downer being the cutoff time for public transport at around 11:30pm. So if you are into nightlife you will find yourself either going home at 11:30, or renting a cheap motel room, or doing an all nighter till transport resumes at around 6am.

Even if you aren't in Suwon and are in fact in Hwaseong, a lot of this information is still relevant (except you'll be a little worse off in my opinion - as you may have to travel to Suwon for some things). But bare in mind, most parts of Hwaseong are closer to some of the "better" parts of Suwon than they are to other parts of Hwaseong (and are infact a shorter journey than travelling across Suwon). Sorry if my post is a bit fragmented and hard to understand...its been a long day.

PS. You posted your email address which is from Stellenbosch Uni I have/had quite a few friends from there, I'm from UCT myself.

[14391988]

Hi Otherside,

Good to know I will not be the only one from the Western Cape in Korea! Do you have any other, South African specific information, that you would care to impart on a fellow countryman? For example, I see Canadians really miss their maple syrup, I'm guessing biltong might be hard to come by!?

Thanks for all the information. I really appreciate it.

[Otherside]

No problem.

You wont be able to find any South African specific products here with much ease (SA Beer, wine etc). I happened to find a guy in Seoul who sells biltong...he hangs the meat in his apartment, was ok stuff - expensive though.

Generally, there's not much specific info for South Africans. A bit of a heads up though - if you aren't white life might be a little (or a lot) more difficult for you, there are a lot of threads about the issues faced by African Americans etc. so I wont go into detail here and these will likely be greater out of Seoul as Hwaseong is a lot less cosmopolitan and "korean". If you are white, many Koreans wont believe you, when you tell them where you're from.

I saw your other thread about info pertaining to hwaseong, and I'd pretty much agree with what that poster said. (Though he left a while back, and the area's been developing rapidly - I've noticed a HUGE difference in some parts over the last 4-5 months).

If you have any more specific questions, I'd be more than happy to help you out.

[I-am-me]

Prices range from $300 for a studio to $600 for a 3 bedroom. Best bet is to find some realtors in the area you want to live in. Around here they are everywhere.

[14391988]

Hi Outsider,

Thanks for the warning. I'm white, but my girlfriend, who is also going to be teaching in Hwaseong on a Gepik contract, is 'coloured' (whatever that may mean). She has a hard skin though, Stellenbosch is not exactly a liberal haven. Should she expect more discrimination?

I am getting slightly worried about the negative posts on Hwaseong. I have as of yet not sent my document to Korea. Would you recommend that I run a mile, or try get accommodation in Suwon and commute to work? Would it really be that bad if we lived in Hwaseong and commuted to places like Suwon after work for a better social context?

Once again, thanks for your prompt and informative responses. I really appreciate your help.

[Squid]

Namyang is the sticks...about an hour from Suwon.

You'd be closer to Cheonan, which whilst a College town is good for nothing else.

But the housing would be cheap.

Good luck.

[Otherside]

Ummm..I'd say its likely she'd recieve more discrimination (atleast initially, but thats going to happen pretty much anywhere in Korea IMO). But I'm pretty sure with a thick skin and realising that most of the discrimination comes from ignorance, she should be ok. Expect lots of staring though - that goes for both of you

I'm not sure where exactly you are in Hwaseong (which may make a big difference), so the commute to work option may or may not be viable. Though I wouldn't recommend it - as public schools start at around 8:30 and finish at around 4:30...you would be commuting during rush hour...and I definatly wouldnt want to spend too much time commuting to work.

No, it wouldn't be that bad if you lived in Hwaseong and travelled to places like Suwon for a bit of fun. For me, I'm less than a 20minute (not rush hour) cab ride from most of the cooler places in Suwon. Just be prepared to spend a bit of money on transport. The other posters (in both your threads) have made some good points - and I go with most of what they say. Overall, I feel its an ok area to live in, Monday to Friday, with options to head off to Suwon for a couple of drinks or whatnot. Come the weekend, be prepared to travel to Seoul or wherever (although, that will most likely apply to most of the areas in under the GEPIK programme).

That being said, I actually prefere the "koreanness" of Hwaseong over the more cosmopolitan aspect of a place like Seoul (most of the time!) - Many of my friends in the area feel the opposite. If I wanted to go to a place where there were tons of people speaking English, with a vibey "western-style" nightlife and plenty of Western amenities - I wouldnt have come to Korea. So it really depends on what you are looking for.