Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Pericles]

Hi, looking for feedback from people who have been to or have worked in Bucheon. Also, has anyone heard of Carlitz Language School?

Any information would be greatly appreciated.

All the Best,
Thanks

[Eazy_E]

I have been to Bucheon a few times in my months here and maybe I could help you. It's a frequent destination for me because it's one of the closest subway stations on the Seoul system (I live in Siheung, a semi-rural district south of Seoul). Bucheon is about 30 minutes from Seoul by train.

I hope you weren't looking for a beautiful city to live in because looking at Bucheon makes your eyes feel like they have been scrubbed with steel wool. However, it does have its share of amenities for an expat. The subway station complex includes a large department store, plus some Western fast food barns like KFC and McDonalds when you get a craving.

Hope that helps somewhat.

[Gord]

While some parts of Bucheon are like Easy_E said, he failed to mention that a huge chunk of the city is brand spanking new (the area known as Jung Dong). Wide 12 lane roads, fast traffic, wide sidewalks, new apartments. It was even mentioned in a recent edition of Time a couple weeks back about how well set-up it was.

Best to ask pictures of where you will be.

[Son Deureo!]

I spent a year in Bucheon, near Songnae Station, and each area is different. Pericles, you don't mention if you knew this or not, but Bucheon is a satellite city of Seoul, between Incheon and Seoul. It has about 600,000 people, and it is on the subway to Seoul (5 stops on Line 1). From Bucheon downtown Seoul is a little less than an hour from downtown Seoul by subway.

There are several department stores in Bucheon, including a WalMart, so you'll be able to find most of the Western products that are available there. There is a small expat scene and one expat bar near Bucheon Station, and Bupyeong Station's (actually in Incheon, but close enough) expat bar is very nearby. I've found the expats in Bucheon to be a bit friendlier than the ones in Seoul, I the extra step of isolation kinda brings people together.

While Gord is right about Chung Dong being fairly wealthy and brand new, nice by Korean standards, but to the Western eye it's pretty ugly. Plain white tombstone like apartment complexes as far as the eye can see, but very convenient places to live. That's not particularly unique to Bucheon, though.

From Bucheon it's easy to spend all your weekends going to Seoul, but in the summertime, make sure you also head out to the Yellow Sea Islands off the coast of Incheon. It's about a half-hour by subway to the ferry port.

All in all Bucheon is an OK place to live, but it's not Seoul if that's where you really want to be.

[crazylemongirl]

I still work in bucheon and lived there for four months. There are couple of good stores to buy food at (e-mart in bucheon station, wal mart in jung dong and a walmart in jung dong) the area around songnae station is nice, wide roads a couple of parks etc.

I lived at the northern end near gimpo airport which isn't as nice as where gord and my deureo worked.

My area had heaps of villas, (little low rise apartment complexes) and a bit of agricultural areas around.

To be honest there isn't much difference between the areas of western seoul and bucheon, they kind of merge into eachother. On the plus side there are a lot of buses and the subway that will take you into seoul in less than an hour.

CLG

[Jim Romaine]

I/m living in Bucheon at the moment and I think it's a great place. I live by the dream tower and homeplus. Lots of Bars, Norebongs, Workout facilities, a big lake park, music store, electronics store, and more all within a 5-10 min walk. I must be in the good part or somethin'. I think it's a sweet deal.

[Chillin' Villain]

I am in my 2nd year in Bucheon, and am liking it more as time goes by for various reasons...

It seems that Jung-dong or Sang-dong are definitely the best areas to live now... A lot of the places I used to have to go to Seoul for (CGV cinemas, Hyundai Dept. Store, TGIFriday's, Outback) have, as of August, all opened up within a block of each other. It also lacks a lot of the noise of Seoul. For going out, it still sorta lacks... There used to be a semi-decent place near Bucheon Station to go to, but it's a mere shadow now... However, there is a pretty decent in-house brew pub over there that is a good place to meet on Friday nights.... And Bupyeong (popular area in Incheon) is only 2 subway stops away. ALSO- if you take an express subway to Sindorim or Yongsan, Hongdae and Itaewon (respectively) are usually less than an hour away.

Depends on how you weigh your priorities, I guess. Other satellite cities (such as Ilsan, where I've lived for a year) look a bit nicer than Bucheon, but may be lacking in other areas, such as access to Seoul, or shopping, etc...

[Pericles]

Thanks for your help everyone.

[BTM]

Used to live in Songnae.

A nicer and more convenient place to live in the Seoul area I've not seen.