Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Snowkr]

I've lived in Korea both in nice places and in some not so nice places but I'm looking at making Cheongju my final home during this stint in Asia (2 more years) and I just wondered if anyone out there could give me any particulars on the city.

I know there are approx 600,000 people living there and it's a sister city of Pittsfield, Massachutsetts and I know that it is a very historical place.

Are there a lot of U.S. military lurking around? Does their bus terminal have a lot of options for places to travel around Korea? I've heard the Koreans say that Cheongju is a "beautiful city" but I'd love to know what other foreigners think...

[RACETRAITOR]

Not a beautiful city, but it has a more decent nightlife thanks to the large number of universities, and the second best underground music scene behind only Seoul.

[espo]

Dont do it. I lived there for 10 months and wanted to commit suicide. I was constantly going to Seoul or different areas of Korea every weekend to get away from the small group of foreigners there, and get away from all the gossip and talk that goes on, because no one has anything better to do.

[gizmo]

I just wrote u a really nice long reply, tried to add a face thing and lost it all! So I will try one more time!!!

I actually live in Cheongju, been here about 2 years and like it,so i will give u as much info as I can.

I haven't seen any military guys here, all the other foreigners i meet are teachers. There are quite a few teachers here, if you're on facebook you could look up the cheongju group on there.

I've found cheongju to be pretty easy to travel about from because of its central location in Korea. A bus to busan takes about 3 or 3 1/2 hours, in good traffic seoul can take just 1hour 20. The trains aren't that good, but you can get the KTX from daejeon, and cheonan is close and has a much better train service. I'm trying to think where else i've got a bus to....gyeongju was easy, it took a few bus changes to get to amyeongdo.
It only takes about an hour to get a bus to sognisan if you like hiking, and in the summer there's a valley there wich has a steam/river which everyone swims in despite the 'no swimming' signs, also minbaks there if you wanna stay the night.
There are a few smaller ski resorts just over an hour away (jisan and one near suanbo), but i don't know about buses as i've always gone by car.

In cheongju itself, the area by chungbuk university is the main drinking and restaurant area, and it has 3 of the popular bars for foreigners. 2 of these bars have bands playing certain nights. Sometimes it's a local westerner band, and other times they have korean and foreigner bands up from seoul. There are also several other areas for drinking...habokdae is near the bus terminal and has lots of 'sexy girl' bars, the two big korean style nightclubs, and even a bar that does fish and chips! There is another area that's good in the summer cos it has a kinda square area and some of the bars/restaurants put tables outside.

Food choices, korean, italian, vietnamese, outback, and some buffet salad type places (VIPS/Olive farms) There might be more but can't think of them right now.

There are 3/4 multiplex cinemas, a small ice skaing rink, i've seen bowling places around but haven't been to any. Loadsa gyms/dance studios, about 2 biggish jimjilbangs, and one area has a decent size indoor swimming pool -but it's too far from where i live now : (

If you like sports there is a group of guys who play on a football team, there might be an ice hockey team but you'd have to check that, maybe they've stopped playing. Also a poker and indoor screen golf group from what i know...but i don't belong to any of them so don't know any details or definite info. I only know for sure about the football team (do a google search for 'cheongju tigers')

Hope that's helpful...just ask if you want any more info...but this is quite a long post and i'm sure i've covered most things!

[Cohiba]

Remember "Cohiba's Rule":

Think twice before you live outside of Seoul. "In Seoul" and
"outside of Seoul" are like two different countries. Seoul
is an interesting place with variety and venues for most
tastes. Outside of Seoul you will find a homogeneous Korean
culture. I don't mean this in a bad way, but you will never
find things like: French, Greek, Indian or any other ethnic
foods. Markets that sell sherry, pate, pastrami, ricotta cheese.
Specialty shops that sell dart accessories, cuban cigars or
cowboy boots.

The FFF RULE: FFF=Fun For Foreigners.

If FFF in Seoul = 100, then FFF decreases at
1/distance. So 2km from Seoul FFF=1/2(100)=50;
10km from Seoul FFF=1/10(100)=10. This rule is
a rule for nightlife, food and foreign products only.
Nature etc. is on a different scale altogether.

This means you will be wasting a lot of time commuting
to Seoul. This is especially a drag if you have been
boozing on a Friday night and there are no buses or
trains.

I, unfortunately, live in Incheon where the FFF factor
is almost in the negative range. I know!

[spliff]

Blows big time...farmers wearing suits all around.

[peppermint]

I lived there back in 2002, and much preferred it to Seoul then.

The bus terminals send buses to just about everywhere.

The Korean Air Force Academy is just outside the city, but that's the closest thing to a military presence.

It's basically a Korean college town. There used to be paragliding at Sandgangsanseong, and a drive in movie theatre(right next to a folk village) just outside the city too

[Roch]

As Spliff put it back in May: "Cheongju City is the armpit of South Korea."

It is full of anti-foreigner types.

Stay away from Eagle "Foreigner Bar." It is located in newish part of the city across the street on the 6th floor from a very cool place owned by an actual human being who sincerely does not have a hate-on against Whitey: The Beatles.

I was told by Eagle's wannabe cool owner that I have a very poor attitude for protesting about the owner of the largest hogwon in Cheongju's race-baiting, hateful words to me in the Eagle about ALL FOREIGN TEACHERS.

I challenged the thing and his piggy buddy to a fist fight and was told to beat it by the lame owner as a result.

Where is the justice in that for crying out loud?

That city blows hard! Avoid it unless you're going to hang out near the national university, which has many foreigners and a sort of good Mexican restaurant that Dirty Sanchez posted about last April or March.

[Roch]

[Roch]

[Snowmeow]

I was in Cheongju for a year. The basics are there: some decent bars, movie theatre, department stores, markets. Cheongju had a reputation for being an expensive city, and that was particularly true in the neighborhood I lived in. There is some natural beauty in Cheongju especially if you live near the outer border of the city. I was in the Southeast part and I would ride up and down a river that led into the countryside. Also you can get to other cities easy enough from Cheongju.

Cheongju is fine if you're in a school that has multiple native English teachers because you'll appreciate them in a city like that. It gives you time to meet other people in the city.

In Busan, I never had kids yelling at me from 30-50 meters away like they did in Cheongju and they didn't always yell nice words like Hello.

[kiwiduncan]

I went to Cheongju for a mountain bike race once. A very nice trail on a nearby mountain.

[Taegeuk]

Like other who have replied, I have my own opinions about Cheongju as I lived there for 11 years before returning to Vancouver last year. Some like the place & some don't. What I find puzzling is that all of these people are quick to throw their two cents in but no one has asked the OP the most important question.

What kind of lifestyle are you looking to lead?

After the OP lets us know what he/she likes, then you can give a quality response that will surely help the OP make a better decision. As well, you can be in a great city but have an awful job & that will skew your experience, the flipside applies as well. I would never recommend Cheongju to a New Yorker/Londoner who loves clubbing and concerts as life would be quite a slowdown for them and thus taint their view of the city.

So, OP, can you give a better clue as to what you're looking for so that we can really help?

Cheers,
B Keeper

Go Pumpkins!

[Oreovictim]

Anytime I talk to Koreans, they mention how good Cheongju is. I don't get it. I lived there from 10/06-11/07. There are good and bad things, I guess.

The good

1. Yes, near Chungbuk university, there's a nice strip of bars and restaurants where the college kids hang out. My friends and I used to go there sometimes. I never really saw a lot of foreigners around this area.

2. Choong Dae Choon Moon - another college hangout area, but there are a few foreign bars here: Pearl Jam (small, crowded but with good live music) Road House, and some other one that I always forget (maybe Fuzz?). I only went about half a dozen times because I'm not really into the foreigner bar scene.

The bad

1. The one person on here is right. You tend to get hassled by kids a lot. If you don't mind a bunch of teens saying, "Hello!" and then laughing their a$$es off, it's no big deal. But I couldn't walk around without hearing a "Muh-pahn-gee" (bald person) comment. And actually, that wasn't just from the kids, either.

By the way, perhaps it was just my neighborhood, but it seems like there are kids everywhere. When I go to Seoul, I see tons of 20-30 year-old attractive women. But In Cheongju, you see tons and tons of kids.

If you choose an area, stay away from Sacheon dong. I still get the two names confused a bit. There's a "Sachung dong", and that area's okay. That's near a university, I believe. But I lived in "Sacheon" dong. It's near an area called Yullian dong, and there's nothing there. It's on the outskirts of town. I never saw other foreigners there, and I was about a 10 minute walk to the nearest area with some life.

I liked Gashin dong, and Poon Pyong dong, too. The later one seems to be a newer, nicer area. I saw loads and loads of foreigners there, if that's your thing.

By the way, I never tried the Italian place, but the Vietnamese place isn't that authentic. But you take what you can get, I guess.

Have fun

[Snowkr]

I'll be near KNUE.

I've already seen the campus. It's nice... in my opinion. Cheongju city is much nicer than where I'm coming from. I'm actually looking to avoid too much contact with foreigners with the exception of those working directly with me.

I don't do the bar scene but will be hunting for a church when I arrive there... preferably one with an English and Korean service. I figured in a city of 600,000... there must be at least one or two churches where there are English services!