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driftingfocus
Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Location: Boston, MA
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 Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 7:53 pm Post subject: Location Advice |
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So, I'm hoping to be able to work in a less populous area than somewhere such as Seoul of Busan. I don't particularly want to work somewhere that I will be the only foreigner in the boonies, but I tend to prefer medium and small-sized cities/towns to big metropolises.
Alternatively, cities with lots of greenspace/cultural/historical stuff are also an option.
So what I'm hoping for from all of you is some advice on what towns or regions I should be looking at. I have done a reasonable amount of research, but first-hand advice is always welcome. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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You want to be near Seoul. The rest of Korea is the boonies and living in those areas can be hellish for many reasons.
Trust those of us who've been here for a while. |
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Juregen
Joined: 30 May 2006
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:28 pm Post subject: Re: Location Advice |
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| driftingfocus wrote: |
So, I'm hoping to be able to work in a less populous area than somewhere such as Seoul of Busan. I don't particularly want to work somewhere that I will be the only foreigner in the boonies, but I tend to prefer medium and small-sized cities/towns to big metropolises.
Alternatively, cities with lots of greenspace/cultural/historical stuff are also an option.
So what I'm hoping for from all of you is some advice on what towns or regions I should be looking at. I have done a reasonable amount of research, but first-hand advice is always welcome. |
Deokso is pretty close to your description.
Its not overpopulated (60k), has very easy access to the center of Seoul.
Only the culture and historical stuff are a bit lacking  . |
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IncognitoHFX
Joined: 06 May 2007
Location: Yeongtong, Suwon
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:33 pm Post subject: |
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Daegu?
It's not small but it's not big either. Tonnes of foreigners. |
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driftingfocus
Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:29 pm Post subject: |
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| wylies99 wrote: |
You want to be near Seoul. The rest of Korea is the boonies and living in those areas can be hellish for many reasons.
Trust those of us who've been here for a while. |
I used to live in a town of 2000 people and loved it, and I regularly spend months at a time in a village with all of 113 people in it, for reference. I'm not really a city person. I grew up in one, and I've lived in another, and they're just not my thing.
Last edited by driftingfocus on Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:31 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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driftingfocus
Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| IncognitoHFX wrote: |
Daegu?
It's not small but it's not big either. Tonnes of foreigners. |
How is it in terms of having access to the countryside? |
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Becka
Joined: 28 Sep 2005
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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We really liked Ulsan when we lived there - definitely a city (read: conveniences), but not huge by Korean standards (only 1 million). Also, not very "cosmopolitan" in feel (read: not many interesting events, unfortch). But Busan's only a 5000 won/1 hr bus ride away - easy for daytrips.
We're now in Chung-nam province - definitely in the country, but only 40 min. to Seoul on the high-speed rail (KTX). It's pretty lovely out here, and there's enough of a foreigner population that it's pretty easy to find western convenience-type stuff. There's also a sizable south Asian population for our town, and we have a half-decent 'world food' mart because of that.
Like you, we've also lived in big cities as well as tiny villages back home, and definitely prefer living in smaller areas, too. |
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Rae
Joined: 10 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 10:59 pm Post subject: |
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| wylies99 wrote: |
You want to be near Seoul. The rest of Korea is the boonies and living in those areas can be hellish for many reasons.
Trust those of us who've been here for a while. |
I agree with wylies99. I was like you, I wanted to be in the boonies - even more so because I didn't care if I was the only native English speaker in my town. The boonies has its perks like no pollution, quiet, surrounded by nature, but the downsides include all the obvious and then some - like poor management and not knowing how to deal with ESL teachers. (Although I know poor management can be anywhere - but that coupled with all the downsides can make it tiring).
Because of this, I'd advise a larger city. You'll be busy anyway and will really only have your weekends, being closer to/in a larger city just makes it easier. |
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yeremy
Joined: 05 Nov 2007
Location: Anywhere's there's a good bookstore.
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:03 pm Post subject: Seoul and Gyonggi-do |
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| If you have to have your air pollution, ozone, yellow dust and congestion fix, go for it in Seoul and Gyonggi-do. The air's gotten worse in both places. |
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driftingfocus
Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:04 pm Post subject: |
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| Rae wrote: |
| wylies99 wrote: |
You want to be near Seoul. The rest of Korea is the boonies and living in those areas can be hellish for many reasons.
Trust those of us who've been here for a while. |
I agree with wylies99. I was like you, I wanted to be in the boonies - even more so because I didn't care if I was the only native English speaker in my town. The boonies has its perks like no pollution, quiet, surrounded by nature, but the downsides include all the obvious and then some - like poor management and not knowing how to deal with ESL teachers. (Although I know poor management can be anywhere - but that coupled with all the downsides can make it tiring).
Because of this, I'd advise a larger city. You'll be busy anyway and will really only have your weekends, being closer to/in a larger city just makes it easier. |
By "all the obvious", what are you referring to? And I'm curious, why would schools in more rural areas be any more poorly managed? |
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driftingfocus
Joined: 08 Feb 2007
Location: Boston, MA
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:05 pm Post subject: Re: Seoul and Gyonggi-do |
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| yeremy wrote: |
| If you have to have your air pollution, ozone, yellow dust and congestion fix, go for it in Seoul and Gyonggi-do. The air's gotten worse in both places. |
Yeah, see, I'm not all that much of a fan of pollution. I grew up in the most polluted city in the US, so I can deal with it, but I prefer not to. |
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Rae
Joined: 10 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:06 pm Post subject: |
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| driftingfocus wrote: |
| wylies99 wrote: |
You want to be near Seoul. The rest of Korea is the boonies and living in those areas can be hellish for many reasons.
Trust those of us who've been here for a while. |
I used to live in a town of 2000 people and loved it, and I regularly spend months at a time in a village with all of 113 people in it, for reference. I'm not really a city person. I grew up in one, and I've lived in another, and they're just not my thing. |
I actually hate big cities. Thats why I focused the last message on the poor management. If you can't speak the language and don't know the culture, being in a small city can be difficult because they don't know what to do with you. Even if you have people that try and help you, their culture limits the help they can provide - meaning they can't outright go against higher-authority. And it's the higher-ups that usually only think about their agenda. You will be under-represented and likely abused in some way or other.
The locals and students might be sweet as all hell but the higher level of things can will likely go wrong will negate the sweetness factor. Well that's just my two cents. |
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Rae
Joined: 10 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 11:17 pm Post subject: |
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| driftingfocus wrote: |
| Rae wrote: |
| wylies99 wrote: |
You want to be near Seoul. The rest of Korea is the boonies and living in those areas can be hellish for many reasons.
Trust those of us who've been here for a while. |
I agree with wylies99. I was like you, I wanted to be in the boonies - even more so because I didn't care if I was the only native English speaker in my town. The boonies has its perks like no pollution, quiet, surrounded by nature, but the downsides include all the obvious and then some - like poor management and not knowing how to deal with ESL teachers. (Although I know poor management can be anywhere - but that coupled with all the downsides can make it tiring).
Because of this, I'd advise a larger city. You'll be busy anyway and will really only have your weekends, being closer to/in a larger city just makes it easier. |
By "all the obvious", what are you referring to? And I'm curious, why would schools in more rural areas be any more poorly managed? |
The obvious would mean it can get lonely with no one to communicate with aside from broken sentences, plus most smaller cities are populated mostly by senior citizens. If you need anything other than normal groceries, it can be difficult to acquire without making it a day-trip.
As for my management comment, it seems (at least for me) that the smaller the city and the more remote, the more lax the rules. This will be a positive and a negative because it may cut you some red-tape but will also hurt you when you need them to abide by the rules (i.e. your contract).
If you have any specific questions, please PM me. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:24 am Post subject: |
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Unfortunately I'm gonna have to disagree with Rae here.
I live in a city with a population of 35 000 people. My three PSs are all in villages of about 1000 people, so we're talking very small. I have an excellent contract, I get three months vacation even though my contract says 20 days and the best bit is that I'm out in the countryside.
Like the OP, I'm not really a city person. When I go to Seoul I'm always reminded why I'm so pleased that I'm not living there. The fact you're near to some weird native teachers is over-rated. In my city there's about 30 native teachers, these people chose to be out in the countryside and they are a lot nicer and more level headed than some of the people you meet in Hongdae or Shitaewon.
The school management thing is nonsense. Like any school in Korea the principal and VP are pot luck. My principals are really good and committed. They do their best for the students and I get 110% backing from them. Also in the countryside you get a lot of the new Korean teachers who are working out in the countryside to get experience before moving onto a bigger city in later life. I've found these teachers really nice and humble and very accepting of native teachers and nothing like some of the stories you hear on here about them. The level of the students are low but it due to their humble backgrounds, most of mine come from farming and fishing backgrounds so their parents don't have the money to send them to Hagwons.
I'm too busy during the week with lesson planning, school and gym to be doing anything extra. Friday and Saturday I can do what I want. Seoul is a two hour coach ride and today we went driving round the mountains today to find the cherry blossom, beautiful.
But it comes down to a matter of taste. If you wanna see people then go to a big city but there are definitely native teachers in the smaller places so getting this 'western' fix is not a problem. You really do find more about Korea by living out in the country and it makes you learn the language. I wouldn't have it any other way. |
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majolica
Joined: 03 Apr 2008
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| Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 4:34 am Post subject: |
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korea is so small that you're honestly not missing out on much by choosing one spot over the other. i know everyone's all like "you HAVE to live in Seoul," but I live in Mokpo and I love it, even though I would totally describe myself as a city girl. We get to go party (and eat ethnic food and buy English books) on the weekends... we've travelled all over our province and to other places in Korea, and I still love it here.
in the end, if you are personally happier in a small town, than you won't like Seoul, no matter how great it supposedly is. if you make your choice of jobs wisely, and speak to everyone in the area and at your school that you can get a hold of, you'll be content where ever you decide is right for you... as long as you have as many of the facts as possible before you come.
just in case you're wondering... here are my pros for mokpo and the area:
1. great foreigner group (not wierd, very active, positive and fun)
2. right on the ocean, 20min-2hr ferry ride to the best beaches i've seen in a non-tropical area, good camping, NO crowds
3. cleaner air and milder weather than seoul (cooler in summer, no snow all winter)
4. quick 3-hr train to the centre of seoul
5. a decent amount of culture, no temples, but mokpo and nearby gwangju have vibrant arts communities, decent museums, galleries etc.
6. shopping, korean food and all other basic korean ammenties are of the same quality and variety as seoul.
7. very warm and friendly... you'll know most of the foreigners, see koreans that you know from work, have less excuse not to learn korean and hang out with them (if you're shy like me)
8. less distance to hiking (and you might not even see anyone on the trail!) and other outdoorsy stuff (except skiing)
9. ooo and also only 5 hours to jeju!
cons:
1. no ethnic resturants
2. not a great selection of other foreign goods (food, books)
3. can be harder to get things done in english
4. no access to large foreign organizations, formal korean classes, etc
5. fewer english movies in theatres
6. your trip home from your overseas holiday will be about 6 hours excrutiatingly longer than if you live in seoul/busan etc
7. people who live in seoul/busan will be annoyingly superior about their choice of location
ALL that said, I probably wouldn't be happier in a place much smaller than this, or any further from seoul... so it really depends. |
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