Korean Job Discussion Forums

[mekku]

so...i am 98% sure that i will be coming to daegu to teach english around september-ish!

as excited as i am about that, i have to say i am just a tad apprehensive. not about korea- i've been there before. i spent six months in 2005 attending keimyung university and checking out the daegu life so i know the basics and have experienced a great deal of korea. i know it will be different this time around, but hopefully mostly good different. there is a little more risk going as a teacher, but i'm looking forward to doing all that i loved last time i was there and experiencing new fun this time!

i have been reading this board off and on for the last 3 years and i've heard that misery loves company etc etc, but i have to say i am a little concerned at what i've seen! from what i've read, you'd think that 80% of the esl teachers there are mean, bitter, freaks, losers, can't get by in their own country, party-ers, womanizers, quite young and just getting started in life, and so on...this can't possibly be true?!?! or is it just that this board is a haven for complaining and bashing? hey, we all do it sometimes- i am no exception.....but it seems to go to a whole new level here sometimes! someone please tell me that it is just the way it appears on this board!

also, for whatever reason the last time i was there, we really didn't see a lot of foreigners....the occasional one on the street perhaps and definitely a lot of soldiers at the clubs, but not really other than that. i have no problem with not being out and social 24/7 but i would like a handful of good friends there to hang out and do stuff with.....what's your best guess for the amount of foreign teachers in daegu currently? how many of you are in daegu?

[kingplaya4]

I'll probably get told off, but most of us (myself included) are here because of the stereotype. There is a minority of Korean people that are rediculously kind, but the rest seem standoffish to me. (A few outright hostile, but they're an even smaller minority). Korea doesn't have much to offer besides three hots and a cot.

I recommend not coming because after you've been here awhile it doesn't really accomplish anything, and you end up with far less money than you had hoped for. Think of what working for Einstein Academy will do for your resume, and then you'll know if Korea is for you or not.

If you're determined to come anyway, which most on here seem to be, might as well pick Seoul over Daegu. The only thing Daegu has going for it is less pollution, but it's still pretty polluted. You'll find yourself on the high speed train to Seoul or Busan more than you'd like to think. There are well over a hundred foreign teachers in Daegu, probably even a thousand total. But that's just a rough guess.

[mekku]

i won't tell you off!
i hope to not be doing that a whole lot...lol

i loved daegu. i'm sure i'll grow tired of it, as i would anywhere. i have considered seoul, but i would like to initially start off in daegu and perhaps go to seoul if i stay a second year. i did visit both seoul and pusan while i was there, but daegu was still at the top of my list.

and yeah, i figure my resume will probably suffer a little. but as i took the looooong way through college (time off, travelling, study abroad, correspondence, etc) and haven't been in any hurry to get my "professional life" started yet, i figure another year or two of hurt can't be too detrimental

i have three reasons for coming: i really enjoyed korea, to pay off student loans, and to travel more......in that order. i wouldn't come there just to reduce my debt if i hadn't truly enjoyed it the first time...i can only hope it is as enjoyable to second time around!!! but admittingly, being completely (or very close to it) out of debt by 35 sounds heavingly!*fingers crossed*

[retrogress]

I am about 30 minutes south of Daegu, but go there often. I don't see a lot of foreigners unless you count the migrant workers from S.E.Asia and the USArmy people on Sunday when they all come out. (after church presumably)

I haven't heard anybody say anything nice about Daegu which I find strange. I know that a lot of foreigners crave the "foreigner friendly" environment of Seoul, but IMHO the people in Daegu are more friendly and there is so much to do around Daegu that I can't see why anyone would complain about the city itself. (It's not Dajeon after all.)

One hour to Kyeongu, two hours to a nice beach, plenty of hiking in any direction, not far from Andong City. If you're going to complain about Korea, I just can't see complaining about Daegu.

My two cents.

[superpan]

I'd estimate 600-800 foreign teachers; 150 or so in EPIK, twice that in hagwons, and a big handful in unis or other special gigs. We seem scarce because we're spread all over the metropolitan area, which is a decent size.

Don't worry. This board can give a bad impression. My friends here in Daegu are good people, and they aren't bitter or jaded.

This place is what you make of it.

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

Daegu was ok. Busan is a far better place to live.

[safeblad]

[Kuros]

I lived in Daegu for just over 2 years. Its a fine city. I lived in Dowondong, Dal-seo-gu. There was a full mountain range and park 5 minutes behind my apartment complex. Glorious place to exercise. There're foreigner haunts downtown, as well. Where are you going to live in Daegu?

[IncognitoHFX]

[blaseblasphemener]

Why would you live in a place that is land locked and pretty dirty air (factories galore) when you could live by the sea in a cleaner, more interesting city (busan) that is a ferry trip to Japan or Jeju or other islands? Or you could live in Seoul and experience a world-class city that has so much to offer foreigners? I just don't see the attraction of Daegu, it's the equivalent of Edmonton, Manchester or Oklahoma City.

[xingyiman]

I found that the further southeast in Korea you go the more xenophobic and racist people get terminating at Pohang which is about as racist a place as there is . My advice for the newbie would be to get as close to Seoul metro as you can. People are far more accepting and less hostile.

[nicholas_chiasson]

So Gyeong Song Nam Do is a terrible place...maybe. Anyhow, is Busan the cure? Busan always seemed friendlier than Seoul to me.

[Grab the Chickens Levi]

[IncognitoHFX]

[brento1138]

OK, a couple of comments:

Firstly, I loved Daegu when I lived there. I think it offers more of the "real" Korea... you know.. the adjumas on the street selling cabbages on the streets, those crazy speaker-vegetable-trucks, Korean guys duking it out at midnight or carrying their drunken girlfriends home... this seems to be more prominent. People stare at you more. It's more "country" as Koreans like to say... more "Asian" I suppose. Girls will tend to be more shy, guys more brash. People spit more. But then again, they're very honest and warm once you get to know them. Some of the best girls I've ever met live in Daegu. But aside from it being a bit behind in offering western ammenities like Seoul does, it does actually offer more than enough... some very good western restaurants, excellent hiking, nice small downtown where you get to know all the foreigners. I had a great time... and the best part of all... you can say "annyeongi gashi-dae" when saying goodbye to someone!

However, believe it or not, it is in fact much more polluted than Seoul. The place is in a valley, and there is no wind. So, the pollution simply sits there and it feels like ur beathing in a jar most of the time. Quite horrible for pollution really, but that's the only major downside...

As for the English teaching... the bitterness on the internet. I don't think many people would be here if they truly despised it or Korea. Back home, all the time, people complain about everything... about their landlords, about rude people, about a guy in an SUV who almost mowed down a family, and when the family complained, he yelled "F*** you, next time I'll kill you" right in front of the children. Or my friends complaining about being stabbed. Or when I walk home, gangs standing outside and eyeing me as they swing their baseball bats, and acting all "homey-G", being pestered for change when I go downtown, or being told by an ultra-homeless dude "hey buddy, I'll watch your car and make nobody SMASHes it or steals anything...if you pay me 5 bucks" as he shows me a crowbar he has hidden in his jacket. Yeah, great. Home is so much better than Korea.

Nobody there ever says "Oh, it's Canada's fault..." but here in Korea, we can say "Oh, these bad things happen in Korea, those darn Koreans..." Kind of easy to just blame Korea, right? This country which has been developing and doing rather well after being bombed to ashes a mere 50 years ago. But in reality, it's humanity's fault. So, I'd dissmiss that bitterness on these boards about Korea being a "bad" place to live. It totally isn't. Every place has their ups and downs, and hey, in Korea I can travel a vast distance for 2 bucks. In Canada, I'd have to travel a vast distance just to get to work... it sucks. The list goes on and on. People tend to focus on the negative, not because they are whiners, but because human beings always wish to improve their situation by finding out what the bad in it is...