Korean Job Discussion Forums

[michaelambling]

Hi everyone. I'm a complete newbie bound for Korea in February. I've never been to the country before, but I've been reading this forum (it's pretty addictive--it seems to have the perfect mixture of trolls, intelligent people, idiots, and cynics).

There seems to be a lot of disdain for living outside of Seoul, so I was wondering what to expect out of Mokp'o, where I've landed a job. I'm a city person, so am I going to be completely shocked and isolated?

[afsjesse]

Welcome to the herd!!!

[Yaya]

[chris_J2]

It's about an hour by bus to Gwangju, which is a real city, with 'Western' amenities. There's also a KTX bullet train from Gwangju to Seoul, which is around 3 hours. Mokpo has direct ferries to Jeju Island via Chu Ja Do. They depart at 9:30 & 2pm daily. Or Thereabouts. There's also more islands west of Mokpo, worth visiting. Hong Do, Huksan Do, eg.

http://mokpo.info/#islands

http://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/special/2008/12/177_9144.html

[michaelambling]

From what I've read, it sounds like I'll be able to wander around rice fields and climb mountains but still get some conveniences in the city. Is there a fast train to Gwangju? I know about the three-hour train to Seoul; that's not too bad.

Are there many foreigners around the city?

[chris_J2]

There were a few foreigners I saw around the city. Here's some photos I snapped around town:

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/South_Korea/South/Jeollanamdo/photo897010.htm

http://www.trekearth.com/gallery/Asia/South_Korea/South/Jeollanamdo/Mokpo/

No fast train to Gwangju.

[michaelambling]

It looks like a weird mish-mash of an English seaside town like Blackpool, an Indonesian fisherman's port, and an inner-city market place like in Taipei or Rome.

Me likey.

[Smee]

Run a search here for Mokpo and that should answer a lot of the basics.

There's a facebook group for foreigners in Mokpo.

http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=2233896891

[marckot]

I have been living in Mokpo for two years now. I have lived all over Korea and found that Mokpo is a very comfortable city to live in. If you want to go to Seoul or Gwangju then the public transport is very easy to use.

You can catch a direct KTX, bulltet train, from Mokpo station to Yongsan station in Seoul. It takes about 3hr and 20min. The tickets are just over 40,000w now.

You can also catch the KTX train to Gwangju but you need to get of at Seongjeongri station which is on the outskirts of Gwangju but then you can catch the subway into the city centre. The KTX takes 30min to Seongjeongrig and the subway takes 20min to downtown.

The intercity bus route between Gwangju and Mokpo has changed so it now only takes 50min. The busses leave every 15 to 30 min. The tickets are between 5,000 and 6,000w.

If you need some western food then a quick trip to the underground store in Gwangju will set you up with most of the stuff you need.

There is a big foreign community in Mokpo so there will always be someone to hang with or go on trips with.

Here is a link to the Mokpo facebook group.
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/group.php?gid=2233896891

Join the mokpo group and ask the people about life in Mokpo.

[chris_J2]

marckot wrote:

[rehab]

I lived in Gwangju, and visited Mokpo a few times. I really like that town- it is a bit small, but I think you could be happy there. I really like the province, too. Check out Wolchulsan park sometime, it's probably 90 minutes from Mokpo, it's my favorite place in all of Korea. Don't worry about the train to Gwangju, even the slow train takes only 50 minutes.