Korean Job Discussion Forums

[spikem]

I am about to interview for a job in Suwon. From what I can tell from Wikipedia it seems like a good place to live. Does anyone have any first hand impressions? The wiki said it had 14 universities, does it have a college feel like a city like Boston might, in other words is it a good place to be young-mid 20s?

[asams]

You mentioning Boston just made me a little homesick. Never lived in Boston, only been there one time, but for some reason I know I want to live there when I go back to the US.

Sorry, I don't know the answer to that. If it is like Boston then maybe I should think about moving there.

[weatherman]

I have been to Boston. I have been to Suwon. Suwon is nothing like Boston.

That said, Suwon is a very nice city.

[ernie]

suwon was kind of meh for me. i would say it's more of a bedroom community than a university town. pretty much every city in korea has at least 5 universities. being near a university in korea means lots of bbq restaurants but definitely not a kickass party scene like you're expecting. although the annual on campus drinking week festivities are pretty fun. unless you're working the next day.

i guess suwon is good or bad depending on what you're looking for. for me it was too far away from seoul to go there every weekend, but too close to seoul to have cool things to do (like hear live music, or eat good non-korean food), since everyone goes to seoul for those things. hwaseong fortress is really cool and it's pretty easy to get out of the city if you want to. certain facilities like gyms are much easier to find and cheaper in suwon than in seoul. you're likely to get a nicer apartment in suwon than in seoul.

[lifeinkorea]

I went to college first year in Boston, and I live out near Suwon. I go there on occassion (last weekend in fact). I don't see it as a college town like Boston is. However, it is bigger, has less of a coastal Cape Cod "fishy" smell to it (until you walk by the restaurants), and it is a much nicer city to live in. Just don't expect to find any North End in Suwon

[nobbyken]

The Southern part of Seoul is very accessible from Suwon via the expressway.
35-40 minutes on quite mornings, but between 1-2 hours in times of heavy traffic. The express bus of course, uses the speedy lanes to bypass traffic jams.

We lived in a recently built villa in Suwon, and they were throwing up many more beside us for a year. That tainted our experience, but I think it's a decent place to live for singles.

[ChinaBoy]

[Mr Crowley]

There is live music in Suwon once a month, that I know of. It is the Suwon Open Mic, and it has a page on Facebook. I is every 4th Saturday of the month near Paldalmun. There is also a open mic once a month in Anyang.

[spikem]

So from what you all are saying it doesn't sound totally ideal for someone who this will be their first year teaching. Seems like a better place to go once you are more comfortable in Korea.

[akiakiaki]

I'm in my first year of teaching and I live in Suwon. It's a nice place but definitely different than a college town. Close to Suwon station there's a good variety of restaurants and bars. It's close to Seoul (about 40 minutes by bus or train). And if you want to go to one of the more popular areas like Gangnam, it's about a 30- 40 min bus ride. Not that bad.

There's of course a lot of Korean restaurants but, there are foreign food ones too. Around some of the bigger areas (the places that have homeplus and emart) will have a variety of foods. There's a foreigner community here as well. If you're hoping to move into a big city like Seoul... Suwon may not be the best fit for you but, if you like something in between but more on the quiet side. Suwon is a good fit.

[lapin131]

I'm heading that way... I found out where the emart is located.. near the bus terminal... could someone tell me where Homeplus is located? I'd appreciate it.

[ChinaBoy]

[lapin131]

[akiakiaki]

From Gangnam station, take bus 3000 and one of the stops is Hanil Town/ Homeplus, the last destination is Suwon Station.

From Sadang Station, take bus 7770 and it essentially has the same stops.

[I-am-me]

Lol....Suwon is defintely not a college town. Its just a big suburban city south of Seoul. It does have many colleges though. I would recommend it. You can get to Seoul and most places from Suwon. If you like to party, then I recommend Seoul.