Korean Job Discussion Forums

[rjbert]

Hey guys, I've searched the forums and nobody's really given a recent, satisfactory or in-depth description of this area. I'll be moving to Dongdaemun-gu near Janghanpyeong Station in early July with my girlfriend to teach at an Avalon/Olympiad hagwon, and I was just wondering if anyone knew anything about the area. Also, it's hard to gauge the amount of time it would take to walk to places when looking at the subway map...anybody know how long it'd take to walk to hotspots like Dongdaemun market or Itaewon?

I appreciate it!
Ray

[Scouse Mouse]

I'm not familiar with that area, so can't give definite info, but anything more than a couple of subway stops and you really should just take the subway... it's cheap enough

Anyway... here's a few things that may help.

Interactive English subway map (with fares and time by subway)

Google Maps for Korea (only available from the .co.kr domain). These have the subway stations on them.

Hope this helps

[T-J]

I don't know a lot about that particular location, however you're looking at about 30 minutes to get to Itaewon and 15 minutes to get to Dongdaemun from there.

It's a pretty good rule of thumb to guess about two minutes for each subway station from start to finish, I usually throw in ten minutes for a transfer which for you would be necessary to get to Itaewon.

This breaks down when you get further out from the city as the stations are more sparsely located, but for Seoul proper it works pretty well.

Good luck!

[samd]

It's not a very nice area, and doesn't have a very good reputation. You have a sewage treatment plant on one said, and a massive street of massage parlors on the other, unless they stayed closed after a crackdown last year. Having said that, I think it would be a great place to live if you had decent housing. There are some newer buildings mixed in with the old, and it's relatively central, with line 5 and lots of bus options. There is the Bauhaus department store and all the usual businesses you will find in any area of Seoul.

[Draz]

Depending on where you are in the area, it can be a really long walk to the subway station (20-30 min), forget walking all the way to Itaewon!

[bassexpander]

I'm about a stop away from that area.

Good:

For travel location, it's awesome. You can take the purple line to Gwanghwamun in less than 30 minutes (no stops). Everything in between is, of course, shorter. It's about 25 mins to Itaewon by subway, including the transfer at Cheonggu. Because of traffic flows, it's probably quicker to take the subway there than drive, actually. Walking that route to Itaewon might take you 1 hour 30 minutes or more, and you'd be going uphill in the last 1/4 of it.

You can jump on a bus from Janganpyung station to Konkuk univ. and be there in 15 minutes. Technomart is not that far, either, but taxi is the quickest way to get there... although that could suck during rush hours.

Costco is just a few subway stops away (Sangbong on the olive-colored line). Homeplus is West of there barely 8 minutes by car.

Prices for apartments can be 100,000 to 200,000 less per month in the area due to the reputation.

Bad:

NO good western restaurants. There's a ton of Korean places, but Dunkin Donuts and Pizza Hut are the only things remotely western that I've seen (other than a small Roti Deli). Oh, and maybe a Tom/Tom's coffee? Those two aren't near the station, either... they're further North up the main drag. That makes the area SUCK for westerners, IMHO. There is a medium/small shopping place called Bauhaus about 500m from the station.

As mentioned, lots and lots of motels, room salons, massage parlors, and noraebang places. The sex crackdown isn't in effect as it was, but it still goes on. One can spy a busload of police from time-to-time. The place lights up like a Korean Vegas at night. Very quiet and residential during the day, other than the ajoshis half-filling the hotels for afternoon quickies with hookers (and they do).

Right near Janganpyung station, out exit 5, are a few full blocks of used car parts and accessories places with dozens of ajosshi walking the streets hollering and trying to get people to come to their shop. It's surreal at times... and kind of creepy when you go by it. You get the feeling that they are forced into doing it because of bad loans or something. The sewage treatment plant is near that exit, but I've never smelled it when walking around by those shops.

There is a 3+km oversized rubber walking path with trees, exercise equipment, and toilets every 200m along the West side of the river (that's along the highway, too). That's a good feature, I suppose.

When we were looking at places around there, we found some good-priced deals a few blocks North from the station. Got burned by a couple of fake places that were not really for sale, though.


Oh... one more good thing... if you drive a car, the best prices in town on gasoline are in that area. It costs 158 per liter near my work, and 146 to 148 near Janganpyeong station.

[ama]

I was offered a contract from the same school (Olympiad) and was hoping to get some advice. I have done a search, but can't find anything. rjbert, if you read this, can you tell me how your experience is there?

Thanks in advance!

[ardentis]

This is the subway stop I live off of, and I agree with everything that's been said about it but will still add in my two cents.

If you're a woman in this area, trust, you will be asked if you're Russian. An ajumma was being super nice to me until I told her I lived in this area, and then, even as my students were walking by and talking to me, she accused me of being Russian. You will then start to notice that a *lot* of guys stare you down on the street.

It's not a nice area, but I've never felt unsafe here at all by any means. When I first got here a few months ago there weren't a lot of other foreigners, but now I'm starting to see groups of them (and no, not prostitutes) hanging out. Not sure if they're coming out of hiding or if the neighborhood is getting nicer. The apartments here are pretty nice; mine is brand new and one of the nicest I've seen, compared to my friends'.

Not much Western food around. There's Baskin Robbins, Paris Baguette (pushing it in terms of what I'd define as Western food), Popeye's (inside Bauhaus), Dunkin Donuts, Tom & Tom's, Coffee Bean, plus Mr. Pizza (again, pushing it) and a delivery-only Pizza Hut. Papa John's does not deliver. There are a bunch of pizza places and a McDonald's once you head over the giant hill by Bauhaus, but still nothing great. There's an Outback by Children's Grand Park, though. Still.

But Costco is a really cheap cab ride away, so you can stock up. There's a really good E-mart at Wangsimni, which is only three stops away and is a nice place to hang out anyway, and there's a Home Plus off of the 262 bus. The local grocery store in the basement of Bauhaus is pretty awful.

Transportation kind of sucks in this area. Line 5 is great, don't get me wrong, but the buses are not good at all and the chances are high that you will live pretty far from the subway station. I live a 15-minute walk from there, so it's kind of annoying to have to tack on those 15 minutes in transportation time; otherwise it would only take 35 minutes to Gangnam area or Hongdae and 25 to Itaewon - not too bad.

It's a poor neighborhood, so keep that in mind with your job. Poor neighborhood = lower English levels. You're also going to have a lot of kids with sob stories who your coworkers would like you to just ignore as opposed to teaching them and trying to keep them in line in class.

[nana007]

Hi I've been offered a contract with Olympiad in Dongdaemun and was wondering if this area is still considered bad/sketchy?? Also anyone have any knowledge about this school? Thanks!

[toby99]

[Swampfox10mm]

Jangandong is not a "poor" area.

The sex clubs are a fraction of what they were in the past. Now it is just another Korean street with a few more bars or nightclubs than most. Housing is not cheap there, either.

You will be fine in that area.

[DanseurVertical]

I visited there last night, out of curiosity and planning to go for a walk along the nearby river.

The area around the station did not seem like a housing district. Seemed somewhat rundown (by Korean standards), but full of restaurants and food tents open late. I did see two prostitutes (or something of that sort) standing on a corner - that's actually unusual in Korea. But there was less evidence of sex service here than in many other places.

I was a little surprised at how difficult it is to get to the nearby river (중랑천). Realized I should have checked a map before going ... If you look on a map, the access points are the little squares (black + white triangle) Then when I got to the river I realized, who would want to? Why? Because it's basically highway lanes on both banks. If the car sound doesn't bother you, it could be fine for biking. There is a walking lane in addition to the bike lanes, but I can't imagine anyone walking there for enjoyment. Go west, and there's a different little river, the famous Cheonggye-cheon (청계천). It leads to the city center and definitely has a better atmosphere for recreation.

The area just south of the station is all industrial / municipal works + car market. As you can see on the satellite view, not a whole lot of green space / parks. But if green space is something you care about, you're quite close to Acha-san (아차산)

About transportation, the station is basically next to a highway, so there are many bus routes. Can't promise they'll directly take you to someplace you want to go to, but there's no extra charge for transferring from bus to subway. The 9301 bus runs from Seoul station til 12:45 at night, so that's something to keep in mind if you stay late in the city center.

If you're moving to this area with your girlfriend, it shouldn't be too bad. If you were moving here alone, I think that would make for a rather hard year, based on my first impression. One reason is that dining out alone in Korea is unusual and at most better restaurants not possible, unless you order for 2 people. And the area around the station was just full of restaurants, especially seafood.

[Swampfox10mm]

Lived there for 2 years (moved 2 years ago). We had a nice 35 pyung apartment in the Ramien there. We are moving back somewhat close to that area in a few weeks, but other side of the river.

There is a medium-tall building which houses an independent shopping mall named Bauhaus. It is about a 10 min walk East of Janghanpyeong station, along the main drag. Nice place for shopping, and a medium-sized grocery in the basement. There used to be an Ashley's buffet on top, a Popeye's chicken, along with a CGV movie theater. Food court was being renovated as of a few months ago (and may be done by now). The wife and I still go there to buy baby clothes and stuff (they have some nice prices on styles that are going out). The electronics are typically a bit overpriced, but lots of other shoes, clothing and stuff. Dunkin Donuts in the area. If you keep heading East (if memory serves) down that main drag for another 10 mins, you'll find another intersection with a McDonalds. The main drag is mostly bars and room clubs and stuff. But from the outside, you don't see what's going on inside. Just a lot of lights at night. By day, it's basically nothing exciting.

I'm sort of scratching my head as to how the other poster on here noticed a prostitute on the streetcorner, as I have never seen such a thing outside of Itaewon. It's just not Korean style at all. I have noticed a few girls coming/going from bars at night with guys who appeared to possibly be pimps/minders, but that was only a guess.

Our daughter was born at the Lin Womens' Hospital, which is about 100m North of that intersection where Bauhaus is. They don't speak English, but otherwise, highly recommended. The wife stayed there to "rest" for 2 weeks after the birth, and it was very, very nice.

The housing is off of the main drag. A lot of it is East of there, and near the river (some apartments and villas). That's where we lived. If anyone is living around there, and needs a nice little daycare for their kids, there is a place named Grossbaum (big tree, in German) that an English-speaking lady runs. I still have her phone number, if anyone is searching for a daycare.

In short, the area is nothing like it used to be, in terms of the negative reputation. Dongdaemun-gu police/gov't had a pretty massive crackdown 5 years ago or so, and went so far as to rip the bathtubs out of the soapy massage places (there was a photo of dozens of them lined-up on the police station parking lot) and put them out of business.

[DanseurVertical]

[DanseurVertical]

Ironic that the OP mentioned this, but the Dongdaemun Market has its own pink light alley. Went to there looking for climbing hardware, but the shops had mostly closed. Walked down an alleyway, only to see women in the windows. I'd thought that prostitution was illegal in Korea - enforced wherever people complain?