Korean Job Discussion Forums

satinred · Joined: 19 May 2009

I received a contract to work at an elementary school in Paju but in the futher end of Paju, near the northern border. Does anyone know how life is around there? I'm from the city back at home so I'm not sure if I'll be use to the country side but prior information to prepare myself mentally will help me adjust. Also, will they have many ammenities that I have back in the states?

soul rebels · Joined: 19 Nov 2008

was in geumcheon in paju up until the end of march this year what exactly do you want to know?

geumcheon's the main town in paju but if you need civilisation illsan (seolu northern suburb) 10-20 miles away depending where you are in paju. you'll find decent nightlife thier, cinema's and a costco.

munsan is next biggest town in paju after geumcheon munsan is about 10 miles north of geumcheon.

thiers is a train line that runs from imjingak(last stop before the dmz) thru munsan and geumcheon and the back end of illsan, also stops in sinchon which is near hyungdae(the uni district of seoul) and stops at seoul station.

thiers a bus service to and from the airport that goes thru geumcheon to munsan. cant remember the number tho but ask at airport info desk.

if your in one of the tiny little towns not on the train line i cant really help you with public transport youll have to figure out the buses. or shell out for a cab.

if your working at the paju english village they'll be plenty of people thier you can ask questions to

tomato · Posted: Tue Sep 22, 2009 12:48 am Post subject:

I envy you. One time, I tried to get the job teaching at Paju Elementary School.
I don't know how it is now, but at that time, the job was working only two hours a day, and receiving the same pay as everyone else.
I visited the town, and it is a beautiful place.
They have soldiers riding around in trucks and jeeps all over the place.
Apparently they are afraid of the Bookies because they are so close to the border.
Since I visited Paju, they have extended the Seoul subway line as far as Paju.
Anything you can't get in Paju you can get somewhere else on the subway line.
There are private English schools in Paju, so you should not suffer from lack of compatriot companionship.

Paju English Village opened up as a bombastic theme park, but that was only a flash in the pan.
They were unfair to their foreign employees, and former employees can talk.
I don't know whether the big show fizzled for lack of personnel or because the Korean people got tired of it, but I know it fizzled.
Last I heard, they had intensive classes for adults, and the foreign teachers were much happier than the earlier carnival performers.
I don't know how much freedom those teachers have in terms of meeting foreign teachers from the village.

If you take the job, please write back.
I want to see if it is still only 2 hours a day.

Fork · Joined: 22 Jul 2009

I'm in Paju around the border and I can tell you that there are few Westerners around. I'm in a small town and there are no western restaurants, few western foods at the grocery, and very little to do. It's a much quieter and simpler way of life, and that is good and bad.

I'm just starting to figure out the bus and train situation, and once you do it will be easy to get around, but the worst part is that you will be so isolated, that you will have no one to travel with unless you already know people in Korea. I have to ride the bus at least 30 minutes to get to my school, or any city (30 mins to Munsan, 40 to Guemcheon).

My co-workers have been great so far, and we hang out together frequently, but it could be different for you, and either way you will miss having a decent conversation. They try so hard, but communicating is very difficult.

Overall it's not bad, but I would gladly drop the extra 100k and 5 days vacation for a city with at least a handful of Westerners.

If you do come to Paju, let me know where, I would love to have a new person to talk to. Smile

Buffalo · Joined: 15 Aug 2009 Location: Ilsan

Paju is the worst! Absolutely nothing there, except for an upside down house and a [Mod Edit] load of apartment buildings. Paju is the place that people go to when all of the good contracts have been taken.
Just being brutally honest-- lets hope you live somewhere near the train.

bluelake · Joined: 01 Dec 2005

One place to visit in Paju is the Young-jip Archery Museum (영집 궁시 박물관); there's no place else like it in all of Korea.

satinred · Joined: 19 May 2009

Thanks for the responses. It's sad to hear that I've received the short end of the stick taking a position at paju. I start fairly soon and to answer someone's question, I will be working a normal 8 hours a day according to the contract. I wish I was working in the city. I hope it'll be ok. I think that I'll be visiting visiting Seoul or nearby citites every other weekend to compensiate for my loss, to remember what it's like in the city.

satinred · Joined: 19 May 2009

carmy87 · Joined: 28 Sep 2009

Satinred,

have you arrived in Paju yet? I have just signed a contract with a school there for February...and after reading the thread above...im starting to get mixed feelings! What school are you at? How long are you there for?

Any type of answers do help! thanks a bunch!
Hope all is well,
Carmen

FredDaSked · Joined: 17 Jun 2009 Location: Within You, Without You

My only Paju experiences: my former hagwon in Ilsan took kids, teachers and all to that place where kids get the 'sex talk' with a short film and plenty of rooms with things to do and see related to that subject. I guess that passes for family planning. But a hagwon getting into that responsibility? Seems a little misplaced.

poeticjustice · Joined: 28 Feb 2009

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QjBfy_HVoSM

They have encouraging things to say about it.

pandi · Joined: 02 Oct 2009

Your school might be very isolated, but you might be able to live in Munsan and carpool.

Tomato, do you mean an elementary school in Paju or Paju Elementary School specifically? I actually did work there. They must have only told you about the curriculum classes. With the after school classes, I actually had the same twenty-two hours as everyone else but with a way above average amount of paperwork expected for that base pay (except I did get the 100k/mth rural bonus which went towards the cost of commuting). Of course, it's all subject to change but I doubt the hours would have been reduced that much. Sounds like satinred is going further north than that anyway.

CentralCali · Joined: 17 May 2007

tomato · Posted: Tue Oct 06, 2009 9:39 pm Post subject:

Pandi, thank you for your response.
I don't know the exact right thing to say, because I'm sorry you had to take such a heavy load, but now I no longer regret missing the interview.

I missed that interview at about April 2007.
Is that anywhere close to the time that you worked there?
If it is, then they were trying to pull a sneaky trick on me by low-baiting me.

ThingsComeAround · Joined: 07 Nov 2008

Paju is quiet , and beautiful.
Very rural. My gf and I went up there to visit Haiti and Provance. Don't expect any half-decent western dishes, unless its Mr Pizza or Dunkin Donuts.
Korean food there is better than what I get (in Ilsan)
Hell- I'm in Ilsan and I get lonely and bored. Bring some good books or movies, take up learning Korean or some cool hobby. The winter will be the toughest time for you.

Best of luck Wink