Korean Job Discussion Forums

[joltaxt]

Or am I going to want to jump off a building after 3 months? Any honesty is appreciated, thank you.

[tefain]

Need much more info to answer properly.

Daegu is a nice enough city, but what kind of place will you be working at?

Is it public, private, university, or corporate?

Kids or adults?

What are the hours?

Are split-shifts involved?

Have you taught ESL before in Korea or elsewhere?

And of course what does the contract look like?

Feel free to PM me if needed, but you really need to post more details before anyone can give you an honest answer. Best of luck.

[toadhjo]

I know people in Daegu who seem to be doing alright. Recently hired EPIK teachers, like myself.

That said, I didn't enjoy my trip there...maybe it was just a bad night but there seemed to be a lot more jerks than in Daejeon.

[furtakk]

Daegu is ok.
If you grew up or have lived for an extended period of time in a larger city you may get bored after a few months, but there are definitely fun things going on in the city. That said, the nightlife is still pretty mediocre.

The foreigner crowd isn't that huge so you will see A LOT of familiar faces if you hang out downtown. The Universities in the city also don't have a lot going on around campus, so the neighborhoods around those areas may not be as exciting as you'd find elsewhere.

That said, I still think it's a good city and I am enjoying my time here. I sometimes wish I waited for a decent offer in Seoul or Busan, but having said that, there are probably a ton of things I would not have experienced if I had opted to go elsewhere.

I definitely will not be staying here for more than my first year (if I decide to do another year), but I know people who have been here for years and quite enjoy it. It really depends on what you're looking for and the type of things you are interested in.

[DrugstoreCowgirl]

Daegu is ok. Like another poster said, the English teacher community is smaller than in other cities. I liken it to living in a small town. Everyone knows everyone and there aren't many new faces. Also, unlike a lot of other cities, there aren't that many things to see. We have mountains and an amusement park but other than that...

On the plus side, the location is pretty good for traveling. We're pretty central and it only takes 2 hours to get to Seoul, 1 to Busan.

[storysinger81]

Daegu is a lovely first-city-in-Korea because it's very livable and centrally located (great if you want to visit all of the cool old Shilla dynasty stuff and awesome temples around Gyeongsangbukdo). The expat community is large enough that you can carve out a happy niche for yourself and small enough not to feel completely overwhelmed. Koreans tell me all the time it's the most conservative city in Korea (which is sort of true), but mostly that doesn't affect you because hardcore conservative Koreans don't interact with foreigners anyhow.

The weather kind of sucks (being a landlocked valley means it's hot and muggy in the summer and bitter windy cold in the winter, but no snow), but really not that much worse than other parts of Korea.

I disagree with the poster who said that the uni areas suck--I live in one major uni area (Keimyung) and spend a lot of time in the other (Kyungbuk) because my swing dance club is located there. There are lots of awesome non-Korean restaurants in these areas cheaper than downtown non-Korean food and more chill bars and makkoli jips with very cool Koreans who hang out there and are happy to make friends with foreigners. My favorite bar in Daegu is in the Kyungbuk area. Also there are almost no soldiers who try to violate curfew in the uni areas and the uni areas tend to be more truly international in "foreign" bars, as lots of Vietnamese and Chinese exchange students and professors from all over the world hang out there.

All this said, I wouldn't still live here if the fiance didn't and my job wasn't super-awesome. When we come back, we've already decided to try for Busan.

[morrisonhotel]

[Xuanzang]

[Sadebugo1]

Daegu was okay 10 years ago when I was there (although it used to be spelled 'Taegu'). Still, if you have a comparable job choice between Daegu and Seoul, I would choose the latter. Daegu can be a little boring although it's much better than being out in the sticks.

Sadebugo
http://travldawrld.blogspot.com/

[morrisonhotel]