Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Olivencia]

Maybe not so much distance wise but in terms of time?

[lifeinkorea]

In Incheon I did about 1 hour with a 40-45 minute actual commute. I had to transfer trains. Remember that you have to wait for a train each time, so that adds up to 10 minutes. Consider the time coming home, and it's easily over 2 hours.

With buses, they usually come quicker and you can take different ones closer to the city. In rural areas, you have a longer wait time.

For me, it boils down to class schedule. In Japan, I had 2 Tuesday part-time jobs, only 4 classes. I commuted like an 1 hour for both. Since it was only once a week and gave me a chance to visit cities between Osaka and Kyoto I didn't mind it.

In Korea, my schedule was limited to a maximum of 25 hours, but it never reached that.

If your schedule is more like a public school where you have to be there 40 hours, then you can expect living closer to the school since 18 of those hours are just sitting in the school. You can't use that time to travel.

If you are at a hagwon, they will probably get you a place near the hagwon anyway. In this case, figure a 15 minute walk maximum.

If you take any split shift schedule, it is VERY IMPORTANT to get a place close to the school. You don't want to commute the whole day and waste hours.

If there is a block of hours in your teaching schedule, you can live further away.

[Fishead soup]

Other things to bear in mind. Is the commute direct or a milk run. In some rural locations the local bus will stop at so many stops what should be forty five minute cummute can easily exceded an hour and a half.

Recruiters never include the walking time it takes from your home to the bus stop. If they say it is a forty five minute commute by bus that means from the moment you get on the bus to the moment you arrive at school will be forty five minutes. Therefore a forty five minute commute is usually much longer than originally estimated.