Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pangaea]

Can anyone who lives or has lived in Chuncheon give me an idea of what it's like? Most of the information I have found seems to be positive but I would like to get some more opinions. I'm interested in things to, outdoor activities, the availability of language classes, and the quality of life in general. Thanks in advance!

[pangaea]

bump

[rumdiary]

I've only visited a couple of times. Great duk galbi. A large puppet theater that holds MIME FEST! every year.Lots of outdoor activities in the area (paintball, bungi jumping, biking). Tons of college aged kids. Didn't see and foriegners both times I was there. The students were really friendly and we were asked to join peoples tables and drink with them all night.

[thrylos]

Chuncheon is a great town to live in if you want a quieter pace in Korea. It has all the necessities (big supermarkets, movie theaters, restaurants, bars) of a city, but not a great variety of options. Outdoor activities are great-- hiking, biking, skiing, and even swimming in the lakes outside of town in the summer, and all within 20 mins or so outside of town.

Foreigner life is subdued and rather isolated to your co-workers, as most people work, spend time outdoors, or go into Seoul to 'party it up', it's only just over an hour into DongSeoul by bus. Occasionally, you see a big group of foreigners at night, but that's not too often.

Language classes (I assume Korean) are offered by the two unis in town--Hallym and Kangwon, don't know of their schedules. The local YMCA might have some, too. I think Hallym's is an intensive course (4 hours/day, 5/week), but not too sure.

PM me if you have other Q's.

[patrickk]

thrylos pretty much nailed it. i lived in chuncheon for 2 years and loved it. coming from montana, kangwon-do was the closest to home i've felt in korea.
great place to work on your language skills as i found traveling around kangwon that the people were quite hospitable and patient with my beginners korean. get a good mt.bike or a car, better yet, both and explore the area.

[pangaea]

Thanks for the replies! I was really focusing on finding a job in Seoul, but the more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of living in a smaller place with more outdoor activities and better scenery. I'm not really much of a heavy drinker or partier so that's not my main concern. I'm more interested in taking Korean classes and meeting people who want to go out for dinner sometimes and maybe take some weekend trips. I would love to go skiiing. Just out of curiosity, does Chuncheon attract somewhat older people who are more settled? I would assume that the hard partying and drinking type would be more attracted to Seoul and other big cities.

[pangaea]

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[rumdiary]

[s10czar]

"Chuncheon seems to only attract beautiful, single women in their 30's that don't drink much and enjoy hiking."

Yeah? ...I'm there!

[crossmr]

its not bad to get to seoul from chuncheon if you want to hit up the big city. You can take the train, a couple hours. Pretty cheap. I think around 5000W.

I took a trip there in early January.

It'd be perfectly doable to head out after work on a Friday, spend the weekend and go back Sunday night in comfort with lots of time for hanging out.

[Gnawbert]

I'm curious about Chuncheon as well. My girlfriend and I are considering a job there after two years of living in Bundang (outside Seoul). I love outdoor activities but I am a bit worried it might seem a bit too isolated compared to Seoul

I will say, we visited Chuncheon over Lunar New Year and the mountains around looked gorgeous but the city did look a little bleaker and spread out than Bundang. I'm sure the depths of Winter probably wasn't the best time to see Chuncheon.

Anyone else make the move from Seoul to Chuncheon? What things did you like and dislike?