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The joys of Island living
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southernman



Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Location: On the mainland again

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:07 pm    Post subject: The joys of Island living Reply with quote

This morning was awesome, riding through cherry blossoms, they were on both sides of the road. No traffic, pleasant climate for 8.30 am about 13 degrees probably.

Views of both the sea and the hills before I left my apartment.

Living within 7-8ks of a well structured, western friendly, small city

The quality of life is great, soon I'll be going to some GOOD beaches after work.

For those of you that say Seoul is the only place to live in Korea, hehe, you really are joking right....
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sigmundsmith



Joined: 22 Nov 2007

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

so whats the island? Bali, Koh Samui, Phuket? Or is it here in Korea, Dokdo?Very Happy

Yes, I can see those lifestyles being better than Seoul. But then again, we all have different tastes in our personal lifestyle.

But enjoy what you have. That is the important thing.
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Dr. Whom



Joined: 06 Mar 2010
Location: South Korea

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ya goin' out for dinner after work? Waddya gonna have? Kimchi and
rice? haha, wash it down some with some soju and a pack of smokes? haha
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Xuanzang



Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 4:42 pm    Post subject: Re: The joys of Island living Reply with quote

southernman wrote:
This morning was awesome, riding through cherry blossoms, they were on both sides of the road. No traffic, pleasant climate for 8.30 am about 13 degrees probably.

Views of both the sea and the hills before I left my apartment.

Living within 7-8ks of a well structured, western friendly, small city

The quality of life is great, soon I'll be going to some GOOD beaches after work.

For those of you that say Seoul is the only place to live in Korea, hehe, you really are joking right....


If Geoje or Jeju ever got a Costco then I might be sold...
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southernman



Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Location: On the mainland again

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Dr. Whom wrote:
Ya goin' out for dinner after work? Waddya gonna have? Kimchi and
rice? haha, wash it down some with some soju and a pack of smokes? haha


No I usually cook food at home at nights Very Happy. I enjoy cooking and have worked in Restaurants in several coutries. But the Restaurants here are plentiful and good. Theres a large contingent of extremely well paid Western Engineers here, so most Western tastes are catered for in excellent Restaurants, the Korean Restaurants are awesome.

I live on Geoje so its a rich place, over 25% of the population work for the two major shipyards, which are the second and third largest in the world. Luckily I'n not effected by either of them.

I agree it's all about personal preferences..... and I do miss good live bands, here we only have live music once or twice a month (if we're lucky).

Sorry theres no Costco, but Homeplus has a surprisingly large stock of western food again no doubt because of the Western engineers here

I admit my post may have been a tad tongue in cheek but I'm into quality of life and yes financial rewards. It's amazing the arrogance of some of the posters on this forum who say that Seoul is the only place to live in Korea.
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Chet Wautlands



Joined: 11 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm interested in Geoje-Do. I've only ever heard good things. Far from Busan? Winter weather OK? Are the beaches actually decent?
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AsiaESLbound



Joined: 07 Jan 2010
Location: Truck Stop Missouri

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 6:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

OP's location is Geoje Island which is where there are many foreigners in the ship building and engineering manufacturing industries. It probably is the best far from Seoul place to live due to their being many foreigners from many different countries working there. I like fitting right into diverse places, but I tend to stick out a lot in my homogenous 150,000 people town.
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the ireland



Joined: 11 May 2008
Location: korea

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

southernman wrote:
Luckily I'n not effected by either of them.


not even at 5 or 6 oclock when you are sitting at the traffic lights next to homeplus and about 2000 samsung workers join you in a motorcyle/scooter parade??? That is an awesome sight!!


Geoje is excellent, we have some great western / korean / s.e asian restaurants down here....it's becoming so popular that McDonalds will be opening at homeplus shortly, just to the other side of the main entrance, opposite of starbucks
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Kurtz



Joined: 05 Jan 2007
Location: ples bilong me

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 7:39 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Chet Wautlands wrote:
I'm interested in Geoje-Do. I've only ever heard good things. Far from Busan? Winter weather OK? Are the beaches actually decent?


There's a bridge that's going to be finished in the not too distant future joining the island (even though it's already joined by a bridge to the mainland) to Busan. I can just imagine the busloads/carloads of people from Busan heading over to Geoje in droves on a weekend after the bridge is completed.

Good beaches....well, that's all relative but I wouldn't rate them very highly, but then again, I have high standards. Yes, there is sand, water, but any waves? not likely.

I guess week to week living would be OK, especially in Okpo which is very international, but one wanting some city action would probably leave it behind on a weekend.
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southernman



Joined: 15 Jan 2010
Location: On the mainland again

PostPosted: Mon Apr 05, 2010 8:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

the ireland wrote:
southernman wrote:
Luckily I'n not effected by either of them.


not even at 5 or 6 oclock when you are sitting at the traffic lights next to homeplus and about 2000 samsung workers join you in a motorcyle/scooter parade??? That is an awesome sight!!

Geoje is excellent, we have some great western / korean / s.e asian restaurants down here....it's becoming so popular that McDonalds will be opening at homeplus shortly, just to the other side of the main entrance, opposite of starbucks



Yes it is and sometimes I join in. But i actually live about 7 kms from there so I usually avoid it, plus its only a 7-9000 won taxi trip for later in the evenings, so my semi-rural location is not bad at all. Now that I'm stocked up on all the neccessities

Yeah just a subway to go and my western food cravings will be sated Very Happy

I agree that theres no real surf here but some of the beaches are ok and I now know about the non-tourist ones that the locals go to, which are susposed to be better.

The weather here was relatively mild this winter (and I ride my scooter to work, one of my schools was a 14 km ride) nothing under -8 at 8.15am still I was rugged up big time.

Theres about 3-4 fast ferries to Busan a day and the bus ride can take as little as 4 hours to Seoul if the traffic gods are with you.

The extra money you make for multiple teaching placings and living in a rural location is a nice bonus as well.

Can't really agree about Okpo though, I've been avoiding it, loads of Hostess bars from all accounts catering to the well healed western engineers. From what I've heard it does have some excellent western restaurants and a couple of 'normal bars' that are good. The ex-pat club is susposed to be the goods for western meals at cheap prices. I know a few western teachers living in Okpo that seem to cruise over to Gohyeon or Jangpyeong most weekends.

Actually the western engineers are fine for the most part, when they find out you're a teacher its kinda a surprise for them and to get shouted a drink or two is not uncommon
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