Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shawner88]

If you do what do you like and dislike about it?

[howie2424]

Likes

1) Friendly folks who tend to treat you well because a foreigner is a rare sight for them.

2) No crowds.

3) No traffic.

Dislikes

1) Limited selection of eating options i.e. not much western food.

2) Takes an hour by bus to get to any place bigger.

3) Gotta be careful about your behaviour because people in small towns 'talk' alot.

4) Limited selection of reading materials.

[peppermint]

LIKES
-Everything for day to day life is conveniently located.
-clean air
-bigger apartment
- short walk, as opposed to long commute
-friendlier students and people in general

DISLIKES
- gossipy foreign community
- higher percentage of conservative busybodies (still rare, but one is too many)
-chaotic bus system. (convenient, but vey confusing)

[sadsac]

Likes
Very clean air
Walk everywhere
Drinkable water
Great local community
Kids are more like kids, play outside and stuff like that
Huge apartment

Dislikes
Limited dining
Everybody knows your business
1 hour to Daegu, 3 hours to Busan

Love the place though.

[J.B. Clamence]

I like..

- the quiet (especially at night)
- being able to focus on important things

I dislike..

- the quiet (especially at night)
- the limited, crappy food options
- extremely limited social opportunities
- having to travel to do anything, like bookshopping or seeing a movie
- hearing "ooo, wayguk-saram" every 10 seconds when out in public

I thought it would be a nice break from living in the noisy, big, distracting city. I was wrong. I want out. When my contract's done, I'm on to bigger places.

[harryh]

I like:

Quietness when I need it.

I don't like the 'nightlife' (what nightlife?)
Isolation
Boredom

[VanIslander]

I LIKE everything mentioned so far, as well as benefits of a coastal town:

- walking to a beach at dawn and having it all to myself
- being able to watch the stars from my apartment patio
- following the fresh seafood from the dock to the restaurant
- paying lower prices than the big city
- living no less and no more than an hour from Busan

plus, contrary to J. B. Clamence's ambivalence, I totally like the stillness of the evening, though, unlike harryh, I live in a happening neighbourhood until 2 a.m. or so.

I'm indifferent to the lack of Western restaurants because I do my own home cooking and choose mostly Korean, and some Chinese and Japanese, when eating out.

Also, I LIKE:

- living in a community where many people know me and nod or smile when I go by, I feel acknowledged as a human being and don't face the rudeness of big city life
- the slower pace

I DISLIKE:

- the fishbowl effect sadsac and howie mentioned, though it's minor
- the absence of public ice rinks and indoor swimming pools for the winter
- having to go out of town to interact with pleasant native English speakers

[Eazy_E]

Nothing really new here, but I live in a small town too. Here it is:

Likes:
-Quiet, clean
-Opportunity for sort-of nature walks. We have trees and hills
-Friendly people, more opportunity for Korean practice
-Favourite haunts around town, I feel like part of the community
-Big, comfortable apartment
-5 min. walk to work

Dislikes:
-limited variety of restaurants
-Long, inconvenient commute to Seoul (1 hour+: bus and subway)
-rather dull, especially on weekdays.

I should point out that there are some other waygook English teachers 5 mins away by bus or taxi. Without some contact with other English speakers I would probably have gone nuts in my first few months. Sure I would learn more Korean, but at a pretty heavy price.

[the_beaver]

I used to.

It sucked.