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mrmax
Joined: 10 May 2010
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 Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 11:57 am Post subject: questions about living in cheong ju |
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1. Are english language novels easy to get or will I need to bring a stack from home, would any of the universities in cheong ju have english language novels, if so would I be able to borrow them? Is there a book exchange?
2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to go to seoul for the weekend? Are there cheap places to stay that aren't too grotty and are near to the cool places to go out?
3. I have heard the bus goes regularly to seoul and is cheap, once arriving in seoul would i then have to so on a lenghty tube/subway ride to get anywhere decent?
4. Are korean girls approachable or are they fairly conservative/prudish? would it be rude as a westerner to approach them in cafes/bars/clubs etc
5. Do you enjoy living in cheong ju? if so, why?
6. What don't you like about living there? |
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zeppelin
Joined: 08 Jan 2005
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| Posted: Sat May 15, 2010 11:33 pm Post subject: Re: questions about living in cheong ju |
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| mrmax wrote: |
| 1. Are english language novels easy to get or will I need to bring a stack from home, would any of the universities in cheong ju have english language novels, if so would I be able to borrow them? Is there a book exchange? |
Amazon deliver books, takes about a week and its not that expensive. There are bookstores in Seoul if you prefer to browse real books. One of the English textbook shops in CheongJu has a small selection of English language novels.
Books are heavy and since they are quite easy to get delivered here, I wouldn't waste my luggage allowance with more than 4 or 5 books.
| mrmax wrote: |
| 2. Is it realistic to expect to be able to go to seoul for the weekend? Are there cheap places to stay that aren't too grotty and are near to the cool places to go out? |
It is realistic to go almost anywhere for the weekend, it's a small country. Seoul is a 1hr 30min bus ride away and buses from Seoul to CheongJu run til after 11pm
You can get a nice love motel for about 40,000-60,000 won (don't let the love motel name put you off)
| mrmax wrote: |
| 3. I have heard the bus goes regularly to seoul and is cheap, once arriving in seoul would i then have to so on a lenghty tube/subway ride to get anywhere decent? |
Seoul is a huge city and like all huge cities it can take a while to get in between places. However, the bus terminal is in Gangnam which is really close to good shopping and clubbing. Itaewon (not my cup of tea but lots of ex-pats like it) is about a 35 minute ride on the subway from the express bus terminal.
Other places might take around an hour - it's not a big deal.
| mrmax wrote: |
| 4. Are korean girls approachable or are they fairly conservative/prudish? would it be rude as a westerner to approach them in cafes/bars/clubs etc |
Some Korean girls are, some aren't. CheongJu has a great ex-pat scene centered around Chungbuk national university. There a few ex-pat hangout bars where you can meet girls.
| mrmax wrote: |
| 5. Do you enjoy living in cheong ju? if so, why? |
I like CheongJu a lot. It's small enough to get around easily and not be too crowded but big enough to find stuff to do.
Unlike a lot of other cities there is a really good ex-pat scene so it is easy to meet new people and hang out.
There are ex-pat football (soccer), Rugby, and Ice Hockey teams, local bands and live venues, and 3 or 4 cinemas.
There are lots of good Korean restaurants, a few 'foreign' restaurants (outback steak, Indian, Mcdonalds, Burger King, and a few buffet places.
Check out this video of CheongJu, it shows most of the areas and will give you a feel for the place.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAoP47qerCo
| mrmax wrote: |
| 6. What don't you like about living there? |
Sometimes I'd like to live further south where there are less people and quieter roads but I'm pretty happy in CheongJu. |
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mrmax
Joined: 10 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 6:43 am Post subject: thanks |
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Cheers for your thoughts Zeppelin.
Anyone else got anything to add? |
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mrmax
Joined: 10 May 2010
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| Posted: Sun May 16, 2010 7:29 pm Post subject: nightclubs in cheong ju |
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Ok, I realise that clubs in cheong ju will be far more limited in terms of music played compared to seoul but I have heard that to enter them you need to be won't be let in without a korean person accompanying you.
Is there any truth in this? |
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Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 6:17 am Post subject: Re: nightclubs in cheong ju |
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| mrmax wrote: |
Ok, I realise that clubs in cheong ju will be far more limited in terms of music played compared to seoul but I have heard that to enter them you need to be won't be let in without a korean person accompanying you.
Is there any truth in this? |
I made that comment about a week ago. There's a club called "Kiss", that's over by the express bus terminal, I believe. A old Korean friend told me that foreigners have to be accompanied by a Korean, because of a fight a few years back. Maybe it's true. I don't know. |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 10:41 am Post subject: |
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| Kiss is basically a booking club, not a normal club anyway. Booking clubs are iffy on foreigners in almost any part of Korea. Even if the rumor is true about Kiss, there's at least a zillion little bars that will be happy to take your money everywhere else in the city. |
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Oreovictim
Joined: 23 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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| When I lived in Cheong-ju, I remember going to a club above the Homeplus in yullian-dong (유련동?) It was a club with a slightly older crowd. But the stage had a bunch of bare-chested guys, holding some really '80s looking guitars (think of that one that Eddie Van Halen had). They weren't playing, just dancing around, acting like they could. Yeah . . . weird. |
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gizmo
Joined: 31 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Mon May 17, 2010 7:10 pm Post subject: |
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The korean style 'booking clubs' might be funny about letting in a group of all male foreigners. Not really sure.
The club the poster above mentioned above homeplus once told us 'only koreans' (to a group of girls)...but when we questioned them on why, in korean, they let us in.
The other clubs I've never had any problems getting into in mixed groups or with just girls.
And i like living in cheongju  |
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