Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pchentnik]

I am new to this whole teaching abroad thing. I am interested in getting my TEFL certificate and I was interested in teaching in Seoul and Incheon. I wasn't sure if anyone had anything good to say about either locations.

I would be coming with my husband and children to teach. Try it out for a year and see if we like it. He is an IT guy and can hopefully work at his current job while we are away.

Does anyone recommend one over the other and any suggestions as to what to look out for? I am also wondering who I should go through to get my TEFL certification, if anyone can recommend one that would be great.

Thanks,

[discostu333]

I teach in Incheon, and I think its a nice place.

A lot of Seoulites on the board will moan and say how industrial it is, and yeah, parts of it are really polluted (just like Seoul), but its got really easy access to Seoul and the cost of living is less.

if you can land a job in Seoul I would definitely go for that, but Incheon is a good 2nd or 3rd place if you want to be close to Seoul.

[NYC_Gal]

The board of ed is notoriously late with documents, though. This may be the case in Seoul as well, but I, as well as numerous friend have experienced difficulties due to the lack of foresight from the ed. office.

If you don't mind being far from Seoul, I'd say BUSAN BUSAN BUSAN. It's so much nicer in every respect. Winters are warmer, summer are cooler, and you can still find foreign products at the outdoor marts (at least in Jagalchi, where I stayed).

[Von Tristof]

Like Seoul, Incheon is really big and has many parts, and the part of the city that you end up in will make all the difference. There are industrial parts of Incheon, but there is also Bupyeong, Guwol-dong, Namdong-gu, Yeonsu, and Songdo, all of which are pretty nice, generally cheaper than Seoul, and have enough to do that you won't get bored during the week (exciting except for Songdo, but few if any schools can afford to put you there anyway). Then on the weekend getting to Seoul is just a matter of taking a short bus or subway ride, and if you want to go elsewhere the Incheon Bus Terminal and Airport are easy to reach and can take you pretty much anywhere.

[dumpring]

[NYC_Gal]

Gueldong (Art Center) has some pretty good nightlife.

In order of preference, here are the 3 good areas:
Bupyeong
Gueldong
Juan

If you are looking for a PS job, I heard yesterday that 11 teachers who wanted renewals were cut this year. It's pretty cut throat, but there are jobs.

[KoreanAmbition]

Why do you list Juan as a "good" place?

Juan doesn't appear to have almost anything new. It's all low-rise buildings that are beaten up and old-looking. The streets are a complete mess with regards to urban planning, and that's not including the thick traffic that starts early in the morning and lasts all day.

Juan is always congested, especially the subway station because of all the university students. Now, leaving Juan station isn't much of a problem, but arriving is terrible if you do it when the sun's up.

I guess if someone was looking for a young crowd to be around, that area wouldn't be too bad. Also, there are a lot of restaurants, especially around the schools, but from what I've seen, half of Korea is restaurants no matter where I go.

OP, with that said, Juan is probably decent for prices, and it's only a 27 minute subway ride to Sindorim Station in Seoul. Of course, you'd have to grab the rapid train or else you're taking about a 45-minute subway.


No one mentioned Bucheon which I hear is pretty new and the prices of housing aren't too bad. It's also closer to Seoul.

OP, if you're going to live in/near Incheon, just make sure you live on a subway stop for the RAPID subway line. Your life will be completely different (in a negative way) if you live on a subway line that is only for the regular trains.

You'll find there is NO comparison between the prices in Seoul and the prices in Incheon. For the same money, you can get much much larger housing in the Incheon areas. As other people have said, some areas are nicer than others, but they will always be much cheaper than Seoul, especially if you consider the more popular areas for real estate in Seoul.

You really shouldn't decide until you know what part of Incheon you're looking at. Do you know Incheon is almost 2.5 million in population? That's really big. You also have to find out how close the school is to the subway stations.

Depending on where you're going in Seoul, you might find that Incheon almost feels like you ARE in Seoul. You're close to places like Hongdae, Sinchon, New Times Square, and the Incheon line (Line #1) will go right across all of Seoul. Also, Sindorim Station is pretty close to Incheon, and connects you to the Green Line (Line #2) which has a lot of things on it.