Korean Job Discussion Forums

[simpleguest]

Hi guys. I'm interested in moving to Korea for a while. What are your suggestion for district? Please list.

I'm looking for clean, urban and modern. And the best combination of new architecture and natural landscape. Then restaurants, cafes, and shopping with things to do. Serene yet hip nightlife.
Young adult communities.

so far i've heard of Daegu, Busan, Suji, Bundang, Seoul. What are they like? Where else?

[ThingsComeAround]

[ttompatz]

[lprice001]

Daejeon is a pretty nice place to live.

[sojusucks]

[redaxe]

gangnam-gu or seocho-gu

[Slowmotion]

If you're gonna work here and don't have money saved up, it's likely your employer will be picking the area you live near.

[furtakk]

gangnam or mokdong.
the latter is lacking nightlife/restaurants, but it's close enough to hongdae that it doesn't matter.

[Kimchifart]

[happiness]

[northway]

Suji? Seriously?

[wylies99]

Ilsan is a great place to live, but, OP, what's your point? Are you coming to Korea just to hang out or are you coming here to work? The purpose of your time in Korea impacts where you should choose to live.

[Son Deureo!]

Korean architecture tends to be either somewhat old-style, as in the 60s and 70s "villas" or what they consider modern "apateu" (apartment buildings). Neither is particularly visually inspiring compared to all but the blandest tract housing in North America.

Restaurants and cafes are everywhere. There's no shortage of Korean bbq restaurants, noodle houses, sashimi restaurants, and more in all but the remotest of villages and islands. They're pretty reasonably priced. Western chain restaurants like Outback, TGI Fridays, and fast food places are easy enough to find in the mid-sized cities (Daejeon, Gwangju, etc.) and up.

Coffee shops are everywhere. Starbucks has made massive inroads here, and there are several Korean knockoff chains that are pretty much everywhere. There's also a growing number of independent coffee roasteries serving up some damn good brew.

I am not now, nor have I ever been cool enough to know what "serene yet hip nightlife means". I can tell you, however, that Koreans like to drink. There are bars everywhere. Overpriced cocktail bars, hostess bars, WA Bars, hotel bars, K-style nightclubs, fried chicken and draft beer bars, convenient stores with picnic tables, soju tents, makkoli bars, and more are in pretty much every city and town in the republic. Seoul has plenty of options for nightclubs and lounges, especially in Hongdae and Itaewon (probably some in Gangnam too but I can never be arsed to go there). Korean nightlife and drinking culture are very ubiquitious and pretty fun, and pretty different from what you're probably used to back home. I don't think I'd ever describe it as "hip", and DEFINITELY not "serene".

I think I remember drinking soju on the beach one time and someone had their Ipod with some songs they'd just downloaded. That was pretty serene. It might have been hip, too. You'd have to ask the other people I was with.

Anyway, when you're picking a place to go in Korea, most of the cities are pretty much the same. Seoul is bigger, so it has more of the same plus a few special features like a Bulgarian restaurant in Itewon. Busan is kinda nice because it has beaches. As long as you're not in the sticks or on Chejudo (Chejudo actually IS different from the rest of Korea, but in a good way), it really doesn't make that much difference where you are.

That's why you should focus more on the job and working conditions than on what neighborhood you'll be in here. Whether or not you're going to have to work on Saturday mornings is going to make a much bigger difference in your quality of life than which WA Bar you end up drinking at on Saturday nights.

[NYC_Gal]

You maybe happy in modern place good like Seoul. It many new and sparkling buildings and event.