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best cities to teach in gyeonggi
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mararowan



Joined: 29 Oct 2010

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:14 pm    Post subject: best cities to teach in gyeonggi Reply with quote

What are some good locations to look for a teaching job in gyeonggi which would have a good expat community and not to far from seoul. thanks!
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Stalin84



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 6:30 pm    Post subject: Re: best cities to teach in gyeonggi Reply with quote

mararowan wrote:
What are some good locations to look for a teaching job in gyeonggi which would have a good expat community and not to far from seoul. thanks!


Depends what your definition of "good" is.

In my opinion, the best places to live in Gyeonggi (in no particular order):

Bundang (rich and varied)
Ilsan (big, clean, self-contained, nice park and Western-style streets)
Songdo (a future "City 2.0" that isn't finished yet but still neat)
Anyang/Beomgye (a cool hang out spot)
Dongtan (new "City 2.0" near Yeongtong... it has rubber sidewalks)
Yeongtong (the nice/clean part of Suwon)
Sanbon (small city/area with a lot to do)

Here are the places to avoid:

Suwon (near the station--it's a bit raunchy)
Southern Uiwang (dirty and poor but close to Anyang)
Yongin (boring and rural but close to Bundang)
Pyeongtaek (boring and far away)
Uijeongbu (rural)
Incheon (I went there and liked it but people who live there seem to hate it)

People are going to disagree with me on the bottom list. I've also omitted a lot of places in Gyeonggi that I've never spent any time in and can't really make an informed opinion about. I think my top list is pretty hard to disagree with, though.
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Fishead soup



Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:08 pm    Post subject: Re: best cities to teach in gyeonggi Reply with quote

Stalin84 wrote:
mararowan wrote:
What are some good locations to look for a teaching job in gyeonggi which would have a good expat community and not to far from seoul. thanks!


Depends what your definition of "good" is.

In my opinion, the best places to live in Gyeonggi (in no particular order):

Bundang (rich and varied)
Ilsan (big, clean, self-contained, nice park and Western-style streets)
Songdo (a future "City 2.0" that isn't finished yet but still neat)
Anyang/Beomgye (a cool hang out spot)
Dongtan (new "City 2.0" near Yeongtong... it has rubber sidewalks)
Yeongtong (the nice/clean part of Suwon)
Sanbon (small city/area with a lot to do)

Here are the places to avoid:

Suwon (near the station--it's a bit raunchy)
Southern Uiwang (dirty and poor but close to Anyang)
Yongin (boring and rural but close to Bundang)
Pyeongtaek (boring and far away)
Uijeongbu (rural)
Incheon (I went there and liked it but people who live there seem to hate it)

People are going to disagree with me on the bottom list. I've also omitted a lot of places in Gyeonggi that I've never spent any time in and can't really make an informed opinion about. I think my top list is pretty hard to disagree with, though.


I really disagree with putting Suwon in the places to avoid. Suwon is a really interesting historical place with lots of ancient castles and gates.
It is also really famous for good beef rib Kalbi and tons of great restaurants. I spent a year in Suwon I worked at an awesome public school and made tons of Foreign and Korean friends. Now that I am in the
sticks I really miss Suwon.
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Stalin84



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 8:48 pm    Post subject: Re: best cities to teach in gyeonggi Reply with quote

Fishead soup wrote:
I really disagree with putting Suwon in the places to avoid. Suwon is a really interesting historical place with lots of ancient castles and gates.
It is also really famous for good beef rib Kalbi and tons of great restaurants. I spent a year in Suwon I worked at an awesome public school and made tons of Foreign and Korean friends. Now that I am in the
sticks I really miss Suwon.


Suwon isn't that bad. Notice how Yeongtong and Dongtan made it onto my good list? They're both technically in Suwon. I was more-or-less cautioning against the area immediately around the station (Paldal-gu). It's crowded because it's a hub and there isn't all that much to do there that you couldn't do elsewhere. It's also not the cleanest, most livable spot, though there is some good food there.

Hwaseong also gets boring after the third or fourth visit.
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sonicmatt



Joined: 04 Oct 2007

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 10:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

incheon isnt in gyeonggi province.
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Stalin84



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

sonicmatt wrote:
incheon isnt in gyeonggi province.


Yes it is. It's in Gyeonggi, just not part of Gyeonggi.

Technicalities! Razz
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ticktocktocktick



Joined: 31 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If this is for a GEPIK application, then Songdo/Incheon are not available choices OP. The cities closest to Seoul with good subway links are: Seongnam (Bundang), Anyang, Gwacheon, Gwangmyeong, Gunpo (Sanbon), Goyang (Ilsan), Hanam, Bucheon. Ansan is a little further out, but I quite liked it. Suwon is further out, and parts of it are a bit grim, but it does have a proper train station so getting into Seoul and elsewhere isn't too much of a hassle. Also, GEPIK won't let you apply for an area of a city, just a city as a whole.

If you want to go a bit native, then it doesn't really matter where you are.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 11:49 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gwacheon is really close to the more happening areas of Seoul.

Anyang is a bit farther than Gwacheon, but has a lot more of its own stuff going on so you're not forced to go to Seoul any time you want to do something.

Bundang is very wealthy, has a lot going on, and isn't too far from Seoul. It's close to Kangnam, but not so close to Hongdae/Itaewon/Myeongdong if that's your thing. The subway access isn't the greatest.

Suwon isn't terrible, but I find it a bit grimy compared to the above.

Sanbon is mentioned above, but that's not actually a city, it's just a district of Gunpo, and is essentially part of Anyang. Gunpo, Uiwang, and Anyang were supposed to be combined into one big Anyang earlier this year. Ultimately they did not, but that's essentially how things work; Sanbon is 10,000 or less from any place in Anyang and most of Uiwang. Uiwang isn't awful in the respect that you have both Suwon and Anyang available to you, and you're not too far from Seoul.

Yongin is pretty freaking far, even if you're near a subway station, and there's very little to do there.
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Stalin84



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

northway wrote:
Uiwang isn't awful in the respect that you have both Suwon and Anyang available to you, and you're not too far from Seoul.


Uiwang is actually a lot bigger than people think it is. Baegun Lake, all the roads leading to and from it are part of Uiwang. There are also a lot of rural areas to the South/West. The thing is, you wouldn't want to live in rural Uiwang because... well, you can't. The area around Uiwang station is the pits, the area in southern Uiwang connected to Anyang is also pretty crappy (especially Ojeon-dong where I used to live). The best part is the part under the overpass near Pyeongchon, near the art university.

It's bad when the nicest part of a city is the part that is under a giant freeway, haha.
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northway



Joined: 05 Jul 2010

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Stalin84 wrote:
northway wrote:
Uiwang isn't awful in the respect that you have both Suwon and Anyang available to you, and you're not too far from Seoul.


Uiwang is actually a lot bigger than people think it is. Baegun Lake, all the roads leading to and from it are part of Uiwang. There are also a lot of rural areas to the South/West. The thing is, you wouldn't want to live in rural Uiwang because... well, you can't. The area around Uiwang station is the pits, the area in southern Uiwang connected to Anyang is also pretty crappy (especially Ojeon-dong where I used to live). The best part is the part under the overpass near Pyeongchon, near the art university.

It's bad when the nicest part of a city is the part that is under a giant freeway, haha.


I used to live there and I would say that area is pretty awful unless you're looking for a love motel.
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Stalin84



Joined: 30 Dec 2009
Location: Haebangchon, Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

northway wrote:
Stalin84 wrote:
northway wrote:
Uiwang isn't awful in the respect that you have both Suwon and Anyang available to you, and you're not too far from Seoul.


Uiwang is actually a lot bigger than people think it is. Baegun Lake, all the roads leading to and from it are part of Uiwang. There are also a lot of rural areas to the South/West. The thing is, you wouldn't want to live in rural Uiwang because... well, you can't. The area around Uiwang station is the pits, the area in southern Uiwang connected to Anyang is also pretty crappy (especially Ojeon-dong where I used to live). The best part is the part under the overpass near Pyeongchon, near the art university.

It's bad when the nicest part of a city is the part that is under a giant freeway, haha.


I used to live there and I would say that area is pretty awful unless you're looking for a love motel.


I wouldn't say that. It's clean, it never rains or snows and there are some good eats and clean low-rent buildings. The love motels are the highlight, though. I've been to a few and they were better in that area than anywhere else, IMHO.
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geldedgoat



Joined: 05 Mar 2009

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 12:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I live in Gwangmyeong five minutes from a major street market and subway stop, so it's pretty convenient. There's a beautiful mountain five minutes in the other direction, but other than that everything's a bit grungy (but cheap). Cheolsan is a much nicer (and more expensive) area near Gwangmyeong with its own subway stop (on the same line).
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sojusucks



Joined: 31 May 2008

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 2:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ilsan is where you want to be, if you have a choice.
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autoseal89



Joined: 26 Oct 2010
Location: UK

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:13 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

hearing lots of good things about Ilsan
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Globutron



Joined: 13 Feb 2010
Location: England/Anyang

PostPosted: Thu Nov 04, 2010 10:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'll be backing up Anyang too. Love it here.
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