Korean Job Discussion Forums

[eoneinna]

Thanks for your input guys! I think Suwon will suit me just fine then.

[eliross]

I've lived in Suwon for a year and I just moved 30 minutes south by car. I have to say Suwon is a better place to start out than Seoul because it forces you to get out and deal with Korea.

I spent my first year in Gangnam, Seoul. In Seoul you can always find English menus, ride the subway, and find a bar or club with plenty of foreigners. There's also a lot of great expat clubs in Seoul. If all you want to do is go out and party with the occasional expat excursion then Seoul is fine. The problem is I never learned to read Korean much less speak it because I didn't have to. This makes traveling around Korea and dealing with restaurants, banks, online stores, life in general a real pain in the ass.

Now that I've lived in Suwon for a year I can at least read, I can find my own apartments, jump on a bus to anywhere, eat at most restaurants, buy anything I want online and my standard of living has gone up drastically. It's opened the whole of Korea up to me and I'm glad I did it. If I had just lived in Seoul I would of had a terrible experience. Sadly I still don't speak Korean. se la vi.

That being said Suwon is a VERY difficult place to start with a steep learning curve.

[ttompatz]

[eliross]

Sure, sure, I lived around the bus terminal this winter. You can hike up to Ingyedong in 15 minutes or to the station in 30 minutes (I like walking). Sadly it's a bit of a walk to the nearest pizza school.

and what's wrong with living in Hwaseong, there's a pizza school here too!

[creeper1]

Suwon practically is Seoul! I mean what is a 30 minute train ride?

[ttompatz]

[eliross]

The express on the weekend only takes 35 or 40 minutes but where's the schedule? It only comes once an hour.


There's a foreign bar in Ingyedong called "Crazy Duck" and another by the Suwon fortress called "the Big Chill" and there's usually some foreigners at "Lao Bar" in Suwon station.

[murmanjake]

NOW bar in yongtong is a fun place to get really drunk and meet some other foreigners.

[hagwonnewbie]

I haven't seen much of Suwon, but what I have sucks. Much of it is crowded and run down, and it's really down in the sticks.

There's a reason the King tried to move the capital to Suwon a couple hundred years ago. It's way the hell out of Seoul and takes forever to get to.

Mostly I hate Suwon station. It's a super crowded turd filled with back water Korea's over worked, kimchi perspiring anti foreign crowd who spend hours everyday stuck in traffic in their Equus sedans smoking and she bal-ing their way through the melee of suburban traffic.

Of course that doesn't describe everyone you'll see there. That was just my impression.

And let's be honest, you probably won't be getting to any place of interest in Hongdae or Hyewha in less than 2 hours door to door any time other than 3 AM (50k won taxi ride)

[creeper1]

[creeper1]

[hagwonnewbie]

I'm not totally opposed to crowds, but we're talking about 2 completely different types of crowds.

In the 2 places I mentioned as examples of places teachers like to go on the weekend, there are an abundance of friendly attractive young women in tight clothing saying, "Hello, where are you from?"

In the area around Suwon station, you'll find an abundance of middle aged Korean men in shiny black polyester suits saying, "She bal wae gookin."

[Mariner]

[cobbles]

Hi guys, just found this thread.

I am thinking of signing a contract for suwon this weekend. It is for Lee's Academy in Suwon. Has anyone heard of this school? is it good? It is located in Maetan, is this a decent area??

Also what's the cost of living like? how much are utilities and the "monthly service" that i have to pay?? how much would food be if i ate local and cooked my own 4 or 5times a week??

[allan of asia]

Suwon most definitely doesnt have the only drive thru maccys in Korea...they are RARE but theres one near my school at Ssangmun station and it was there back in 2009 when I arrived! (called McDrive) I was quiter surprised to see it!