Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bookie]

I'm considering a position in Chuncheon (about an hour train ride east of Seoul) vs. one in Myeongil in Seoul. Does anyone here have any knowledge of either of these places?

My main concern about Chuncheon is not having many foreigners to relate to, but I think I will be able to save more money with a lower cost of living.

Myeongil, on the other hand, seems to be a quiet area on the eastern edge of Seoul, in Gangdong-gu. Being in a quiet area perhaps I would have just about the same amount of foreigners around, plus I would have to take a 25 min train ride to central Seoul anyway. Its not like I would be going there every day, so why not just take the longer ride from Chuncheon on the weekends?

Then again, I have never been to Korea. Do you think I'm using an accurate comparison? If you think the cost of living would be about the same, perhaps that would make a difference. Obviously I don't expect anyone to have much experience in both of these places, but if you know anything about just one of them I would love to hear what you think. Thanks in advance!

[Totti]

It depends....What are the conditions of the jobs and what do you enjoy doing?

If they're fairly similar and you're looking to party, meet other foreigners regularly, see bands play etc etc then Seoul's the best choice. Plus you won't have to worry about the cost of getting to the main areas and back if you want to make partying in Seoul are regular thing.

If you want an outdoorsy experience then choose Chuncheon.

I lived rurally at first and earned more money than when I lived in a city, but probably ended up spending more because the cost of travelling and staying in a hotel for night can add up.

[PigeonFart]

The outskirts of Seoul would be a winner for me. No question about that. Too many reason to write about. I guess its a personal decision at the end of the day, so good luck either way.

[Charriere]

If it were me, i'd go with myeongil. As you said, it's on the eastern edge of seoul, and is a little less frantic/busy than some of the downtown areas. It's fairly residential, and is on the subway.
Is myeongil the stop where they added a connection to gangnam (line 2)? If so, this is a big plus as you can probably be in gangnam in less than ten minutes.
If you like the countryside you havent got far to go. Hanam, macheon and other areas in gyeongi do are easy to get to by bus.
Often when people try to save money by living outside of Seoul, they end up spending a lot more travelling two and from the place. Having said that, if you are determined, i'm sure you can make it work whereever you are!

[alejandro]

I faced a similar dilemma two weeks ago.. more specifically, a job at Hongik (one of the best areas in Seoul) vs. Hallym, in Chuncheon.

Most would be surprised to learn that -- even though the outdoor lifestyle of Chuncheon was not a factor for me (otherwise I would have never left Vancouver, BC) -- I STILL ended up going for Chuncheon. Why? The salary difference was just too great to ignore, plus Hallym offered a "tenure-track" position.

It's been two weeks now, so obviously not enough to make a good comparison, plus I was just two weeks in Seoul. What I can safely conclude is in terms of the overall built environment (i.e. architecture, urban planning, retail, shops, etc.) and excluding night life or social life (which I haven't experienced yet).

So, IMHO, the feel of this town compared to what my impression of Seoul is (outer as well as inner city) is that they are pretty similar. In other words, to put it into perspective, on my visa run I found the difference from Seoul to Tokyo (on the above-mentioned criteria) to be remarkable. Not much, if any, of Seoul vs. Chuncheon. Even though the size of the former is 100 times the size of the latter; and Tokyo is less than twice the size of Seoul.

[minos]

Chuncheon is one of the few cities outside Seoul and Busan I'd consider very livable.

[Gnawbert]

To my girlfriend and I, Chuncheon is absolutely the best for our personalities and lifestyles. After 2 years in Bundang, it's a breath of fresh air. The people are, in our experience, much friendlier and kind and since it's so close to Seoul most we've met aren't exactly country bumpkins who would find Omaha to be too large. Most of our Korean friends have lived in Seoul or work there and live here, trading commute for quality of life on the weekends or other things. And with the subway now it's pretty easy to make a weekend trek into the big city, well, easier.

Now, it's the tail end of winter so the city's not very pretty but in the spring it gets green and warm and lively. In the summer, when it's not raining, you'll see people paragliding or jetskiing down the rivers and lakes and it seems like everyone's out and enjoying nature. There's a lot of activity and a lot of friendly folks and a lot of other Asian tourists. Being from California it reminds me of a very small Lake Tahoe.

That said, it also depends where you live and work IN Chuncheon. I'm up at the outer edges of the north side of town, across some glowing bridge lit up like the U.S.S. Enterprise and there's not a whole happening here. Tons of fried chicken and a Garten Bier that just opened up and I'm pretty certain that my girlfriend and I are the only natural white skin in a kilometer radius. For foreign food there's Pizza and there's more Pizza and that's pretty much it on our end. It's not exactly the definition of wild and exciting. I can throw a sweet potato from my window and hit a farm. This side of town couldn't be further from the Seoul experience if it were Russia but it suits my taste. Plus, like Alejandero said, the pay and the quality job my girlfriend and I took has more than made up for the minor inconvenience of not being able to get a Kebab or a Tandoori Chicken Fajita at four a.m.

TL;DR: Apples and oranges.

[Hotpants]

Not sure when it happened, but I did notice for the first time last week that Chuncheon is now connected to Seoul's subway line. If they make an express line out of it, as they have done on some other lines, it could be a pretty fast commute.

[Hotpants]

And to add: I would rather go with what has the nicer job conditions rather than location. That ultimately will make or break your stay in Korea.

[shostahoosier]

[alejandro]

Sorry.. I meant Tokyo being almost twice the size of Seoul.

Tokyo = 15M, 30M metro area
Seoul = 10M, 20M metro area

But I guess at that scale, it's the same "feel", and both are equally sprawled anyway. Unlike Hong Kong, which is so much more dense and vertical = feels like the biggest city of them all, even though at only 7M.

[liz88]

What's the best location to live in in Seoul?? Somewhere where there's parks and nice scenery..

[Totti]