Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Weigookin74]

Anyone know about BUAN?? (Jeonbuk province?) A friend from back home has a job offer from this location. Hogwan maybe. I think he should go to a bigger city. But he swears up and down he want a rural experience. Does anyone know this place? Looked it up; seems small. Maybe a little ways from Jeonju. How many foriegners live there? Will my friend be the only one or are there other hogwan or public school employees living there? Does it have an E Mart or anything like that?

If anyone can help, I'd appreciate it. You can PM message me if you don't want to reveal your location on the board. Thanks.

[Weigookin74]

Thanks, I'll tell my friend no comment.

[Louis VI]

[taobenli]

I live in Jeonju and have been to Buan. It's not far, maybe an hour. The big plus: right outside the town there are some nice beaches. I think the beaches that are still in town are pretty dumpy. There are foreigners there, I'm not sure how many. I'm also not sure if there's an E-Mart, but my guess is that there isn't.

It wouldn't be a bad place to live at all for someone who was sure they wanted a rural experience, but still wanted to be close to cities. The city of Gunsan is really close (closer than Jeonju) and I know there's an E-mart there. That whole area is seeing some interesting development as part of a new economic area called Saemangeum (a zone that extends from Jeonju to Gunsan to Buan), and faster roads and transportation networks are being built up to accomodate this.

[Weigookin74]

Thanks guys. I'll pass the info onto my friend. Sounds kind of interesting. I saw some coast line not too far away. Maybe, I'll visit there myself to check the spot out. lol.

[minos]

Tell your friend to beware. Korean small towns are closer to Florida retirement communities than the outdoorsy small communities you have back home*.

In other words, if a small town has been next to a beach for 500 years. Don't expect beach bunnies, surfers, swimmers, boats, beach culture et all, etc.

Expect fisherman and family picnics along with a healthy dose of barb wire(most beaches near the north are lined with this for North Korean).

The countryside can be fun for brief spells, but I wouldn't spend a year living there.

*Unless you like hiking. They love hiking. Mind you, in a small town, you'll be hiking with 50 yr. olds if that's your thing.

[Mr. Peabody]

I've also been to Buan and it is very small and very rural. The beaches seemed nice enough, but, of course, packed with tourists during the summer months.

I'd say best to avoid unless your friend has been in Korea before and really knows what he's getting into.