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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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 Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| young_clinton wrote: |
| There is going to be a serious difference between residing in a community of 2 or 3000 and a community of 15000. If at all possible your residency (apartment) should be in a community no less than 15000, and a community that has a bus terminal with direct buses to Seoul. In my opinion those are the key elements. |
Well I'd move the "no" from between "community' and "less" and put it between "with" and "direct".
Seriously people have to stop thinking Seoul is the be all and end all. There is very little that you can't get in other cities. Sure there are some things that are exclusive to Seoul...but it is quite possible to live here comfortably without ever setting foot in Seoul.
I wonder how many people would still be here if one of the new changes to the E-2 visa was a requirement that you must live/work in a rural place for a year before you can apply for a city posting. This rule of course would not apply to those who've worked at a rural area before...the cities need teachers too. |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 6:15 pm Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| young_clinton wrote: |
| There is going to be a serious difference between residing in a community of 2 or 3000 and a community of 15000. If at all possible your residency (apartment) should be in a community no less than 15000, and a community that has a bus terminal with direct buses to Seoul. In my opinion those are the key elements. |
Well I'd move the "no" from between "community' and "less" and put it between "with" and "direct".
Seriously people have to stop thinking Seoul is the be all and end all. There is very little that you can't get in other cities. Sure there are some things that are exclusive to Seoul...but it is quite possible to live here comfortably without ever setting foot in Seoul.
I wonder how many people would still be here if one of the new changes to the E-2 visa was a requirement that you must live/work in a rural place for a year before you can apply for a city posting. This rule of course would not apply to those who've worked at a rural area before...the cities need teachers too. |
Things one usually can't get in rural korea:
Single people in their 20s; especially women
Decent foreigner friendly banks(KEB). Hello Nongyup.
Any nightlife beyond getting drunk in a hoff.
Festivals, events, activities outside of PC bangs, go stop, hiking and getting drunk.
Nightclubs or even bars.
Attractive women who aren't married.
Career opportunities outside of ESL. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Mon Jun 13, 2011 8:43 pm Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
| young_clinton wrote: |
| There is going to be a serious difference between residing in a community of 2 or 3000 and a community of 15000. If at all possible your residency (apartment) should be in a community no less than 15000, and a community that has a bus terminal with direct buses to Seoul. In my opinion those are the key elements. |
Well I'd move the "no" from between "community' and "less" and put it between "with" and "direct".
Seriously people have to stop thinking Seoul is the be all and end all. There is very little that you can't get in other cities. Sure there are some things that are exclusive to Seoul...but it is quite possible to live here comfortably without ever setting foot in Seoul.
I wonder how many people would still be here if one of the new changes to the E-2 visa was a requirement that you must live/work in a rural place for a year before you can apply for a city posting. This rule of course would not apply to those who've worked at a rural area before...the cities need teachers too. |
Things one usually can't get in rural korea:
Single people in their 20s; especially women
Decent foreigner friendly banks(KEB). Hello Nongyup.
Any nightlife beyond getting drunk in a hoff.
Festivals, events, activities outside of PC bangs, go stop, hiking and getting drunk.
Nightclubs or even bars.
Attractive women who aren't married.
Career opportunities outside of ESL. |
Join a dating site if that is what you have to do. Or drop a hint to your friends. Maybe they'll get it and set something up. Or get a SO before you head to the rural areas.
Nongyup has converted all its machines to have an English option..that's more foreigner friendly than some banks. Never had problems with Nongyup whether it was sending money home or other bank related issues.
Yeah if you want nightlife (as I said) you'd best be off going to a city.
How many foreigners go to these events and festivals? I've gone to plenty and only ever see a few. And buses/trains are cheap and plentiful.
Nightclubs and bars fall under the category of nightlife (see above.)
See "dating site" and getting a S.O
And as for career opportunities outside of ESL...if you can speak fluent Korean that can open up more opportunities than living in a city. Or if you have a F-type visa. Doesn't matter where you live...having no skills beyond speaking English is not going to open up that many career opportunities outside of ESL.
So yeah I'll give you nightlife...which I already conceded in another post above. But pretty much everything else can be made to work easily enough. |
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Modernist
Joined: 23 Mar 2011
Location: The 90s
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 12:35 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
Decent foreigner friendly banks(KEB). Hello Nongyup.
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I have acoounts at both KEB and Nonghyup.
The staff of my local KEB cannot, in my observation, speak a single word of English. I don't think they even know their own bank name in English.
NH's English-translated ATMs are a wonderful thing.
Just because KEB has a pretty logo and an outsize reputation among expats doesn't mean the facts justify their image. |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 2:12 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
Join a dating site if that is what you have to do. Or drop a hint to your friends. Maybe they'll get it and set something up. Or get a SO before you head to the rural areas.
Nongyup has converted all its machines to have an English option..that's more foreigner friendly than some banks. Never had problems with Nongyup whether it was sending money home or other bank related issues.
Yeah if you want nightlife (as I said) you'd best be off going to a city.
How many foreigners go to these events and festivals? I've gone to plenty and only ever see a few. And buses/trains are cheap and plentiful.
Nightclubs and bars fall under the category of nightlife (see above.)
See "dating site" and getting a S.O
And as for career opportunities outside of ESL...if you can speak fluent Korean that can open up more opportunities than living in a city. Or if you have a F-type visa. Doesn't matter where you live...having no skills beyond speaking English is not going to open up that many career opportunities outside of ESL.
So yeah I'll give you nightlife...which I already conceded in another post above. But pretty much everything else can be made to work easily enough. |
It's not a matter of finding an SO, it's just the huge lack of young women in the countryside. Go to any small town and there will be international marriage centers to import women to fill the shortage. If the locals can't find them, FOB foreigners speaking zero korean are gonna have a hard time....and those hick locals aren't eager to introduce you. I've seen many roaming packs young, korean men in rural towns with zero women on a Friday night.
As for banks. Try getting a credit card at Nongyup. Go see how many services will be denied to you. KEB has decent english online banking and Credit services. For the record, bank tellers at KEB always have some decent command of english. It's a requirement for the job. At least one will speak ok english.
As for nightlife: Unless one is addicted to WOW, everyone has to unwind sometime. Do you wanna unwind in a hoff with old Korean farmers or go to a place when you can actually meet some women and people your age?
As for non-esl opportunities: I speak korean and any korean with half a brain wants to live in seoul from what they told me. Nearly all the talent, industry, and connections are within seoul or similar big cities(like Busan or Ulsan).
Unless your talking about hard labor connections. Most of the 3D foreigner workers I've seen live outside of Seoul so if your looking to work in a factory or Mine, go rural. |
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morrisonhotel
Joined: 18 Jul 2009
Location: Gyeonggi-do
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:14 am Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
| KEB has decent english online banking and Credit services. For the record, bank tellers at KEB always have some decent command of english. It's a requirement for the job. At least one will speak ok english. |
A requirement for the job? I'm skeptical of that. My local KEB, in a city of approx. 200,000, has one member of staff who can speak well. The rest of them can't speak a damn lick. Ironically, given the nature of this discussion, the English speaker is the member of staff I look to avoid whenever I go in as she's absolutely and utterly useless. |
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 7:29 am Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
| As for non-esl opportunities: I speak korean and any korean with half a brain wants to live in seoul from what they told me. Nearly all the talent, industry, and connections are within seoul or similar big cities(like Busan or Ulsan). |
So true. Let me mention another piece of info. Native Korean teachers don't like to work at rural positions in Gyeonggi-do. Half of the teachers in my old school in Anseong regretted working in rural Anseong. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 3:56 pm Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
It's not a matter of finding an SO, it's just the huge lack of young women in the countryside. Go to any small town and there will be international marriage centers to import women to fill the shortage. If the locals can't find them, FOB foreigners speaking zero korean are gonna have a hard time....and those hick locals aren't eager to introduce you. I've seen many roaming packs young, korean men in rural towns with zero women on a Friday night.
Which is why you get a S.O BEFORE you head to the countryside. Or join a dating site. Or get your friends who live in more urban areas to hook you up. Seriously this should not be a concern for anyone with half-decent social skills.
As for banks. Try getting a credit card at Nongyup. Go see how many services will be denied to you. KEB has decent english online banking and Credit services. For the record, bank tellers at KEB always have some decent command of english. It's a requirement for the job. At least one will speak ok english.
I've never had problems with Nongyup. Then again maybe that's just my personal experience so fair enough.
As for nightlife: Unless one is addicted to WOW, everyone has to unwind sometime. Do you wanna unwind in a hoff with old Korean farmers or go to a place when you can actually meet some women and people your age?
I'd rather unwind with the S.O. at home after a hard day...but again everyone is different...so fair enough here.
As for non-esl opportunities: I speak korean and any korean with half a brain wants to live in seoul from what they told me. Nearly all the talent, industry, and connections are within seoul or similar big cities(like Busan or Ulsan).
That may be...but nothing is stopping one from commuting to work from a rural area.
Unless your talking about hard labor connections. Most of the 3D foreigner workers I've seen live outside of Seoul so if your looking to work in a factory or Mine, go rural. |
I've gone rural almost every job I've been in Korea. And no I've never worked in a mine or factory here. Nor have I had much problems with the above issues. Once again I will say this. If nightlife is your thing...then one is probably best served staying out of rural areas. If you like to dine out at international restaurants go to a urban area. But for me personally the benefits outweight the disadvantages. In the end one has to decide what is right for him or her. |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 4:57 pm Post subject: |
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LoL, bringing an S.O.
A place so devoid of single women, that people encourage you to bring in women before arriving. I'v heard similar advice from Saudia Arabia expats.
I think you proved my point about dating opportunities being abysmal
Maybe I'm crazy, but I hated having to commute to Seoul to date and get laid when I was in the countryside briefly. Something about driving 1-2 hours for a date and paying 70+k for a love motel everytime I wanted to get laid just irked me. |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Tue Jun 14, 2011 5:37 pm Post subject: |
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| minos wrote: |
LoL, bringing an S.O.
A place so devoid of single women, that people encourage you to bring in women before arriving. I'v heard similar advice from Saudia Arabia expats.
I think you proved my point about dating opportunities being abysmal
Maybe I'm crazy, but I hated having to commute to Seoul to date and get laid when I was in the countryside briefly. Something about driving 1-2 hours for a date and paying 70+k for a love motel everytime I wanted to get laid just irked me. |
Well if you do bring one then you don't need to worry about dating opportunities. And like I said above anyone with half-decent social skills doesn't need to worry about that anyway. I remember living in a small town of about 10,000 people and having a Korean girlfriend from the same town. And this was back in 2001.
Yes living in a rural area does present less opportunities simply because the population base can't support them. But they are not DEVOID of said opportunities. That's all I'm attempting to point out. You're starting to sound like living and working in a rural area in Korea is akin to being sent to Mars to establish a colony singlehandedly.
It's not. I've worked in those areas for nearly 10 years now...you "briefly" according to you. Who do you think can speak with more authority on the subject, you or me? |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:32 am Post subject: |
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| TheUrbanMyth wrote: |
Well if you do bring one then you don't need to worry about dating opportunities. And like I said above anyone with half-decent social skills doesn't need to worry about that anyway. I remember living in a small town of about 10,000 people and having a Korean girlfriend from the same town. And this was back in 2001.
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Tell that to all the farmers who had to import wives. Maybe if they had better social skills, they could overcome a 7-8:10 gender ratio too. I don't remember many young women in the countryside when I toured the country multiple times by motorcycle.....maybe they were hiding or in Seoul.
| Quote: |
| Yes living in a rural area does present less opportunities simply because the population base can't support them. But they are not DEVOID of said opportunities. That's all I'm attempting to point out. You're starting to sound like living and working in a rural area in Korea is akin to being sent to Mars to establish a colony singlehandedly. |
Mars might actually have activities outside of hiking and getting drunk.
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It's not. I've worked in those areas for nearly 10 years now...you "briefly" according to you. Who do you think can speak with more authority on the subject, you or me?
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Koreans can. Go ask a Seoul korean what they think of living in the countryside and the amazing opportunities there. [/quote] |
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shostahoosier
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
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| Posted: Wed Jun 15, 2011 3:53 pm Post subject: |
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Living in a rural location is like living in an urban location in the sense that ESID.
All of the stories here are anecdotal and wont really do anyone that much good unless they're look at a specific area or town. And even then it still comes down to ones own personal skills.
I really dont understand why people need to continue to rebuttal with second hand "evidence" that they've "heard" from "friends" about rural horror stories when people who have first hand experience say otherwise.
If good and bad things happen in rural placements...wouldnt that mean that living in the country isnt always bad? Is living in an urban location a guarantee of happiness?
I love my rural location. I dont have the options of foreign restaurants but I dont eat at them nightly anyway....they're great to enjoy on weekends when I feel like going to the city.
Like I said earlier, quite a few parents in my area have moved back from Seoul because they were either tired of living like ants or they wanted fresh air and a cleaner space for their kids.
Regarding all those "non-teaching" opportunities...how many people here on an E-2 are qualified for them anyway? I feel like if they were capable of landing those jobs they wouldnt have to live in Seoul to get them (obviously they'd have to move there to work though).
And as for dating - I have (and have had) more than a few EXCELLENT options in my small town and no competition. 
I dont blame anyone for wanting to live in an urban setting. There are definite benefits. But please stop bashing rural settings - they're not all bad and people arent crazy for liking them. I'm from a major urban city back home (not suburbs....the actual CITY) and love the Korean country side. I also dont care much for Seoul at all and can do without living there...now Tokyo on the other hand...  |
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TheUrbanMyth
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Location: Retired
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| Posted: Thu Jun 16, 2011 1:41 am Post subject: |
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| shostahoosier wrote: |
I really dont understand why people need to continue to rebuttal with second hand "evidence" that they've "heard" from "friends" about rural horror stories when people who have first hand experience say otherwise.
D |
+1 |
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