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Have you lived in Donghae? Please share.

 
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hank25000



Joined: 21 Jun 2011

PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 8:14 am    Post subject: Have you lived in Donghae? Please share. Reply with quote

I am presently looking at a job in Donghae. I know how to handle that situation but I would love to hear first hand from a foreigner about his or her time living in this city.

What are the people like? For example, as I am a young and fit male, people in Seoul thought I was an American soldier. Thus I didn't get the kind of treatment I had hoped for. How would you describe the people of Donghae?

Are / were you happy living there? Why or why not?

Is it a clean city?

Are there any particular customs which are unique to that area of the province?

I really don't know quite what to ask! Anything you think I should know before going there? Smile
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Patrick Bateman



Joined: 21 Apr 2009
Location: Lost in Translation

PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:21 pm    Post subject: Re: Have you lived in Donghae? Please share. Reply with quote

hank25000 wrote:

What are the people like? For example, as I am a young and fit male, people in Seoul thought I was an American soldier. Thus I didn't get the kind of treatment I had hoped for. How would you describe the people of Donghae?

Are / were you happy living there? Why or why not?

Is it a clean city?

Are there any particular customs which are unique to that area of the province?

I really don't know quite what to ask! Anything you think I should know before going there? Smile


I've lived in Donghae for the past few years. I'd be happy to help you as much as I can.

I'd like to consider myself a young, fit male, and I've never been taken for a serviceman. There is a considerable navel presence as the 1st Fleet of Korea is located here, so you'll occasionally see American Navy servicemen.

It's difficult to talk about whole groups of people collectively, but I'll tell my own experience with the people of Donghae.

My experience has been resoundingly positive. I've never felt like I was being mistreated. I had a long term Korean-American girlfriend, and we would frequently walk around town holding hands or with our arms around each other. I never noticed anyone staring maliciously, and no one ever did or said anything rude about us.

People are usually quite warm and welcoming here. If people ever go out of their way to acknowledge you on the street or around town, it's always positive (for me). If anything, I'm shocked at how nice people are.

In almost three years here, I've only had one negative experience. I went with a friend to a playground to keep him company while his two children played. His children were young, maybe 3 and 5 years old. An older group of Korean kids, maybe aged around 8-10 came. They started playing too roughly with my friend's children. I stood up and got a little closer to let them know I was watching. I didn't want to directly interfere since I know sometimes boys are just boys. So I was standing about 15 feet from the junglegym and I turned around to talk to my friend and one of the Korean boys ran over and hit me in the thigh. When I turned around he shouted obscenities and anti-American garbage. I smiled looked him in the eye and told him, "Careful, I'm bigger." And he ran away. I'd say that's acceptable for spending 3 years in a foreign country.

I'm very happy here. It's a fun city, the people are nice, and I absolutely love my students.

Is it clean? Well, it's not terrible, but it's not great either. I think in general Korea can be a pretty dirty place. I don't think Donghae is any worse than a comparable place. We are right by the beach, and we have a really nice valley close by, so there are some great and clean places to go.

So yeah, that's Donghae in a nutshell. If you want more information, feel free to post here or PM.
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minos



Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA

PostPosted: Fri Aug 26, 2011 7:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I lived near it briefly.....it's gangwon-do, so don't expect much in the way of young people, women, clubs, etc....do expect the elderly...alot of them..

There is one korean style nightclub and some cocktail bars. We never found anything more than that cruising around the city.

However, there is a dock entertainment district, but it seems it only opens up when a few ship come into port.

Alot of foreign engineers and sailors(not just servicemen) from around the world stop by. Alot of russians....some of the russian girls are cute too!

If your looking for a fun town in gangwon-do, I'd live in gangneung(about 30-50 minutes) north. Much more liveable if you like nightlife and shopping.

Lots of nearby nature. I suggest getting a car or motorcycle. Roads outside the city are dangerous since they're very thin and extremely curvy due to the mountains. I crashed...a FEW times. I've had taxi rides down mountains in that region that cuased the passangers to puke due to curves.

If you like mountain twisties, your in heaven. I haven't seen a race car culture there, but I've seen some Ducati and luxury car dealerships in other tiny towns, so somebody is tearing up the mountain.
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