Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shifter2009]

[sirius black]

[Noise]

To the OP--the best I can say is, ask yourself if you are a big city person or not. If you are, choose Seoul. I love both the country and the city but I loathe suburbs and middle-sized towns. In Korea I would choose Seoul to start with; I'm from NYC and living in the major city is just more natural to me. I would love a truly traditional Korean village. But how would I know, without visiting it in advance, that a village or small town was really the bucolic place I would be happy in?

As for vegetarianism: Seoul does have a couple of traditional Buddhist vegetarian restaurants; there is one in Insadong. But for most things, you are really limiting yourself if you are strict. Most, but not all kimchi includes tiny fermented shrimp and/or fermented anchovy sauce, and sometimes there will be some fermented oysters as well. Not much of these things, just a bit. Same goes for things like seaweed soup and doenjang or miso soup. If you could reconcile yourself to eating these tiny invertebrates in small quantities, you would at least be able to eat these staples of Korean meals, which, together with rice and a few obviously vegetable-based side dishes, would afford basic normal meals. Plus, you would automatically be getting a bit of Vitamin B12 and even Vitamin D, zinc, and perhaps a few other nutrients that vegetarian diets tend to be deficient in. When I last lived in Seoul, I had a vegetarian co-worker who ate the same noodles every day: it was the only vegetarian option in the neighborhood. That is not a healthy way of life!

[pegasus64128]

[Jotun_Symph]

[yodanole]

1) I lived in Korea for 15 years. I went to Seoul twice. To visit the embassy. Neither trip lasted more than about 6 hours (excluding travel time ).

2) How many vegetable gardens do you see in metropolitan cities? Disclaimer: ( I'm not a vegetarian )

3) I wonder what the odds are that someone named Michelle cares about single women. 10%?

4) I had a great life in Korea. There were Western style clubs available all along. I just didn't go to them. I was happy enough in Korean style establishments.

5) If you teach private lessons, there is a program that will pay substantial sums to citizens that report you to immigration. This could result in draconian fines and deportation.

Good luck!

[northway]

[philipswoodjnr]

Mexican food.

[Malislamusrex]

If you live in Seoul, you may never leave and think that Seoul is the only place that does Mexican food.

[isisaredead]

[bossface]

my two cents.

tl;dr - pro-Seoul.

http://sportsthatareright.blogspot.com/2011/07/korea-n00bs-seoul-is-only-city-that.html

[pegasus64128]

[isisaredead]

if you have the right attitude, anywhere will be fine.

[KateChoi]

1) A non stop surrounding of people and cars 2) Trashy streets 3) Poop smell in the summer 4) Alot more waygookins 5) Giant concrete buildings everywhere 6) Some ok international food places but not as many as you would think in a big city like seoul 7) bus convienence The never ending city sounds

[World Traveler]