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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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NohopeSeriously
Joined: 17 Jan 2011
Location: The Christian Right-Wing Educational Republic of Korea
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 Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:34 am Post subject: |
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My life experience in the rural part of Anseong was like:
1. Almost got beaten by a drunk middle age ajeosshi
2. My backpack was stolen by high school muggers
3. Everything's expensive
4. Almost got hit by cars (multiple times)
5. A stray dog attacked me after work
Yeah, that's what you would likely expect from rural Gyeonggi-do. :S |
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yellowdove
Joined: 19 Aug 2009
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 3:42 am Post subject: |
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| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
My life experience in the rural part of Anseong was like:
1. Almost got beaten by a drunk middle age ajeosshi
2. My backpack was stolen by high school muggers
3. Everything's expensive
4. Almost got hit by cars (multiple times)
5. A stray dog attacked me after work
Yeah, that's what you would likely expect from rural Gyeonggi-do. :S |
That can happen ANYWHERE in Korea. |
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sojusucks
Joined: 31 May 2008
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 4:30 am Post subject: Re: What To Expect Living In Rural South Korea |
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| kcmo wrote: |
I accepted a job last week for a school in the small town of Jinyeong (close to Gimhae and Changwon). I did my research and the school looks good. I am a newbie (just graduated college in August) and this will be my first time outside the western hemisphere. I have done hours upon hours of research in order to prepare myself. What should I expect living in a rural area? What I've gathered so far: I'll probably be one of only a handful of foreigners in the entire town, no nightlife and I will experience Korean culture more.........I've lived in extremely rural areas in the United States before and enjoyed it so I think that will have prepared me to an extent.
I have a few Korean friends who I was planning on visiting on weekends sometimes but besides that I guess I was just planning on doing a lot of sightseeing around the country on my days off. |
BTW, what did the recruiter tell you? That everything will be perfect and fine and wonderful? Don't believe them. You will have things you can't get. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 8:26 am Post subject: |
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| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
2. My backpack was stolen by high school muggers
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You were mugged by high schoolers? |
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minos
Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Location: kOREA
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:26 am Post subject: |
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| yellowdove wrote: |
| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
My life experience in the rural part of Anseong was like:
1. Almost got beaten by a drunk middle age ajeosshi
2. My backpack was stolen by high school muggers
3. Everything's expensive
4. Almost got hit by cars (multiple times)
5. A stray dog attacked me after work
Yeah, that's what you would likely expect from rural Gyeonggi-do. :S |
That can happen ANYWHERE in Korea. |
UNlike the states, the destitute dont move to bad parts of the cities, They move back to their hick town. Except for itaewon, Seoul doesn't have ultra-low cost neighburhoods so the poor get priced out to suburbs or other regions.
I was robbed more times than i can count in those countryside towns. I was surpised to see shady groups of kids who act like Chavs. Never saw it in Seoul.
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| You were mugged by high schoolers? |
There are muggers in Korea. They usualy target drunks though and don't bother with foreigners.
Kids in technical high schools here are super ghetto. I'm surpised they don't mug more. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 7:08 pm Post subject: |
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Are we talking having property ripped off when you aren't around, as in theft or burglary, or we talking being mugged, which involves them threatening you with violence or simply beating you and grabbing your wallet?
Seriously, you were jumped by high schoolers and beaten up for your wallet? In a small town where there's a low number of students?
And by small town I mean an -eup or -myeon or -li. Sorry, Changwon, Masan, Jinju, etc. are not small towns.
Rural means that you can count the number of traffic lights on one-two hands. Or the number of Family Marts. Or Western fast-food/coffee chains. Rural means within the town there are rice paddies and a significant number of people get their food from the outdoor mart, not the E-mart. In fact, if the town has an E-Mart, it ain't rural. |
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supermouse
Joined: 19 Apr 2011
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:05 pm Post subject: |
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Masan may be a little more than rural, but it definitely does not have the feel of a city. Its such a sprawl, to me it actually felt like a suburb. Where i was living in Masan I had a huge mountain behind my apartment and other ones around me i could climb.
At best you could argue Masan is a small city, but a lot of the same rules apply. There were little Western places, it was a big deal here when they got their first Mcdonalds a couple of years back. There is just not much to do compared to the real cities.
Anyone who has grown up or lived in a suburb in other parts of the world would know they can be boring too. Someone I know there also told me he was bored there, but he was tied down with a Korean woman and said its a good place to raise kids and thats why he was there. |
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kcmo
Joined: 24 Nov 2011
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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| Well thank you everyone for your responses. They have provided a lot of information/insight to how it will be. I am looking forward to the experience! |
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jvalmer
Joined: 06 Jun 2003
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
2. My backpack was stolen by high school muggers
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You were mugged by high schoolers? |
Ha ha... sweet justice considering the source.
Anyways, I do know roving punk kids target drunk adjoshis. More common than you think. Usually the adjoshi thinks he can take on six late teen kids, but the combination of drunkness and six kicking teens ends up in his wallet being taken in some back alley.
But if you're obviously foreign I doubt they would bother you. |
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eat_yeot
Joined: 11 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 11:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Steelrails wrote: |
| Rural means that you can count the number of traffic lights on one-two hands. Or the number of Family Marts. Or Western fast-food/coffee chains. Rural means within the town there are rice paddies and a significant number of people get their food from the outdoor mart, not the E-mart. In fact, if the town has an E-Mart, it ain't rural. |
If a town has a Family Mart, it's not all that rural. My village has a single shop - a convenience store which closes at around 9 pm, or whenever the old lady feels like going to bed. The nearest town has some marts, but no chain stores and no stop lights. The nearest big town is an eup, with a few chain convenience stores and a single stop light. The nearest city has a supermarket. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 11:26 pm Post subject: |
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| eat_yeot wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
| Rural means that you can count the number of traffic lights on one-two hands. Or the number of Family Marts. Or Western fast-food/coffee chains. Rural means within the town there are rice paddies and a significant number of people get their food from the outdoor mart, not the E-mart. In fact, if the town has an E-Mart, it ain't rural. |
If a town has a Family Mart, it's not all that rural. My village has a single shop - a convenience store which closes at around 9 pm, or whenever the old lady feels like going to bed. The nearest town has some marts, but no chain stores and no stop lights. The nearest big town is an eup, with a few chain convenience stores and a single stop light. The nearest city has a supermarket. |
Ooo, you're in -li or -myeon territory. THAT is rural. I'm in an -eup so yeah, its not that rural.
I'm just bewildered at the people who say call -si sized or large -eup cities "rural" simply because they aren't Seoul/Busan/Daejeon/Daegu.
Rural means the economy is centered around agriculture or some other natural product like mining/fishing. |
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Mr. BlackCat
Joined: 30 Nov 2005
Location: Insert witty remark HERE
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2011 11:51 pm Post subject: |
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I'm a city boy and barely survived rural/small town even in my home country, so more power to you OP. Visits are nice, though.
I just wanted to add that I have a problem with this idea that you get more 'real Korean culture' out in the sticks. Seoul is in Korea and last time I checked houses about half the population of the country, so I don't really know how you can get more Korean than that. Being able to grab a burger every now and again doesn't negate the Korean food us Seoulites eat 90% of the time, plus all the other Koreaness that's heaped upon us like everyone else. Try using the green line every day at rush hour, or zipping through Jamsil in a taxi or having a nice bike ride along the Han and tell me about real Korea. To me, this is the same line of reasoning people like Sarah Palin uses; "Real America", etc. It just creates this us vs them mentality. Besides, I think by saying that Seoul (and specifically Gangnam) is not 'Korean' people imply that only poor, old and unsophisticated things are authentically Korean which is a whole other world of ethnocentricism. Let's just agree that Korea, like all countries, is much more than one location and experience. The OP will just get to see one side of it. |
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FDNY
Joined: 27 Sep 2010
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| Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:08 pm Post subject: |
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| Mr. BlackCat wrote: |
I'm a city boy and barely survived rural/small town even in my home country, so more power to you OP. Visits are nice, though.
I just wanted to add that I have a problem with this idea that you get more 'real Korean culture' out in the sticks. Seoul is in Korea and last time I checked houses about half the population of the country, so I don't really know how you can get more Korean than that. Being able to grab a burger every now and again doesn't negate the Korean food us Seoulites eat 90% of the time, plus all the other Koreaness that's heaped upon us like everyone else. Try using the green line every day at rush hour, or zipping through Jamsil in a taxi or having a nice bike ride along the Han and tell me about real Korea. To me, this is the same line of reasoning people like Sarah Palin uses; "Real America", etc. It just creates this us vs them mentality. Besides, I think by saying that Seoul (and specifically Gangnam) is not 'Korean' people imply that only poor, old and unsophisticated things are authentically Korean which is a whole other world of ethnocentricism. Let's just agree that Korea, like all countries, is much more than one location and experience. The OP will just get to see one side of it. |
The above comments are fantastically obvious and 100% true. It is like somebody stating Manhattan or San Francisco isn't really the States. 
In defence of people who think deprivation, boredom, lack of a social life and hicks are the REAL Korea, I think they need to lash out, vent and try and convince themselves that their position is something EVERYONE must endure. When in fact it is their lack of planning, foresight and possibly just rotten luck being stranded in the sticks. We should pity them and try and show a little empathy. |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:16 pm Post subject: |
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| NohopeSeriously wrote: |
My life experience in the rural part of Anseong was like:
1. Almost got beaten by a drunk middle age ajeosshi
2. My backpack was stolen by high school muggers
3. Everything's expensive
4. Almost got hit by cars (multiple times)
5. A stray dog attacked me after work
Yeah, that's what you would likely expect from rural Gyeonggi-do. :S |
I'm a little skeptical here. Never heard of foriegners getting attacked. Especially not in a rural area. Was your backpack stolen when you weren't around or did you actually get physically assulted? I've known people around the countryside and never ran into or heard of those problems. A few fake "gangsta" high school kids that might go "what's up baby?" to me. That's about it. (To which I reply "Yo baby, hang tough!") |
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Weigookin74
Joined: 26 Oct 2009
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| Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2011 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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| shostahoosier wrote: |
| FDNY wrote: |
Living outside of the Seoul area is my worst nightmare:
-no clubs (I like the club in the British embassy)
-no decent draft beer
-no decent restaurants
-no Hongdae
-no Itaewon!!
-no hobby shops
-no REAL book shops
-no 10 Magazine, no Groove Magazine
You may meet people on your (more frequently as time progresses) trips to Seoul and get thoroughly pissed off when you compare their lifestyle to yours. They have the facilities in Seoul to choose any lifestyle they want. You certainly don't. Then you will be forced to trudge back to your utterly boring little ville before your hillbilly boss cancels the visa he holds in the palm of his hand and casts you out.
Have a good time. |
Dont let Cohiba...I mean FDNY scare you off. 
I'll chime (like I usually do) and back up Urbanmyth and Steelrails with support for a rural position. I live in a town smaller than 10,0000 people. It's literally a village and the largest employer (outside of the Korean Army and the agriculture industry) is the local middle/high school. In fact its the biggest building in town too.
I work at a small public school and the gig is amazing. This is my last year only because I dont want to become a "lifer" but I'm really glad I got the placement I did.
My vice principal hates me, but it doesnt matter because all of the parents love me so for the most part I dont have to deal with much BS. GEPIK even cut my school this year but the parents rallied and fundraised to save my position, and I even got a raise!
I dont have a boring social life. In fact, sometimes I wish the Koreans in my town didnt invite me out so much. There are only 2 foreigners in my town (including me) but I never see the other guy because he's out getting so much tail. There's no competition for women in these parts and even the older women can be quite stunning because they're not worn down by the constant hustle needed to live in Seoul.
FDNY is true that I dont have the option of going to Hongdae or Itaewon "whenever I want", but I've never really found either neighborhood impressive anyway. They're ok to visit once in a while but I have yet to go to a bar in Korea that absolutely blows me away with the atmosphere and clientele.
The only real complaint I have is that there isnt a proper movie theater within 90 minutes, but I can handle going only once or twice a month since the selection of movies you get at your average CGV or Lotte Cinema is pretty limited anyway.
My town doesnt have a lot of the foreign foods that are available in Seoul, but for the most part, I've found that you an find almost any food online if you look hard enough. I actually had haggis delivered out to me in the sticks a few weeks ago!
Also I'm not jealous of my friends who live in Seoul. They've managed to find a bubble and keep themselves in it. What a waste of an opportunity to learn about a new culture?! Most of them cant even read hangul after being here for a few years. They also have no clue about Korean culture. The amusing thing is that a lot of these foreigners will be quick to complain about how one-dimensional Korea is.
I'll say to the OP that living in a rural area isnt for everyone. Some people NEED to be in an urban area because they cant adapt. It's not their fault they have this weakness. Seriously though you're not a bad person if you prefer an urban position, but living out in the boonies isnt the nightmare that so many people (who've probably never ventured anywhere outside of the #2 Line) make it out to be. |
A town of 10,000 and your getting lots of tail. Sorry, but your buddy is BSing you. Unless rural life has changed, there's no way local girls are going to be seen openly with a white guy. I lived in a city of almost 100,000 and girls wanted to me in secret but only a select few. Most wouldn't acknowledge me on the street. Just stared straight ahead because of extreme social pressure to conform and protect the "pure blooded Korean race."
I remember a couple of years later just before I left that town, I was seen publicly with a K chick and almost got into a fight with a drunken adjossi because he was saying some pretty ignorant things to her. It was only a fear of racist cops that held me back. But there was a lot of shouting. Point is most girls would not endure that.
But a small little myeon with 10,000 people? Hell no! It ain't going to happen? I suppose there could be a disgraced "divorced" woman around but they wouldn't live in a myeon. It would be too small for apartment complexes.
On the other hand, Seoul and some of the bigger cities seem to have very friendly women who come up and talk to me and look my way. So, if my dating life in a rural area was difficult, it wasn't because of a lack of attraction. (Many guys, I knew from other small towns got nothing at all.) |
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