Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Kimchifart]

[HeavyTZM]

Now that's quite a few more cities to read up on. Thanks everybody.

Suwon sounds quite cool. I like that they have a lot of universities, I loved the feel of my old college area. That wall is awesome to.

Anyang sounds great. Surrounded by mountains and you can bike by the stream to Seoul! Also lots of parks, art, and 15 markets.

Couldn't find much about Seongnam, other than things about Bundang. Sounds like a nice place that I would be happy in, but just not as appealing as others mentioned.

Jeonju has great produce apparently, which is fabulous. Lots of history still in tact, mountains, parks, and no manufacturing areas is a plus. I wish it were closer to the KTX. Sounds a bit small also, but underwaterbob said it has everything I need.

Chuncheon sounds cool with its "small river islands," although I'm not sure what that is. I like that it has nice scenery and that I can snowboard there (I read one post saying you could ski). Sounds like there may not be a whole lot of foreigners there though, which I guess I don't mind to much, I just think I'd like to have a decent amount around for advice.

Cheongju seems to strike a nice balance.

Pohang has a nice big market, and I love seafood. Mountains + Beach is great. Temples are sweet to. Seems to be very far from all the other areas that people like to visit though. There is a 33 page thread running on the place, so I'm guessing a lot of people really like it.

The pictures of Ulsan look nice and I think I would enjoy the university area.

Ilsan sounds like a well kept area with lots of recreational space. Couldn't find to much else about Ilsan, but the pictures look nice.

Couldn't find much on Wanju other than the great nature and it's good for riding a bike. I might be looking for a little more city than this, but it would be fine I'm sure.

Couldn't find much on Chungju other than it's small population, but I do love apples!

Can't find much on Kunsan either, other than a few negative comments in some threads.

Daejon has a nice center location, and again, I really like mountains. Sounds like it has nice parks and museums also. Seemslike a laid back big city.

Kimchifart's description of Gwangju sounds nice, and the pictures I looked up look were nice. I'll keep in mind wanting to be near the center.

It's daunting trying to pick one from all these good suggestions, so I think I'll just take a good contract in any of these cities. So far Anyang, Pohang, and Daejon are sticking out to me. I may have to look up the smaller cities mention by Dazed and Confused later.

Thanks for the info everybody, I now have a lot of options!

[taobenli]

Jeonju is nice, I've been here two years. Best food in Korea, in my opinion (NOT foreign food, though, Korean food!) and yes, lots of agricultural areas nearby so fresher produce. And Jeonju has been on the KTX since this September. 2 hours to Seoul now.

[HeavyTZM]

[Kimchifart]

[HeavyTZM]

[pegasus64128]

[HeavyTZM]

Hey guys,

I'm bringing this thread to life to ask about Yeoncheon. Does anyone think I'll be happy here from my description? It seems to have a lot of historic culture and scenery, but I'm not sure how convenient it is. I could only find 1 short thread on the place, and it didn't sound to great. I see it only has about 50k people. Can anyone comment on this place? I have a public school that wants an interview.

[Modernist]

Yeoncheon is SUPER rural. I assume you saw the Gyeonggi province map on Wikipedia. Only 50K people in that big area is TINY. It's hard up against the DPRK border too, so expect quite a lot of Korean military stuff going on.

Is the school in the 'big' eup near the train station, or one of the tiny myeons further out?

There is Korail service down to Yongsan but nothing particularly fast or convenient. No Metro or KTX. Got to be at least 1.5 hours to central Seoul [going on weekends would be doable but challenging--and staying overnight necessary]. No major chain stores [EMarts or the like]. Not much of anything Western. Very little English. Nothing in terms of 'culture.'--although my definition of such and yours are perhaps different. Probably a few foreigners around at other PS, but expect to feel VERY isolated there.

Based on your previous posts [Anyang, Pohang, Daejeon] this would be NOTHING like any of those. I suppose the hiking is probably decent, but...I wouldn't go there. If you can handle being alone, not speaking English, not having foreign things [anything, really, except by mail], living a hard-core Korean life, then maybe you could do it.

My personal vote is for the central cities: Daejeon and its neighbors Cheonan, Cheongju, Asan, and even smaller ones like Nonsan or Gongju. Being in the middle has loads of benefits, and it accords with my home territory back in America too

[HeavyTZM]

[soomin]

I think you were right about Daegu being a good fit~ It has a big downtown area and has tons of big marts, organic stores, and all~

It does have a sewage smell in certain places... especially the edges of the city which are poorer... but it's not too common and not a lingering, all-over-the-city deal...

As for only communicating in English... I don't think so. You'd definitely need to go to Busan or Seoul for something like that, though I've met many the foreigner who can't even read Hangul and have done just fine in Daegu~ ^.^ Also, Daegu has a distinct accent which makes picking up Korean more difficult... but also, you can learn a new language and dialect words and phrases at the same time~ ^.^

It also has a bus directly to Incheon airport, as well as bus lines, slow trains, and a KTX (fast train) line, so you can easily travel around Korea~

It also has temples and parks and houses ancient Buddhist artifacts as well as many museums! I love Daegu~! ^.^

[sallymonster]

My recommendations for you by province:

Gyeonggi (near Seoul): Anyang, Ilsan, Bundang, Dongtan, Ansan, Guri, certain parts of Namyangju

Chungcheongnam-do: Cheonan, Asan, maybe Gongju

Gangwon-do: Chuncheon, Gangneung

Jeollabuk-do: Jeonju, Iksan

Jeollanamdo: Yeosu

Gyeongsangnamdo: Changwon/Jinhae, Geoje

Jeju Island: Urban parts of Jeju City and Seogwipo

I'm not very familiar with: most of Gyeongsangbuk-do, Chungcheongbuk-do, Daegu, Gwangju, Ulsan

I've only been to Daejeon once, I thought it was all right but it might be too urban for your tastes.

[HeavyTZM]

To all my city picking crew..

It is down to Namyangju (near Guri) and Ilsan. I will update with the definite city later!

[sojusucks]

I would suggest Ilsan, Anyang, or Suwon. You will find many things you enjoy in these cities and all are close to Seoul by subway if there's more in Seoul that you need. Anyone disagree?

[HeavyTZM]

To Ilsan I go