Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ForeverWanderlust]

What yall think?

Both seem like they can fit me. Not too keen on all the GI's id have to share space with. How many of these dudes are out in Daegu compared to Seoul at night?

Good recruiters for each would be awesome!

Thanks.

[T-J]

Daegu is where you should be. Stay away from Seoul.

Seriously though, worrying about the number of servicemen in either city is akin to worrying about kids peeing in the ocean.

Good luck.

[ForeverWanderlust]

Im from a large military town in the states and they just kill the mood and ratio for me. So id heard there was a number of bases around Daegu and if thats the case I can only imagine how they might flock to Daegu and with it being a central city (nightlife) it would be hard to avoid them.

[crescent]

Daegu's night-scene, considering its smaller area and fewer people, is just as troubled by a presence from less-becoming members of the US Military .
There are bars such as Thursday party that we tend to avoid. They may as well call it Neanderthal Party.

[sirius black]

You would see more GIs in Daegu, simply because Daegu has basicaly one main bar area. Its big but its the main one. There are other areas around town but the most popular bars are there.

From what I understand American military can't go to Hongdae (can someone confirm?) Also, since Seoul is so huge there are a few other places that (Sincheon, etc.) there won't be many military if any at all.

I will say though that there are many teachers in Daegu who will tell you that its not as bad as you would expect. The military pretty much go to a few bars that cater to them and the crowd caters to them. There are some generally speaking 'teacher' bars. So, its not like every bar you go to will have a lot o military and many of them are cool guys (and gals). You will have your bad apples, as you do in any large group, including teachers.

[blm]

They play each other in the first round of the K league (Korean Soccer) in a couple of weeks.

Obviously you should move to which ever city wins. If it is a draw then pack up your docs and head to China.

Making big life decisions anyway is fraught with danger.

[thebektionary]

Seoul is the heart of Korea. Move to Seoul.

I, personally, love and crave big city life. If you're not like that and you prefer a more quiet place, then maybe Seoul is not for you. But if I were you, I'd still live in a satellite city in Gyeonggi-do just for the sake of easy access to Seoul if you need it.

[furtakk]

I lived in Daegu and currently live in Seoul.

I prefer Seoul, but Daegu was still a fun place to live.

As for military, I'm not sure which city has a bigger base, but the military presence is much more visible in Daegu. There's really only one night life area in Daegu and most of the bars frequented by foreigners are kind of concentrated on the same 2 or 3 strips. As such, you'll see a ton of G.I.'s. I lived there when there was a curfew so it really wasn't too bad though.

Anyway, if night life is important to you then Seoul beats Daegu hands down.

[ForeverWanderlust]

What is the best satellite city or area around Seoul?

[thebektionary]

[toby99]

As others have mentioned, you'll run into more GIs in Daegu than Seoul. And for most ESLers, that ain't a good thing: GIs party zones are associated with increased violence, sexual assaults, etc. Although most GIs are good guys, there are enough bad apples to ruin their image for everyone.

The more pressing issue, I suspect, is that GIs will skew the guy/girl ratio. Even if you live in Daegu, though, it's incredibly easy to shoot up to Seoul for a weekend on the KTX. Ratio issues will exist with or w/o the presence of the military, unless you have the coin to drop at a high-end cocktail bar (like Ginger in Itaewon).

That said, I'd recommend Seoul.

[alice_w]

GIs go to Hongdae more than ever now the curfew is 1am.

[myenglishisno]

It is pretty easy to avoid the kind of GIs that would put you off. You can start by not going to juvenile night clubs like those that have 200 people in a space designed for 50 that play nothing but remixed rap songs for 20 minutes at a time (TinPan, TinPan 2 etc). Also avoid places that go out of their way to cater to soldiers.

It is all in where you go. The only time I run into the 'neanderthals' now is when we cross paths in Itaewon on the street and I overhear something like "I gots to get me some of that there poontang" or some such crap. Otherwise, I just see the older ones in restaurants with their kids and they aren't off putting.

Remember that many of the younger (18-20) soldiers here are extra dumb for if they weren't, they'd be stationed somewhere more important like Iraq or Afghanistan. It is bad when you aren't good enough to be cannon fodder.

[northway]

[sirius black]

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