Korean Job Discussion Forums

[saint_moi]

What's it like? I know it's a small town, which is gOOd. But what's it like?

[sadsac]

Having driven through it, it's an old mining town and there isn't much there. The surrounding area is beautiful though.

[Grotto]

Yes I am in Taebaek and have been for 9 long boring months!
The mountains are breathtaking, if hiking is your bag lots of places to hike.

Movie theater? Yes...but only has Korean movies no English!
Swimming pool...yes but it is usually closed for repairs.
Family Mart....1
Domino's yes

Which school are you going to?

GnB or REI?

The locals are friendly, only 5 foreigners in town, well more if you count the Russian musicians from the nearby Casino.

About 1.5 hours away from Donghae...nice beaches and an Emart.
2.5 hours from Gangnueng nice beaches and an Emart.
5 hours from Seoul

Give me a shout

[captain kirk]

I went through Taebaek on a motorbike trip last Summer and was there just at dusk. The mountains around there are breathtaking and spectacular making for some dangerous roads. There are limestone caverns in that area if you like visiting big caves. The people seemed to be, when I stopped to ask directions in town, rather wary of foreigners and, I don't know, hillbillyish/clannish? Used to lots of space, vistas, and would it be 'backwoods Korea?'. Seemed like it. The sea's right there. That's something (diving, sailbooarding, etc.). You could saiboard. That would be cool!

[captain kirk]

I saw a Korean guy (down in Ulsan) sailboarding with a short board and a belt around his waist with two lines up to a kite (shaped like the pouch of a slingshot). The board had 'footcups' so he could steer it and yet exit. The water was cold (a month ago). It looked so great! The wind was so strong he had trouble getting the kite to 'lie down' once he was finished, waiting for lull to drop it sideways across the wind, down onto the beach. If I was out in Taebaek or some seaside, out of the ways place I'd definately be looking into ordering some equipment like this for kicks!

[Grotto]

[captain kirk]

You could go 'spelunking', man. There are caves around there. You could find unknown entrances and passages and explore with helmet, ropes, headlamp, etc. Possibly you could find artifacts and extinct animal bones and all that exciting, 'I'm an explorer' and weekend warrior kick. Maybe some of these unexplored cave passages contain valuable artifacts, you never know! We found a cave treeplanting once near Wells, B.C. There were two entrances. One was a small, man-sized hole which dropped down twenty feet to the cave floor. This became a skylight after you entered from the second entrance, a gully where the roof had fallen in, leaving a wall of the chamber gone. Yeah, that was pretty cool all right.

[Grotto]

yeah right unexplored caves.....like the one between your ears.

artifacts....yeah right....many of the mountains here are steep as in an 80 degree slope...ohhh yeah that would be fun....spelunking an unknown cave.....family why dont he write? Oh yeah hes dead!!! in some hole in the ground......unexplored cave???? yeah right the area has only been inhabited for a few thousand years, mined extensively and is pretty much covered.
Small towns leave little to be desired after a few months the fantasy quickly dies. I was lucky I managed to convince myself I was doing okay for the first 5 months...next 4 months YAWN

I think it time for someone to say 'Beam me up Scotty'

[captain kirk]

I resent that. I regularly explore my 'between the ears cave' looking for vacant spaces and artifacts. Have you considered purchasing a Black and Decker RTX-1 mini rotary tool and taking up woodcarving? You could make chess sets out of various wild woods. Or fishing the wild streams and eating your catch? How about archery and bowhunting wild pigs. Or making your own atlatl and hunting with that. People in small towns survive, interesting and interested people, by burrowing into luminous obsessions.

[Grotto]

I want two of whatever you are on
carving wood that would assume I have the skill
hunting...you need a license
fishing...fun but I dont eat fish

The fact is that after 6 or 7 months pretty much anywhere get pretty boring.....Taebaek has much less to offer than other cities so it gets even more boring and monotonous.

Interesting thing is of the 4 English teachers that I have met working here not one of us is renewing our contract.

Sure the schools pay on time....make you work 55 classes a week, put in 37 hour weeks at the school. Pimp you out to the public school for cash. Oh yeah its a blast Tell you that you cant take your holidays until after you finish your contract Change hours and schedules like most people change their socks

3 months left and I am free free free