Korean Job Discussion Forums

[toby99]

Assess the relevancy of Cohiba's rule in 2013 Korea:

"Remember "Cohiba's Rule" (Now better than ever!):

Think twice before you live outside of Seoul. "In Seoul" and
"outside of Seoul" are like two different countries. Seoul
is an interesting place with variety and venues for most
tastes. Outside of Seoul you will find a homogeneous Korean
culture. I don't mean this in a bad way, but you will never
find things like: French, Greek, Indian or any other ethnic
foods. Markets that sell sherry, pate, pastrami, ricotta cheese.
Specialty shops that sell cuban cigars, European pies, cold
cuts or rye breads. Just to name a few things.

The FFF RULE: FFF=Fun For Foreigners.

If FFF in Seoul = 100, then FFF decreases at
1/distance. So 2km from Seoul FFF=1/2(100)=50;
10km from Seoul FFF=1/10(100)=10. This rule is
a rule for nightlife, food and foreign products only.
Nature etc. is on a different scale altogether.

This means you will be wasting a lot of time commuting
to Seoul. This is especially a drag if you have been
boozing on a Friday night and there are no buses or
trains.

I, unfortunately, live near Seoul where the FFF factor
is almost in the negative range. I know!"

[Mix1]

[dairyairy]

It's not just "fun" stuff. It's access to shopping and restaurants. Any recruiter who tells you that living in rural Korea is "no big deal" is a liar. Anyone on here who claims that it's all the same is a fool.

But because of the increasing reach of the Seoul subway lines, you can live outside of Seoul but have easier access to Seoul if you live close to the subway stations. It's still travel time but it's much more convenient than before the subway lines reached so many parts of the Seoul suburbs.

[yodanole]

This was NEVER true for everyone. Even less so now. I actually have trouble getting my head around why people even want to visit Seoul for other than business purposes. But, then, I'm easily amused.

[Steelrails]

[ttompatz]

I have lived in Seohyun (Bundang-gu, Seongnam and communted to Gwangju, Gyeonggi for work) and Northern Suwon (about 750 yards from Namun) and have never lacked for western amenities, conveniences or nightlife.

The rule might be relevant out in places that are truly rural (the southwest or north east coast) but not in the majority of the satellite cites of any of the major cities in Korea.

Even at that, transportation in Korea is excellent and you are never more than 90 minutes from a major center. It often takes longer to commute across Seoul (even by subway) than it takes to get into central Seoul from some outlying districts. Learn to read the sides of buses.

.

[FDNY]

Cohiba was a God King. A poet warrior who has trod these lands since 1996. When you speak of his rule you should do so with reverence and respect. Back in those days of lore, the rule was much more relevant than now. However, some things are still true. The number and variety of clubs and societies are still second to none in Seoul. As are embassy organizations and social gatherings. Hobby shops have pretty well disappeared in smaller towns. To replace them there are some pretty decent, big hobby shops in Yongsan and Shindorim. On the much hallowed beer scene, there are now pretty decent bars and brews in other parts of the ROK.

You should also remember this rule was written to help newbs from going insane in small, weird and perverse little places populated by suspicious, xenophobic freaks. Cohiba used to meet lots of them coming to Seoul on pilgrimages to re-solidify their sanity

[diver]

[Who's Your Daddy?]

Gmarket solves all problems:)

I haven't been to Seoul in over 7 years.

Actually Gmarket is probably easier even if you live in Seoul.

When I came to Korea, I was pretty open to cities except Seoul (I wouldn't live in NYC either.)

[salutbonjour]

Unless knitting is your hobby and kimchi stir-fry your favorite food then Cohiba's rule is the one and only rule pertaining to life in Korea.

If you have a car, you might get away with living further away, but nothing beats the range of destinations available to the Seoulites.

[diver]

[Underwaterbob]

[bossface]

I still say my "Caffe Bene Factor" is a better way to determine a worthwhile place to live than Cohiba's Rule. Cohiba would presume that some backwater dong far from a subway line in a place like Guemchon Gu is a more desirable place for a foreigner to live than Haeundae.

To quote myself from a couple years ago -

[figshdg]

^ I would dispute Caffe Benne being the benchmark of anything (unless that benchmark is horrendously overpriced coffee that doesn't taste all that great).

As for the rule posted above, I lived in a rural place in the outskirts of a city an hour south of Seoul for 2 years (30 mins by bus into my city centre and then an hour to Seoul). In that city (of 100,000 or so), we had good independent coffee shops and most of the major chain coffee places. We also had a few Italian restaurants, one Mongolian, one Russian, one Uzbeki, and the usual Chinese and Japanese places. To date, I've yet to find one place in Seoul that matches one of the Italian places (quite confident that it's the best Italian food in the country) or the Mongolian, Russian, and Uzbeki places. We had two foreign food markets which sold nearly everything I would come to Seoul for. We also had a couple of cinemas, plenty of bars and pubs, and most other amenities.

I've now lived in Seoul for the best part of 18 months. The claim that Seoul is where to come for more top-line stuff is baffling. I would love to know where the food markets that sell all these wonderful things are because I could count on one hand the number of places you would go to find those things. Hell, you can find most of them online.

I also had a better social life in the small city that I lived in. I also found it much more culturally interesting. Cohiba's rule was full of crap at the time it was written because it really overstated the ease of life in Seoul. The rule is even less true nowadays.

[fustiancorduroy]

Seoul is the best place to be. Busan and Bundang are tolerable. The rest of Korea is an uninhabitable wasteland with nothing to offer anybody at all.