Korean Job Discussion Forums

mindmetoo · Joined: 02 Feb 2004

My friend who teaches in Bundang had a story that might be indicative of the kids there. Bundang is kind of your noveau upper middle classed professional digs. The kids all seem to go to Italy and New Zealand for their month long summer/winter holidays. The kids generally know they're living in some privileged class and can be snooty.

Anyway this one kid started yapping about what an expensive apartment he lives in and "teacher, my apartment is better than yours!"

She thought a moment. "This kid thinks living in an apartment with two floors is all that?"

"Well, I'm sure it's very nice but remember it's not yours. It's your mom and dad's. You just live there. Here let me tell you about the home I live in in Oregon."

Her dad's a big time lawyer. She described the ocean side home she lives in...

"So, come talk to me when your backyard is the pacific ocean..."

d503 · Joined: 16 Oct 2004 Location: Daecheong, Seoul

Hey I live in sunae, its a nice place, you can get outside really easy, not a great night life. but it is easy enough to get to seoul and do stuff (subway, bus, taxi you name it).

I live in an officetel, no gym. But as others have mentioned there are gyms running around, if a bit on the bricey side. I like to toss a boomerang about on the ole tancheon river park, it has nice open patches of rectangular grass, I assume you wouldn't through the medicine ball much further than a boomerang. And while it does tend to draw a bit of a crowd, they don't try to poke you are anything.

It is also an upperclass place to live, you don't get much of the abuse you here from other people.

Kinda curious if you might be looking at taking over my job....is it for sometime in august?

Panda_Dude · Joined: 06 May 2005

T-dot · Joined: 16 May 2004 Location: bundang

it wouldnt be SISA in jeong-ja would it?

Panda_Dude · Joined: 06 May 2005

Nope

Actually, I don't feel like saying where I work yet, because it's kind of fun to see how many people I could potentially replace Laughing

Panda_Dude · Joined: 06 May 2005

On a funny note, I just found out that I was in Bundang last July for homestay. (I did not know the name of the place, the girl driving me just said, "It's some middle class area.") I had two girls who were around at the time just tell me that I was already in Bundang. So now I know what to expect for sure Smile

Thanks everyone for your comments!

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Bulsajo · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

pest2 · Joined: 01 Jun 2005 Location: Vancouver, Canada

I lived Jeongja-dong, about 5 minutes from Sunae for all of last year... They say it's the nicest area in Korea in which to live, but I think that only applies to older people or people invested in family life. For a younger, single person -- the kind who would go to Korea from another country to teach english -- its actually pretty boring. There arent any Universities close by and there really aren't any good clubs to hit either. There are many higher-end retail shops around there and quality DVD and PC rooms to go to as well, however...

If and when you get there, there's a decent gym just behind Lotte dept. store (underneath which is the sunae subway station). The gym is across the street from Lotte, toward the Tancheon river, in the basement of an apt. building. It's like 50,000w if you lie and tell em you're a student.

Also, it's true that you can cycle on the Tancheon river path. It can take you all the way into Seoul if you follow it about 12 miles... I rode on it nearly every day for 2-4 hours... it gets a little precarious, at times, dodging chaotic-moving middle school kids on thier way home from school, backward-walking ajimas with darth-vader sun visors, and generally people who never learned the rule, "look both ways before crossing the street", though...

If you get there and have any other questions about the area, shoot me an email and I'll be glad to help you.

T-dot · Joined: 16 May 2004 Location: bundang

Panda_Dude · Joined: 06 May 2005

Thanks Pest and T-Dot!

Those are precise directions!

I arrive Friday evening. If my director gives me some "breathing time" when I arrive, I'll walk around the area to see all the places that the above posters mentioned Smile

Zyzyfer · Posted: Sun Jun 05, 2005 9:28 am Post subject:

I'd be up for showing you around a bit, but I'll be leaving Bundang in the next few days. There is a uni kind of nearby, Kyungwon Uni out by Taepyung, but the nightlife when I've been there is pretty dull. You do have to know the right bars to get your kicks; I was barhopping a bit tonight and it wasn't the most awesomest drinkfest or anything.

articulate_ink · Posted: Tue Jun 07, 2005 9:11 pm Post subject:

I arrived in Korea on Friday, five days ago. I'm living in Sunae-dong, about a block from the Lotte store. Would love more specific information on where to find that gym -- it must be pretty unobtrusive.

So far I like it here a lot. It's a good mix of urban and suburban: pedestrianized and transit-friendly, without being completely grotty. Sure, I'd enjoy being closer to the excitement of central Seoul, but then, my teaching schedule (evenings) kinda limits my nightlife options, anyway.

PM me for more from a new arrival's perspective...