Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pidgin]

Decent place to to live and work, or industrial wasteland?

[pidgin]

I can't even find it on a map! What is it an inkspot?

[tomato]

It's north of �뱸 and south of ��õ on the train route.
It's a nice community. I lived two blocks from a very nice park and a public library.

However, if you're about to sign up to work at Che Yoon Hi School, you'd better check the blacklists first.

[nickthegreek]

Hi, if your are thinking of working in Gumi it is a LG town with a pop of 500,000 people. I work there for a year. If you are looking for big city life Gumi is not it. However, if you want a small town feel then Gumi is it. There is a nice foriener community. Also, there is a foriegner bar called Psychos own by jim and john. two Yanks. They are very friendly. If you want their e-mails let me known I`ll gladly send it to you. That goes for any info too.

Best of luck Nick
nickcorea2002 yahoo.ca

[pidgin]

Thanks for your replies.
I'm not sure which school is on offer yet, I only know that it's teaching adults, but I'll watch out for Che Yoon (thanks).

SO, I can see it's not a thriving metropolis, but what sorts of things are available? Are there gyms for a mid-day workout? Any Western food restaurants for those special days. You've pointed out a foreigner bar, is there only one?
I would imagine there are hiking trails and mountains nearby (as with most of Korea). IS it too small of a place to date around and play the field a bit? If pressed, how many other Westerners would you say are there?

thanks for any additional info.

[tomato]

Hello, again, Pidgin!

Are there gyms for a mid-day workout?
There was one right around the corner from where I lived.
I never joined, though.

Any Western food restaurants for those special days?
There was a pizza place nearby and a MacDonald's across the street.

You've pointed out a foreigner bar, is there only one?
My roommate hung around at a Western bar called Xtra.

I would imagine there are hiking trails and mountains nearby (as with most of Korea).
There are.

Is it too small of a place to date around and play the field a bit?
I think it's large enough.

If pressed, how many other Westerners would you say are there?
I don't know how many, but there were lots.
I once attended a party for Westerners.

[pidgin]

thanks again tomato.
very informative.
I shall now check out your websites for an attempted payback.

[Howard Roark]

I lived in Gumi for 2 years and I loved it.

I thought I was tired of the small town feel, thought I needed the bustling big city - wrong. I hate Seoul and I wish I were back in Gumi.

The way I see it, Gumi is the perfect size and has just the right amount of everything:

Emart
Other good supermarkets include DongA Dept Store and Flashmart
McDonald's (but no Burger King)
Pizza Hut
Mr. Pizza
KFC
2 Cinemas
Lots of PC Rooms and DVD Rooms
Train Stn (but no subway)
Gumo Mountain which also has a nice lake and amusement park
good downtown/shopping area
Psycho (foreigner bar)
Other western bars like WA Bar and S Bar
good crowd of foreigners, easy to make friends

Other things I like about Gumi:

The traffic is not too bad. You can easily buy yourself a cheap scooter and go anywhere in town. Some areas of town have almost no traffic so just driving around, exploring, is a great way to spend a weekend afternoon.

If you feel like doing the big city thing, Daegu is a 30min bus/train ride away. In fact, you can take a bus right from the Gumi bus terminal to Wal-Mart in Daegu. You can also buy excellent international phone cards at the Daegu bus terminal where you arrive.

I found the Korean people generally friendly. If you smile and are friendly to them, they will be extremely helpfull and kind to you.

The only negative is that there are a lot of things I can get in Seoul that I could never get in Gumi. So Seoul gets some points for western comforts. Sometimes you just need Thai food at Pattaya or fish and chips from Geckos or a night out in Hongdae - but again, it's just a bus/train ride away. You can go up to Seoul every now and then and stock up on Kraft Dinner and get drunk at Lime Light, or whatever.

I had a wonderful two years in Gumi. I loved my surroundings, my life, my friends. It was very comfortable and I was very content there.

Korean people always ask what your hometown is. I always tell them Gumi

[pidgin]

H.R.

Thanks for that. You painted as pretty of a picture in my mind as Syd Barret.

I'll let the board know if I end up there and how it treats me.

madcap laughing

[Pabo Boy]

I spent a year in Gumi 2001/2002, and just went back a couple of weeks ago for a visit. I really enjoyed the place - by no means a big city, but it had the all the basic facilities. And Daegu is only 30 minutes away by train if you do get that "big city" urge.

If you do end up in Gumi, make sure you go to Galbi-mart, across from the Odyessey Apartment building in Hyonggok-dong. Damn best galbi I ever had, and at reasonable prices too.

[matthews_world]

Is Gumi surrounded by mountains like Daegu and just as hot in the summer? Hottest I've seen here in Daegu is 36, without the humidity.

[PECisDplace2B]

If you live there i recommend that you get yourself some wheels. It would make it a lot more interesting.

[visviva]

"Small town feel"? Boy, you people need to get into the country more often.

Personally, Gumi is more of a big city than I care for. Population figures weren't meant to have six digits. You won't run short on foreigners, though, if that's important to you.

The weather is very similar to Daegu. Significantly hotter than Seoulland. If you didn't grow up in Hell, you may want to consider air conditioning.

[tomato]

[jajdude]