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Dutchboy12
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
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 Posted: Wed Jan 04, 2006 9:11 pm Post subject: Seoul vs. Taegu (Daegu) |
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I will be a newbie to Korea. I've been looking at Daegu as a possibility but would like info on how much 'fun' can be had. I'm single and enjoy the nightlife. I won't be happy in a small town, or city that's pretty but with little to do. Would I be better of in Seoul?
also had an interview with Saint Louis school in Daegu. Any comments would be appreciated.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks! |
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Sofa_King
Joined: 03 Mar 2005
Location: South Korea
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:31 am Post subject: |
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a friend of mine quit St. Louis last summer. he said the korean teachers' manager was into backstabbing and temper tantrums.
whether things have changed, i don't know... you may want to ask current teachers at the school about office politics and management relationships.
my friend mentioned that their curriculum was pretty unique and they offered some interesting courses in english. on the other hand, there was a lot of prep work and 'extra' work that got handed to him with little notice. he was always paid on time, though. |
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Dutchboy12
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 7:28 am Post subject: St. Louis |
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Thanks for the info!
hmmm, that's interesting. In the phone interview they said there is very little overtime. The recruiter seems to swear by this school. But then again, that's the job of an recruiter, right?
At least no problems with paying on time!
Did your friend happen to mention the directors name?
I'm expecting a call from a foreign teacher tonight. I'll try and clear any uncertainties with them. |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 7:48 am Post subject: Re: Seoul vs. Taegu (Daegu) |
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| Dutchboy12 wrote: |
I will be a newbie to Korea. I've been looking at Daegu as a possibility but would like info on how much 'fun' can be had. I'm single and enjoy the nightlife. I won't be happy in a small town, or city that's pretty but with little to do. Would I be better of in Seoul?
also had an interview with Saint Louis school in Daegu. Any comments would be appreciated.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks! |
Daegu is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as Seoul. |
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Dutchboy12
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject: reply: Daegu is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as Seoul |
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| Can you be more specific? What didn't you like about it and what was good about it? |
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Dutchboy12
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:10 pm Post subject: reply: Daegu is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as Seoul |
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| Can you be more specific? What didn't you like about it and what was good about it? |
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Dutchboy12
Joined: 04 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Thu Jan 05, 2006 1:12 pm Post subject: reply: Daegu is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as Seoul |
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| Can you be more specific? What didn't you like about it and what was good about it? |
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Sofa_King
Joined: 03 Mar 2005
Location: South Korea
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:09 am Post subject: |
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| I wouldn't say that Daegu is better than Seoul, but it's just slightly different. One may be better suited to your lifestyle; it completely depends on what your looking for. Instead of asking which is better, it is more important to ask yourself what you are looking for and what city would better suit your lifestyle. Are you looking to live in a huge metropolis with an endlist list of things to do or are you looking to get into a smaller, less busy community where you will get to know more people and have a smaller, perhaps friendlier community? Are you needing more of a range of choices (ie. food-do you need western food, mexican food) or do you want to dive right into a city that is less worldly and experience more of the Korean culture and less western influence? |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 8:37 am Post subject: Re: reply: Daegu is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as S |
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| Dutchboy12 wrote: |
| Can you be more specific? What didn't you like about it and what was good about it? |
Sorry, Dutchboy, my views won't be much practical use, save for my own totally subjective propaganda. Then again, what else in life ISN'T propaganda?
The worst thing about Deagu is that it's not Seoul. I've only been to Daegu for one weekend because I visited a good friend of mine there who I knew prior to us both coming to Korea. A weekend is nothing, but I did see quite a bit, and I was glad to get back to Seoul. That's not because Daegu is sh1te - it isn't - it's just that Seoul rocks! Seoul is a vibrant, profoundly underrated, hip metropolis with f_ckloads of cool stuff. Going into detail would take too long.
My mother is visiting me in Sar-ool right now - this is a woman with a Ph.d who has visited pretty much any remotely interesting city on Earth (and Minneapolis) you could care to mention - and she LOVES Seoul (she's qualified to comment - trust me!). Why? Because it's a city of 10m people (double that if you include greater Seoul) and it runs like clockwork, if not more efficiently. Why? Because you've the best of both worlds - one minute you're amongst the skyscrapers and stupidly heavy traffic, next minute you're on top of a big mountain with classical music blasting from the loudspeakers, not a soul anywhere, cornfields surrounding you in the frozen Siberian wind. Why? Because even in Seoul - a more cosmopolitan city than Daegu - Koreans consider a native English-speaker a God-send. Why? Because Seoulites are the most hospitable and friendly people on Earth, who give you freebies, from a bowl of salad to a very expensive scarf, to a free evening at the Seoul Hilton buffet.
Anyone who lives in Seoul who doesn't consider it the best, most efficient city in the world has serious mental health issues. Daegu is a lame-ass pathetic sh1thole in comparison - again, I stress, not because Daegu sucks, but rather because Seoul f-ing rocks! |
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:28 pm Post subject: Re: reply: Daegu is okay, but it's nowhere near as good as S |
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sorry SPINOZA, but i have to respond. the OP is looking for an informed comparison.
| SPINOZA wrote: |
| A weekend is nothing, but... |
...but this is where you should stop comparing.
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| one minute you're amongst the skyscrapers and stupidly heavy traffic |
...since when was unbearable traffic a good thing? noise pollution, taxi fares, smog....mmmm, i love that black stuff that coats my nasal cavity!!!
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| next minute you're on top of a big mountain with classical music blasting from the loudspeakers |
... i'd rather enjoy nature without the loudspeakers, thanks.
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| not a soul anywhere |
... open your eyes.
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| ... who give you freebies |
happens here every day. it's the skin color, not the city. |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 5:27 am Post subject: |
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| sorry SPINOZA, but i have to respond. the OP is looking for an informed comparison. |
Four very brief, emotive, flippant and rather uppity sentences hardly constitutes an ��informed comparison�� in my book.
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| ...since when was unbearable traffic a good thing? |
I didn't say or intend to suggest it was or is a good thing. I was attempting to draw a comparison between Seoul's rural areas and its areas of dense urbanization. Seoul��s dramatically varied geography is one of my favorite things about the city. At the back of my school are some mountains, farms, very agrarian lifestyles, a Buddhist temple and beautiful woodland, frozen lakes, yet 10 minutes down the road is a subway station, a CGV, a Fam Square, nightclubs, neon and all the usual stuff, and a 30 minute walk away from all this is my (excellent) apartment which is opposite Emart. Daegu is probably the same, but I wouldn��t want to live there personally because just a moment��s common sense reveals it hasn��t got nearly as many facilities or cultural opportunities as Seoul.
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| ...but this is where you should stop comparing. |
I��m sorry, but I'll think and say what I like. I politely conceded that a weekend isn't a long time and I don't claim to be an expert about either city. My thesis is one of "a weekend isn't a long time, I know, but.....". This is common, subjective discourse. People are entitled to refute that and OP is entitled to put what ever amount of stock s/he wishes into all the comments. I enjoy commenting, however, on things that interest me and I will never, ever refrain from stating my view. We're still allowed to do that in my country.
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noise pollution, taxi fares, smog....mmmm, i love that black stuff that coats my nasal cavity!!!
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I don��t know what you mean about taxi fares. Getting from my apartment to the opposite side of the city costs 15 notes. If it costs 3, 4 or even 5k less in Daegu to go a similar distance, well, I��m afraid I��m hardly packing my bags, upping sticks and moving to Daegu. As regards the pollution, well, a moment��s common sense (to use that phrase again) indeed reveals that in a conurbation of 22 million people and Christ-knows-how-many cars, the air quality certainly isn��t the finest planet Earth has to offer. I bet it��s wonderful in Greenland and I know where I��d rather live. Seoul��s a f-ing massive city – it inevitably has excessive carbon dioxide in the air and more besides. But your description, if assumed to a commentary on the normal state of affairs in Seoul, is a ridiculous exaggeration and that��s being generous. The air quality in London, New York City, LA, pretty much any big city including Daegu, isn��t absolutely pristine clean - that any idiot realizes. Noise pollution? In Jongno, yes, I must admit that��d get to me. In the suburbs – not as bad. I was warned by my employers about overcrowding in Seoul – didn��t deter me, I realized it ain��t a sleepy hamlet – and I was surprised at, gosh, how actually normal and not terribly different from my home city it is in this regard. It��s a total fallacy that Seoul is just ��sardines�� 24/7.
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| ... i'd rather enjoy nature without the loudspeakers, thanks. |
Well, good for you, if that's what you prefer. I prefer to read English that has the appropriate capitalization and doesn't begin a sentence needlessly with "..." but that's just me.
I'm sure the same (the music) exists in Daegu, because Korea just rocks, right? Oh, you don't think so? Well maybe that's because you live in Daegu. I have a holistic view of nature. To take in the scenery, the magnificent views of this major world city, whilst taking in Beethoven��s 7th Piano Concerto, a piece that delights my soul, was a great, wonderful moment – especially as I was with family and this kind of cool stuff doesn't happen back home, to my knowledge at least. We're not talking Korean God-awful pop music, or Linkin Park or Britney here, we're talking Classical Music, high Western culture, blasted out to the masses. To view Seoul's rampant displays of Capitalism whilst listening to the classics, the latter having connotations of Communist Russia or England during Henry VIII, was a trivial if personally very gratifying moment. What if OP said to him or her self "jeez, I'd better avoid Seoul if they play classical music in parking lots and parks" and goes to Daegu only to discover the same? You've not provided much of an "informed" comparison, have you? But that wasn't the intention, really, was it? You just wanted to offer some lame-@ss retorts because, probably by accident rather than design, you've ended up in Daegu and don't like to concede its obvious inferiority to Seoul to all and sundry.
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| ... open your eyes. |
Deary me. I can see why you called yourself 'The Eye' and not 'The Brain'. Thought obviously isn't your strong point. Seoul is much quieter than usual at the moment, it seems to me, probably due to the cold. It was also midday on Friday afternoon - there aren't generally many Koreans around national parks at this time - not this park anyway. Oh yes, there was an old lady sweeping up and a lovely young K-couple who took a polaroid pic of me and my mother because we took a pic for them and, in my case, knew a bit of Korean and they were impressed. Oh, the hoards! Seoul is just congestion, congestion and MORE congestion you know!
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| happens here every day. it's the skin color, not the city. |
Seoul fookin rocks! I've experienced so many acts of saintly altruism, pleasantness and generosity in the last week alone that I wouldn't exchange for anything anyone else has experienced! Seoul is full of beautiful women, friendly and helpful people, great and healthy food, outstanding public transport and people who just wanna enjoy life - the very antithesis of a North American city perhaps. |
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mysteriousdeltarays
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
Location: Food Pyramid Bldg. 5F, 77 Sunset Strip, Alphaville
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| Posted: Sat Jan 07, 2006 11:10 am Post subject: |
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| Daegu it be cool. I ain't seen so much trouble but I been in Sole, but I had me a gig there. It be cool. |
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the eye
Joined: 29 Jan 2004
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| Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 12:41 am Post subject: |
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wow, your fingers must still be throbbing!... it doesn't take much to get you all excited, i see.
maybe it's time for you to tune into those loudspeakers again, you know, enjoy some nature...with not a soul around... |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Mon Jan 09, 2006 5:24 am Post subject: |
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| A brief moment's reflection on the fact that I don't live in Daegu is more than enough. |
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