Korean Job Discussion Forums

adventureman · Joined: 18 Feb 2003

I would henceforth like to lay down the gauntlet to any daves poster who believes they posses the title of undesirable backwater hicktown foreign inhabitant in Korea....

Here are my stats first:

Location: RURAL Kangwondo, 3 hours from Seoul, 1.75 hours from Kangneung, 2 hours from wonju, 40 minutes from Taebeak (bear in mind these times are by by CAR only, bus can take longer and be exceptionally more inconvenient)

Number of stoplights: 2

Number of Internet Cafes: 3 (Interestingly enough Internet Cafes are outnumbered by motels and massage parlors, considering that this is a casino town)

Number of English Institutes: 0

Number of other foreign public school teachers with a 45minute radius: 1 (although another arrives this week)

Typical middle school class size: 15-20 students

Housing: Apartment complex by the side of jagged highway constantly undergoing construction, four kilometers from the "town" area inhabited almost entirely by lower-class families and old people. Absolutely NOTHING within walking distance save a small fried chicken restaurant and two mom-and-pop stores. Also, stars perfectly are visible at night.

No international food available of any sort besides chinese fried rice.

Most the koreans I have met in Seoul whom have not grown up in Kangwondo have never heard my town.

Yesterday, while standing in the entranceway of my apartment gazing at the old women spreading red peppers on the pavement to dry out I heard a cow for the first time.

So, any of you pansies willing to step up to the plate and accept my challenge? Start throwing out some numbers, wussies..

Benicio · Posted: Thu Aug 31, 2006 6:49 pm Post subject:

I remember when there was only one internet cafe in Seoul.

Count 'em- ONE!

It was in the alley near Kyobo book store. I had to ride the subway downtown twice a week to check my E-mail.

Then, I lived in Miho village between Jochiwon and Chungju- no internet cafes at all. I had to wait for my monthly or bi-weekly trips to Seoul to check my E-mail.

You have to be a special kind of person to make in the sticks here.
I came from a country town and it took this last experience to know that I truly hate them.

adventureman · Joined: 18 Feb 2003

jinju · Joined: 22 Jan 2006

My town:

-Population: 13 million
-Metro population 20+ million

Can I play?

RACETRAITOR · Joined: 24 Oct 2005 Location: Seoul, South Korea

Len8 · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Location: Kyungju

What about the casino?. Have you visited it yet. I have also heard there are a lot of used car dealerships in the town. Apparently the addicted will do anything to get another casino chip.

happeningthang · Joined: 26 Apr 2003

You're in the GangwonLand Casino town???

Buck up little camper...you might miss out on a lot, but you live near the only pawn broker in Korea.

tomato · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 6:41 am Post subject:

I am in Janghoweon, south of Icheon in Gyeonggido.

If you look out the window on the south side of the school, you see the main drag.
If you look out the window on the north side, you see acres of rice fields with mountains in the background.

I can't beat your statistics, but I still say that's a good illustration.

semphoon · Joined: 18 Nov 2005 Location: Where Nowon is

There is one poster here who gets days off in his contract to harvest. Thought that was cool.

I live in a developed area but I have never seen another foreigner here in 11 months. Thats the best I can do. I only live 20 minutes away from Bupyeong but in a poor area.

cruisemonkey · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:19 pm Post subject:

My local village (about one km down the road) has one traffic light. The view from my front door is looking down on a mountain-surrounded valley of rice fields, a Buddist shrine across the road and tree-covered knolls full of graves. My back balcony looks onto a hillside forest of pine trees full of squirrels, pheasants and deer.

The boys in high school get a day off (twice a year) to help with planting and harvest.

VanIslander

Golden Lama · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 5:58 pm Post subject:

I'll throw in on this one:

Population: 4,000

Internet cafes: 0

Restaurants: 3 (Forget about "international" those are the Korean ones and one of those is a cafeteria style joint that's mostly for highway workers from what I can tell; cheap as dirt and edible, though.) I have to say that I'm pretty sure I'm missing a lot as it could be a restaurant and I wouldn't know being a newbie to Korea, but that's my count after half-a-year.

Traffic lights: 0 in the town. You'd have to go about three kilometers down the road to find one at a highway T-juntion and then there's none for miles after that.

English institutes: I've come to consider myself an institution of fortitude given the statistics above, but ain't no English intitutes to speak of unless you travel about 25 kilometers.

Who knows this town?: The radius is about thirty kilometers, after that, people probably won't know it and, even inside that radius, Koreans will ask me, "How can you live there?", incredulously.

Of course, I agree that there's a lot to be said for living in the country. Cities scare a caveman like me with their big fancy, under-the-Earth driving machines and I just can't take the air pollution. Every now and then, I go a little bonkers, but I think I'd go more bonkers from city life, so I just choose the lesser of two bonkers.

Oh ya, I forgot that distance to Seoul is a marker, too. I think I can go by bus in about two hours and ten minutes, however, to take a local bus to the bus station will add another forty-five minutes to travel twenty kilometers. Those local buses come four a day, oh joy!

How do I fair?

VanIslander · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 6:12 pm Post subject:

Golden Lama · Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 8:00 pm Post subject:

Wow, I'm in the lead? I feel like Sally Fields winning her second Oscar. I am chuffed.

Van, you are so right that there are happy mediums, but this is the lot that I was dealt, so I'm playing this hand. It's what happens to us EPIKers: sign with a recruiter, put your life in somebody else's hands.

I really can't do too much complaining - but it is work, so there'll always be something - so, on the whole, I can hack it. BTW, I'm long in the tooth for the ESL game, so culture shock isn't going to get the best of me, or at least I don't believe so.

Really, getting the basics isn't an issue and I get fed, etc alright as I manage to make my way around with pointing and smiling okay.

And, as I've got my own internet hook-up, I can do without the cafes.

If I win the gold, I'm going to Disney Land!

GL

happeningthang · Joined: 26 Apr 2003