Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tesseract]

Just wondering what Incheon is like. I've heard that it's quieter than Seoul, which is fine with me. I'll be 29 when I move there so I'm not much into the party scene. I'll be looking for places to shop, maybe some martial arts lessons, Korean lessons, and some nice parks or areas to get away from all the concrete. Any thoughts, please let me know.

[simpleminds]

Quieter party-wise, yeah. Quiet otherwise, no. Where in Incheon will you be?

Shopping: Art center yok for Homeover (hate that name, it's so dorky), and the cinema. Incheon Bus Terminal for Shinsegae and Lotte Department Store. Yeonsu-dong has Lotte Mart. The nearest station is Woninjae, and you'll have to walk 20 mins in a less than ideal neighbourhood to get there.

Open spaces: In Yeonsu-dong, behind the Catholic church and opposite Lotte Mart are some mountains you can hike in. Unfortunately you won't get the quiet since everybody else has the same idea.

Martial arts: can't help you there.

Korean lessons: Good luck. In six years, never did I find someplace to learn Korean. Then I met an adjosshi who's starting some somewhere in Juan, on Sundays. Unfortunately, the directions are so vague I dunno where in Juan it is.

Hope this helps.

[Milwaukiedave]

There have been many diffrent threads about Incheon:

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=51030&highlight=Incheon

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=35231&highlight=Incheon

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=4856&highlight=Incheon


You'll hear a lot of negative things from people on this board. Personally it's what you make of it. Whereever you end up you should ask questions and if you don't then chances are you'll end up with something that you didn't want.

I also live in Incheon, not to far from Arts Center and work at a public school. The school has been good to me and found me nice housing that was large enough for both my wife and I. In terms of pollution, it's no worse (or better) then any place in Seoul.

The three things I personally see as a disadvantage are 1) There aren't any good bookstores near me (there are two near Arts Center but both of them have a very small selection), 2) It's about an hour or hour and a half to get into Seoul and 3) there's no Costco out here. Now granted, I don't have many reasons to go to Seoul very often (except to visit the in-laws) so that's not a big deal

On the other hand, if you want to go party every night and get drunk, then you probably want to be in Seoul.

[candide]

Incheon (Bupyeong excluded), is where the poor Koreans live, the blue-collar workers and what-not.

The place is crap - old, ugly, and dirty, and there is sweet jack-all to do there. For a city of 4 million people, it is a real disappointment.

[rocklee]

I'm living in Bupyeong, Incheon and prefer it to my old place in Seoul.

Adv :

- More marts to go to. As someone who likes to cook at home. marts are invaluable to me. Back in Seoul the nearest mart was in Yongsan.

- Trains aren't as crowded so if you travel a lot between stations within Incheon then its not as bad as Seoul.

- Plenty of parks, I have a few nearby where I can workout or play tennis, though I prefer visiting mountains and having picnics or a good read up there.

- The islands.

- Plenty of festivals to go to.

DisAdv :

- Things are not necessarily cheaper than Seoul.

- No decent electronic markets to go to, Yongsan is it.

- I agree with MD about the bookstores, there is a sizable one near me that has a collection of English books, although I think you're best going to the ones at Yongsan or Coex.

- Participants at the art centre are growing in numbers, pretty soon it will get too crowded and you'll want to be elsewhere. It is getting quite popular as a shopping destination/social outlet in Incheon.

- Everybody wants to drink and nobody wants to trek or go walkabout with me