Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Steelersfan]

Hello,

I'm living in the states but wanting to go to Korea to teach English. I'm currently communicating with a school in Incheon and things are going well so far. My only concern, from reading the boards, is that Incheon is, as someone else here put it, a "black hole". Is this true? Is there nothing to do, no night life (I'm not a partier by any means, but going out every once in awhile is something I do like to do), no excitement, etc?

If anyone can provide more information about what I may be setting myself up for, please do. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

[pesawattahi]

Watch the tides, you can only get landing craft in on the high tide. You will probably have to take the lighthouse at Palmi Do.

[kprrok]

Incheon can be nice depending on what area you are in. What is the School name and address. I've lived in Incheon for almost 2 years now, and it's cool. Close enough to Seoul that I can go whenever I want (about 45 minutes), and still enough to do here without needing to go to Seoul for everything.

PM me if you want to ask more questions.

KPRROK

[Tho25]

I'm also going to be heading into Incheon


Whenabouts are you leaving?

[Cohiba]

Remember "Cohiba's Rule":

Think twice before you live outside of Seoul. "In Seoul" and
"outside of Seoul" are like two different countries. Seoul
is an interesting place with variety and venues for most
tastes. Outside of Seoul you will find a homogeneous Korean
culture. I don't mean this in a bad way, but you will never
find things like: French, Greek, Indian or any other ethnic
foods. Markets that sell sherry, pate, pastrami, ricotta cheese.
Specialty shops that sell dart accessories, cuban cigars or
cowboy boots.

The FFF RULE: FFF=Fun For Foreigners.

If FFF in Seoul = 100, then FFF decreases at
1/distance. So 2km from Seoul FFF=1/2(100)=50;
10km from Seoul FFF=1/10(100)=10. This rule is
a rule for nightlife, food and foreign products only.
Nature etc. is on a different scale altogether.

This means you will be wasting a lot of time commuting
to Seoul. This is especially a drag if you have been
boozing on a Friday night and there are no buses or
trains.

I, unfortunately, live in Incheon where the FFF factor
is almost in the negative range. I know!

[bgreenster]

1) I live in Incheon, and while I would rather live in Seoul because that's where most of my friends are, I think it can be kind of nice to be away from it for awhile during the week. I don't find it to be nearly as bad as everyone says on here, but I'm in Bupyeong which is where the bars and restaurants mainly are... and it's really easy to get into Seoul from here. You can also PM me if you have specific questions.

2) If you do come out here, want to start a Steelers support group? I'm a HUGE Steelers (and Penguins/Pirates) fan, and I'm hurtin' right now...

[Steelersfan]

Hi everyone.

Thanks for the replies, much appreciated.

I'm still in the early stages concerning whether or not I will get the job in Incheon. We are communicating, so that is good.

If I do get the job, it would be March before I begin.

Would really like to PM you guys with a few questions, but I need 23 more posts.

bgreenster, if you need any nfl updates, give a holler. Steelers are considering making Faneca an offer. Ben blamed himself for the loss to the Jags. We should be set for a low "20's" pick in April, hopefully we can address some Oline/Dline needs. Good to know there is another Steelers junkie over there. I think I may have to have a buddy over here dvr the games next season, burn 'em off and send them to me. I need my Steelers fix, lol.



Thanks again everyone.

[ernie]

i lived in suwon last year (not incheon, i know) and i find that this size of city in korea sucks because it has all of the problems associated with big cities (e.g. traffic, pollution, noise, high rent) with none of the benefits of a big city like seoul (e.g. music, clubs, food, culture, proximity, other foreigners)...

a city of 1 million people in korea is comparable to a city of about 300 000 in north america in terms of geographical size, nightlife, services, etc...

on the other hand, i was able to save a lot of money in suwon because there wasn't anything interesting to spend my money on!

[jackson7]

I live in Incheon, and definitely don't agree with the above post regarding relative city size. I lived in Portland, OR (maybe the best city in the world) and although it is relatively small, it is full of enormous parks, trails, snowboarding, clubs, breweries, strip clubs (if that's your thing), etc. to keep anyone entertained. It is also developing a wireless internet mesh (forget towers) to blanket the entire city, thanks to Intel and HP living just minutes away.

Oops, strayed. Anyway, Incheon is big, and can be boring if you don't have "guides." My friends are mostly Koreans (as is my girlfriend), so I have been introduced to many diamonds in the rough, that we frequent. Great times are had with great people, so make some friends, foreign or Korean, and start having fun in your time off!