Korean Job Discussion Forums

[olabueno]

I've read that it's a Hawaiin-like, volcanic island. It's where many Koreans and Japanese go for holiday, but has anyone ever lived here?

Any news on Jeju is well-appreciated.

[Forbidden-Donut]

Two of my friends worked there, and told me that it is a very boring place to live and work.

[olabueno]

Hmmm? I wonder why it's boring.


Anybody else been there?

[EzeWong]

Originally I was planning to go to JeJu Island,

But I've been doing some research, mostly based on forum testominals... so take this with a grain of salt.

Esentially here is what recruiters want you to beleive:

Jeju is a tropical getaway island. Good weather, amazing scenery, and has a friendly atmosphere. I was told by some people actually that Koreans save money to go to jeju and some can never afford it.

But some of the testominals I've seen from forums say
it rains like 4 out of 5 days. It's boring, Foods expensive, theres nothing to do with nightlife, etc.


This is why I'm mostly leaning towards Busan. I've heard Busan has a good nightlive, great tourist attractions, has beautiful scenery, etc.

I'm still doing my research but I mostly hear bad things about JeJu and good things about Busan. So take my post with little regard, because I'm just giving you second hand knowledge about people who claim to know.

I hope this helps in some way though, as some direction. I hope this doesnt stray you away form JeJu, because I still find it an attractive place to go.

[olabueno]

Yeah, thanks for your reply. The pics I've seen look unreal! I've heard great things about Busan too. Def. not taking any jobs near Seoul. I'm looking for low-key all the way.

[PRagic]

Just my 2 cents, but work in Pusan and play on Jeju. Wages on the island tend to be on par, but for many jobs the pay is worse. Why? A difference in perceptions. Koreans forget that most foreigners don't care too much about 1) perceived benefits of working on Jeju, or 2) the 'name value' of a school.

In general, Jeju isn't that great of a place to be, and nobody back in a foreigner's home country has ever heard of anyplace in Korea! To Koreans, however, Jeju is 'like Hawaii', and a national university or some high/middle schools are the be all end all.

[n�fara]

You'll notice that so far no one from Jeju has posted about what it's like to live there? That's because (I think) most of us don't visit Dave's ESL too often, but instead may be more involved in the Yahoo group called rhymeswithjeju.
So feel free to visit:
www.groups.yahoo.com/group/rhymeswithjeju/
for more information.

For some reason recruiters always liken Jeju to Hawaii. "Palm trees" are commonly as a "benefit". However, Hawaii is a tropical island, whereas Jeju is more sub-tropical, so the comparison isn't quite realistic.
Yes, we have some palm trees (woo-hoo?). Yes, we have a volcano (actually, a bunch of them. Hallasan is the biggest, but the island is covered in small mini-volcanoes called oreum, which are dormant). And yes, there are beaches, and some of them are quite nice.

But if you come here thinking Jeju is going to be a fantastic tropical Eden, you're bound to be disappointed. I think it recruiters do Jeju a disservice by hyping it up unrealistically. Because I actually like it here.

Here are (what I consider) some pros about Jeju:

- Hiking. If you like hiking there's heaps of it on Jeju.
Remember those oreums I mentioned before? Well, there are about 360 of them, and they are pretty fun to hike. There are other places to go to too.

- Traveling around the island.
Sure, the buses are nice and convenient. But if you live here and buy a cheap car, it's really fun to drive around the island. Taking the back roads can lead to some interesting and off-the-beaten-track type places. And driving on the island is not intimidating, even in the city.

- Oranges. They grow a bunch of them here.
During harvest time, you are liable to be given basketfulls at your school. There are just too many to sell at the market.

- Vegetables.
While winter is still cold here (don't let anyone fool you about that), it's never too cold to grow something. The farmers always have some kind of vegetable growing, and you can buy them for cheap at the farmer's markets.

- The Air. It is cleaner here, especially if you are used to a place like Seoul.
The island always has some fresh sea breeze, so it's usually quite nice. They do burn garbage in the countryside though. Thank goodness for fresh sea breezes...

- The Climate.
I won't kid you here, it's not perfect. Well, Spring and Fall are perfect. But the winters are damp and cold, and the summers (like almost everywhere in Korea) are hot and humid. But even in winter, it's never too cold to go out and do things. Just dress for it. It is warmer here than elsewhere, and Hallasan is the only place that has snow consistently for any length of time.
Oh, and it doesn't rain every 4 out of 5 days. Where did that statistic come from?

- Cheap places for residents.
Show your ARC card, and you either get free or a reduced entrance fee to many places.

- Laid back atmosphere.
At least, I think so.


Some cons:

- Travel to the mainland.
To get anywhere on the mainland you'd have to take a plane, or a ferry. Yes, that can be inconvenient. If you wanted to explore other places in Korea on your weekends, every weekend, Jeju might not be the place for you. Flights to Seoul are quite often and cheap. But you still have to fly to get there.

- Most people on Dave's ESL thinks Jeju is a crappy place to be.
So when you tell mainlanders where you work, they ask, "You work on Jeju? Why??" (actually, not really, but it just feels that way sometime )


Some other aspects, which may be pro or con depending on you:

- Jeju doesn't have a huge population (560,000 people?). Likewise, the foreign population isn't gargantuan. However, I think there are lots of nice people here. Depending on what you're into and how picky you are when you're looking for in people to hang out with, you may or may not find your crowd on Jeju.

- The nightlife here is reflective of the size of the population. There are fun places to go, but every night isn't a new party if your only consideration is going to bars. But there are other things to do too.








There's probably more I could say about Jeju, but I think this post is long enough already.

[n�fara]

If you'd like to take a look at some other aspects of Jeju, take a look at the Jeju Life magazine (www.jejulife.net). It has some good articles about the island.

[Allen]

Thanks for all this info. I will be headed to Jeju in Sept. with EPIK.

[safeblad]

I lived in Jeju. Now I live on the mainland.

I can get oranges vegetables and fresh air where i live now. The weather is better where i live now. In Jeju it DOES rain the whole time. Believe. It may be a few degrees warmer in the winter but when its windy and lashing it down you wont care. I lost count of the amount of umbrellas I broke there. Subtropical my arse. The palm trees are all imported and a lot of them in a sorry, sorry state. There is a subtropical garden in Jeju... Its INSIDE a glass building. Honestly I prefer the climate in England.

There are better beaches on the mainland. I dont have to book a flight a month in advance to get off the island. there are tons of mountains on the mainland if youre into that. The nightlife on Jeju is terrible. The supermarkets suck, even homeplus. Anything western is ridiculously expensive. There was a burger king once. It closed down. There IS a good indian restaurant there: the Bagdad '3 sauce' Cafe. There is also a mexican that sucks. To top it the Koreans there are incomprehensible simple farmer folk and the foreigners there are mostly similarly borish Canadians.

I had some good times though

[rhinocharge64]

Yep, safeblad is pretty spot on.

[olabueno]

Wow, thanks for all the info. guys (even the bashing). I'll check out that yahoo forum and that magazine too!

I love to hike,fish camp.. could care less about the nightlife..as long as there is a chill bar or two.

If I decide to take the Jeju post, I'll get in contact with guys for sure.

Any other comments would be welcomed.

[n�fara]

safeblad - wow, I'm sorry that you had such a bad time on Jeju.
It sounds like you weren't on Jeju for very long if it rained all the time (because it honestly doesn't). Perhaps you were here only during the rainy part of the summer. And you lived in the boonies surrounded by farmland. And your school situation was appalling. And everyone you met was a nasty person who happened to be Canadian. And the whole experience was so sour for you that you either left quickly without experiencing the rest of the year and the island, or you only remember the bad parts. I can only imagine that it must have been a thoroughly bad experience for you. I hope (and it sounds like) you are much happier where you are now.

But for sure Jeju isn't for everyone, so I don't expect everyone to love it. I was just surprised to find such a hate-on.

For the record:
The pros I listed about Jeju aren't exclusive. There are other parts of Korea that have them too. I hear Geoje-do is especially nice. I'd like to go there sometime.
The subtropical-ness can mostly be found near Seogwipo, on the south side of the island. There's been times when it has been raining in Jeju City, and on the drive to Seogwipo the clouds part and the sun shines down. Quite the transformation.
I think the Burger King is still open on Jeju (or it re-opened?) I'm not one to eat much fast-food though. I've seen Pizza Hut and Domino's and Dunkin' Donuts, but I can't tell you how the food tastes.
The Bagdad is a good restaurant, although it's true there isn't much variety in sauces. Excellent naan though.
There are (I think) a lot of Canadians here. I don't always ask, though, as it seems to be a sensitive subject. I am surprised at the amount of Canada-hate that goes on. However, I have met some boorish Canadians, so I think it's the "one rotten apple spoils the whole kettle of fish" thing.
Jeju residents sometimes speak in the Jeju dialect (a mix of Korean, Mongol, and other) although it's not very common, and mostly older residents know it. Although Jeju residents are really pleased and surprised if you ever show any knowledge of their dialect. You can take a look at some of the different words here: (www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeju_dialect)





On another note:
olabueno - if you like ocean fishing - awesome. You and a few friends can hire a boat for 2-4 hours or so, and the captain will take you out to a good fishing spot.
If you like river fishing - not awesome. There are no consistent rivers on Jeju. They only occur during heavy rains (because the volcanic soil is so porous everything drains straight away).

[kentucker4]

My adult students and GF all say that Jeju is very pretty.

[safeblad]