Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kiwiluvesyew]

My s.o. and I are looking to find a job in Changwon, we were told that we would get bored, we would hate it, and there are no foreigners except for the 20 people that go to O'Briens. We were also told that older people were normally placed there. The first place we thought about was Busan, but we're really into being outside, hiking, sight seeing, and not into choking on the air. Right now we keep mostly to ourselves, but we don't want to miss out on the Korean experience.

PLEASE if you live or know people who have lived in Changwon, let me know.

Basically, any advice on Chagwon or any of the schools in Changwon would be appreciated.

Thanks so much!

[sojourner1]

I asked Austin who runs O'briens how many foreign teachers are in Changwon and he said 300 to 400 were present. Your recruiter is lying, because he/she wants to fill another job with you. My recruiter was the same who wanted to place me in Pohang, but I insisted on Changwon and got it.

I lived and worked in Changwon all of 2007 for a hagwon which paid 2 million won, but they raised it by 100,000 when my job went back up for grabs back in January. Changwon is not a bad city at all; in fact, it has a good reputation with many returning or staying permanently. It's a medium sized city or about 500,000 people population. At home this size is considered a big city and does more pollution than I was like to live and work with though not nothing foul like I smelled in Seoul City.

Changwon has amenities of the big cities such modern stores, western style restaurants and hofs, and government offices such as NPS, but also enough smallness to not eat too much of your time in getting around to do things. Changwon has large boulevards and many sidewalks. Yes, I said; Sidewalks!
Though much of the dongs do not have sidewalks like common in Asian countries which will make you feel like cars and motorbikes are on your arse all the time.

[SirFink]

[just because]

[bejarano-korea]

Changwon is allright actually, It isn't the place to be if you love nightclubbing but if you like hiking and the outdoor life like you said - Changwon is pretty good, its modern, clean and safe.

It is big enough to have all the amineties - I'm coming back soon and have decided on Seoul and district. But you won't come to any harm in Changwon thats for sure.

[Recruiting Busan]

I just wanted to clear this up before it gets to some nasty and unnecessary name-calling.

#1. When Kristin and Zach applied, it was to my job advertisement for Busan jobs. When I replied to them, they said they were most interested in Changwon jobs. I had just gotten up and Zach and I were to talk on SKYPE. I logged on but no talking as it was just chatting. I was going to try to ask what they wanted but Zach was straight to the point asking questions like the name of the school and the salary so I didn�t get a chance to find out what he wanted. I think the thing I found funny was that Zach quoted some poll saying Changwon was the best city to live in Korea. As I had never heard that before from a foreigner I thought it was funny. I had some negative experiences with placing teachers in Changwon and in all but one case; the reason for leaving was the city or people, not the school. Since then I have basically stopped recruiting for Changwon unless someone specifically asks for Changwon. My opinion was that you�d enjoy life much more in Busan than Changwon.


#2. My apologies to anyone that likes living in Changwon, especially Austin. I remember meeting you a few times in Busan and you are a really nice guy. Chris, Andrew and I were going to buy the Busan O�Briens from you until they excluded me from the purchase. I guess they didn�t want me taking 1/3 of the profits. LOL!
Let me just say that I don�t really know Changwon. I�ve been there 3 times and they weren�t for pleasure so I only saw a small part of it. Also, my information is at least 3 years old and I told Josh this. Went to O�Briens (very nice place) for 10 minutes or so and there were about 20 people there. Then I left. All my information is from teachers we have placed. In general, it was that teachers that were younger didn�t like it as much as older teachers. I didn�t know Changwon had 200-300 foreigners.
So again, sorry Changwon!
I don�t know Changwon but I do know Busan. I know from the hundreds of foreign teachers we have placed as well as from living here that Busan is a one of the best places to live in Korea. I�ve lived in Busan and Seoul so maybe I don�t know what it�s like to live in a small city, but that�s my opinion.


#3. After chatting with Josh, I have at no point offered them a job in Busan. They seemed to want to go to Changwon so I told them to check it out and even gave them some e-mail addresses of teachers we had placed in Changwon but left. I wanted them to hear the good as well as the bad. For this reason, I am offended by any suggestions that I am trying to push a shitty hagwon job in Busan. This is totally untrue! And how can you push a shitty hagwon anywhere on anybody when all it takes is a phone call or e-mail to a teacher there to get the info.

That�s it! Nuff said!

I do hope Josh and Kristin find a good job whether it�s Changwon or some other city.

[Recruiting Busan]

The previous post is now deleted.

Thank you Dave, Zack, Kristin or whomever it was that deleted the last post.

[kiwiluvesyew]

Zachary and I, Kristina, deleted it. I'm not sure who Josh and Kristin are.
There would never be any name-calling, we just want to find out from people who live there.

[Recruiting Busan]

Sorry. My Bad!

I was out all night and I need sleep. I meant Zach and Kristina.

Also, one last thing. When I was chatting with Zach, I gave Changwon a 7/10 on how much they would probably like living in there. I hope the Changwon people aren't too upset.

Bed time! My body needs sleep!

[jackdaniels]

One of my uni classmates is teaching down there and he loves it.

[Avram Iancu]

Changwon is tremendous. Plenty of youth to go with any older teachers and the older engineers.

As for Austin and "O'Briens", best bar in Korea (only being edged by "Geckos" because of volume and the resultant shenanigan potential).

[kiwiluvesyew]

Thanks for everyone who's responded! This all helps tremendously! What I'm wondering now is... what are the chances that my s.o. and I will find jobs at the same school, in Changwon that start August or later, and actually pay decently? I've yet to get an offer that meets all these criteria and we've been looking for about a month.
I'm starting to think I should look at other places, but Changwon does really seem to fit what we are looking for. Any suggestions?