Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kiwiduncan]

Does anyone here have any experience of wwoofing (volunteer work on hippy farms in exchange for food, board and so on) in Korea? Also, has anyone ever visited any of Korea's eco-villages?

There are two of them that I've been told of. One of them is out near HwaSeong, not far from Seoul, and the other is near Youngju in Kyeongsangbukdo. They look prety cool - organic food, alternative schools, natural buiding materials and so on. they even have what look like composting toilets.

www.yamagishism.co.kr (near Seoul)

www.educovillage.com (Kyeongsangbuk Do)






[img]
http://educovillage.com/gandhi/Data/file/old3/41ac3d85_a246661a758dacafc9ddaa37e95afafd.jpg[/img]

[isthisreally]

I went to Jiri Mountain Bio Land about a year ago. I wasn't too impressed. The farm was sort of large scale and I ended up doing some non farming work too. The guy that runs it is also a very busy business man. Everyone was nice and they took care of me, but just wasn't what I want when I visit an organic farm (actually I'm not even sure if it was organic). This was my third experience wwoofing I have done it twice before in the states.

Oh and the wwoofing agency here is really helpful with getting you to your farm and arranging stuff.

[kiwiduncan]

[fusionbarnone]

Go to "stewart green homepage".

I met the dude a few years ago and that is how(woofing) he travels the world. He's visited more than a hundred countries at present and has no intention of stopping.

You could email him.

[mrsquirrel]

I thought Koreans would be too conservative for it?

Is it the same as in the UK where you pull into a known car park and flash your Kia's headlights a certain number of times to indicate what you are into.

I would be really scared of getting a wrinkly skinned, tight permmed adjuma.

[kermo]

I should put you in touch with my boyfriend. He's wwoofed all over the world, but was a bit exasperated with the locations in Korea. He even worked for a while at that place in Hwaseong.

As the for the "alternative school," there's a strange story there. He was pulled from the fields and told "The teacher doesn't want to teach today. You've got to go do it." (He's a scientist, not a teacher, but whatever.)

He discovered that "alternative" meant "no discipline whatsoever." For instance, the students are not only allowed to sleep in class-- they are allowed to *bring their own pillows.*

[Yu_Bum_suk]

Wouldn't this be a great way to exploit young, naive westerners? Not only could you get them to do farm work for free, but you could get them teaching English part-time at an on-site 'volunteer' English club where you secretly charge the parents a shit-load of money.

[isthisreally]

[kiwiduncan]

[kermo]

[jeremyslome]

i am not sure about where this blog is. can anyone help me find information on wwoof in korea? i sent an e-mail to wwoof, but it was rejected and sent back. anyone have any contact information for farms in korea?

[summer33ny]

http://www.ota.com/pics/documents/koreanmarketoverview.pdf

I had found this link which lists contact info for Smile Farm, which is an organic farm located about an hour outside of Seoul and is part of a coop of several other organic farms. It sounds like an interesting place. Anyone ever go?

I will be going to teach english in Korea in a few months and am trying to find a decent location with a lot of local, organic farms nearby. Anyone live in such a place???

[moosehead]

they used to have a regular website connected to the main woof one - but then they changed it and started charging 50,000 won just to browse - that is, you had to join the woof K first - !!

considering K's rep in general for ripping people off, exploitation of workers and general ignorance about organic foodstuffs (pesticide use is rampant here) I wouldn't waste my time - try woof Japan - I hear they are excellent.