Korean Job Discussion Forums

[gnomead]

Hey all,

I'm sure it's been asked before but I could really use some help narrowing my choice of locations down before I start the job hunt.

My plan is to work for a hagwon and save as much money as possible, so I'm expecting to be working a lot. With that in mind, having easy access to some nice trailheads year-round for hiking and some decent bike trails in the warmer months would greatly increase my chances of maintaining sanity.

So far I've narrowed it down to either the outskirts of Seoul near the greenway, or a smaller city (200,000+) in Gyeonggi-do or Gangwon-do. I'm favoring the northern provinces because I've heard it's a little less humid and the ski resorts get more snow there.

Here are some thoughts I've had so far. Anyone care to expand on or dispel any? Northern Seoul near Bukan-san N.P. looks great but I've read that the park trails are closed for about 4 months out of the year (although it looks like there's plenty of other trails nearby). What about near Namhan Sanseong Provincial Park (sounds like some of the best xc biking trails): Hanam, Seongnam, Songpa-gu? As far as Gangwon-do, I'm thinking Wonju, Chuncheon, maybe Gangneung? Can I really save that much more If I live outside of Seoul? Are all of the trails around Seoul usually super crowed? If so, I might lean more towards Gangwon.

I still want to be able to go out once in a while and maybe go on a date or two, but that's secondary to getting outdoors and saving money, for me. Am I asking too much? If not, where should I be looking?

[nosmallplans]

I'd suggest Bundang or Suwon - those are pretty close to all the good mountain biking.

[gnomead]

Thanks for the suggestions. Bundang does look pretty good-even better if I was a golfer. Seongman looks closer to more trails but then there's the Seoul air base nearby which might be noisy enough to offset the benefits? Anyang is looking pretty good too but I hear it's pricey. Suwon? ...possibly. Now that I'm getting more familiar with the layout I'm realizing there's options within range of just about everywhere in and around Seoul.

This map, cross-referenced with google earth and a couple of good mtn biking sites, has been a big help:

http://emap.visitkorea.or.kr/Scripts/EngMap.aspx

It's got a lot of important landmarks, including trails and parks, public buildings, etc..., even some shopping centers and public schools. All these resources are making it far too easy to comparison shop for locations.

[bassexpander]

Bundang.

[kiwiduncan]

As the others have already suggested, you can't go wrong with Bundang. Good trails nearby an close enough to Seoul and the other riding options north, east and west of the city.

Namhansanseong has excellent trails, some of them xc-ish and others bit rougher and steeper. One of the best trails is Honeybee, though it's been a few years since I rode it and I don't know if it's still open to mountainbikes. On one occasion we encountered branches deliberately laid across the tracks there, so it seems not all Korean hikers are happy to see mountain bikers .

Good news and bad news about Bukhansan National Park. The good news is the borders of the park were extended a couple of years ago, which I hope would benefit the plants and wildlife there. The bad news is there are now signs, written in Korean, poltely advising people not to ride mtbs on some of the excellent trails on the lower hills of the park.

I'd forget going for small towns and cities far away from Seoul, Busan, Daegu or Taejeon. I was in Yeosu for a year and though the scenery was nice, the trails were too disjointed and far toosteep (and I normally like hillclimbs) and there was basically no one to ride with.

Seoul and environs, Daegu, Busan and Daejeon (seen some great Korean biking photos and video from there) are your best choices.

[gnomead]

Good to hear Bundang is that nice. Any reason not to go with Seongnam or are they pretty much referred to as the same? I'm just wondering because it looks to be a little closer to the action (biking and otherwise).

I'm not surprised to hear about bad sentiments and trail closures. Even somewhere that's as tolerant as Korea sounds like it is regarding mtn biking there's bound to be conflicts. I'm also wondering how many trails have been lost to development in the last few years. There's an awful lot of golf courses in that southern area.

Thanks for pointing out Daejeon, it looks like it has a lot going for it. Plus, according to Moon Handbooks, the 2010 Winter Olympics are at Muju Resort-about 30 miles away. Too bad, Vancouver.

[Underwaterbob]

Go for Chungcheongbuk Do. Work for EPIK (they're desperate for teachers here). You'll make more money, save more money, and be in one of the more beautiful areas of the country. Keep in mind you might not manage too much of a social life if you end up somewhere too rural.

[Crockpot2001]

[Kurtz]

I've found/been shown some pretty good XC trails in Busan, it's very mountainous here, not bad hiking too with many mountains in the general area to explore. Downside is you have to go quite early to escape the crowds.

[Kurtz]

Ah my mistake, you want to live in the north, anyways Busan is pretty good for riding.