Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wejazzjune]

I've been offered a position in Incheon, and am wondering if that's a good place to live. I hear it is cleaner than Seoul, and a convenient 60 minute subway ride away. Aesthetically, I'm just wondering if it's an unattractive city because it's an industrialized port. I would like to live somewhere with nice biking paths, and city culture. I suppose this for another topic, but for someone who has debts, is it even worth going to Korea right now? Average pays seem to be 2 million won (apt and flight included), but that turns out to be approximately 10 cnd dollars an hour. It's not looking as promising as I had originally hoped.

[PRagic]

You'd be better off taking a job in Seoul and living somewhere close to the Han River. Incheon is kind of a dive a city compared to Seoul, and the 'convenient 60 minute subway ride' doesn't take into consideration getting to the subway station from where you'll be living in Incheon or getting to where you want to be in Seoul.

10 years down the road, I imagine that Incheon/Songdo/YeongjongDo area might be something to see. For the time being, however, I'd take a pass. The salary you describe is the standard starting salary just about everywhere for PS jobs.

Just my 2 cents. I've never met anyone in over 15 years of life in Korea who has actually liked living in Incheon. The last time I was there (about two months ago), it was even dumpier than I had remembered.

[johnny_larue]

Well, that's a fairly negative view of Incheon for sure. Incheon is no more of a dump than most of Seoul is. If you're looking for pristine beauty neither Seoul or Incheon will be your first choice. I live in Incheon and I am quite happy with my position despite my meagre salary. I am usually able to send about $700 back to Canada a month with fairly minimal saving though.

One thing PRagic has right is that the one hour subway ride is a bit misleading. Getting to Itaewon from most places in Incheon is only 90 minutes though, which makes a trip fairly easy.

I live in the Songdo area, which is farther away from Seoul, but fairly nice. There are other nice areas too, such as the Arts Centre area. The night life around Bucheon and Buyeong is fairly nice even if it's not as good as Itaewon or Hongdae.

If you're looking for bike paths, Incheon probably isn't your best bet though. There are biking areas around Incheon, but unless you have a car with a bike rack, they will be tough to get to.

Like I say, I am pretty happy with Incheon, but that's just my two cents.

[Cohiba]

Incheon is a REALLY big place. It is more like a province than a city.
Find out exactly where you will be before you sign. If you are near
Bupyong or Guwol-Dong you will be alright. Make sure you are near
a subway station. (i.e. Bupyong Stn.) Then you can make a run to
civilization (i.e. Seoul) on a regular basis to keep your sanity and enable
yourself to buy products other than kimchi.

But, I agree with PRagic, Seoul is IT unless you are doing an in depth
study on how development, culture and globalization basically skips all
cities in a country except the capital.

[John_ESL_White]

I loved living in Incheon.

Incheon is HUGE. There are parts, near the port, that are old and unattractive, but there are several areas that are new and bustling. It's the same as Seoul, only smaller.

There are several nice mountains to climb, a lot of parks, small and large.

And, the #1 reason I like Incheon better than Seoul: It's super easy to get around. Traffic is NEVER as bad as it is in Seoul. Buses don't stall for 50 minutes in the middle of downtown, etc.

I think Incheon is an ideal place for your first trip to the ROK. Make sure you find out what "gu" and "dong" you'll be living in. Then post that info on hee so those of us who know our way around incheon can tell what sort of area you'll be in.

And, there are some GREAT biking areas in incheon- mountain biking and street... if you bring your mountain bike, there are some KILLER downhill trails...

Oh, and BTW, Seoul is a crappy place to live for more reasons than the traffic. Someone famous, maybe Mark Twain, wrote, "never judge a country on its capital". This is so true of SK.

If I would've gone to Seoul for my first gig here, I would've left after 1 month. The place is an armpit. It's definately not a NYC (yes, I know NYC is not a cap.), Tokyo, or Berlin. Incheon beats Seoul hands down, unless you just want to travel around the world to be around a ton of white english teachers and hang out with them in "western bars"...

[PRagic]

Well, you do something long enough and you hear it all. I've been in and out of Korea since the late 80s, and living here for 16 years pretty much straight. That's the first time I've ever heard anyone even hint that Incheon is superior in any way to Seoul, and that includes our Korean friends who live in Incheon!

When I first moved to Seoul, I could literally walk out of my apartment and up into a mountain. Flash forward 15 years: I now live a 5 minute bike ride to the Han River with it's constantly improving bike and running paths. 15 minutes by bike away are mountain bike and dirt trails - you literally forget you're in a city. The university were I work is like one huge park, and has hiking and bike paths all the way around and through it.

But, sure, if you dig Incheon, enjoy it. And I did say, by the way, that in 10 years or so, that whole area will probably be pretty nice, especially Songdo and YeongjongDo.

[pogoro]

I live in Seo Incheon. I had thought Incheon would be less polluted than Seoul because it's closer to the ocean, but in fact it's MORE polluted because of all the industry. Now we're starting to see the yellow dust---it hits us first from the Gobi Desert---and you can't see the tops of skyscrapers a few blocks away. I have asthma and have suffered a lot, always on medication, often on antibiotics for bronchitis.
In other words, don't come here.
On an added note, Incheon is a "bedroom" community. There's not much of note in regards to traditional Korean culture. There are no good Western restaurants and not much by way of interesting shopping areas.
It is nice to have easy access to hiking in the mountains---that's the only positive thing I can say about it.

[John_ESL_White]

[wejazzjune]

[PRagic]

John_ESL_White makes some interesting points but, like I said, I had never heard that opinion before. I guess to elaborate, I'd have to say that it's not that Incheon doesn't have some things; it's just that Seoul has everything Incheon has and then a whole lot more! I'd rather have access to all Seoul has to offer, and then take the 'convenient commute' to Incheon once in a while to enjoy that little oyster by the sea than do it the other way around.

Do some searching on the Net and you'll easily find a ton of things that Seoul has to offer. No, it isn't the least polluted city in the entire world, but it's far from the worst! And, yes, there are still some areas on the Han River bike path that need some work, but there are a LOT of stretches (like around where we live) that are awesome for miles on end. Hell, I can bike to Kyongi-Do via the Han path!

Of course, everyone comes to Korea for a different reason, with different wants and needs. I'm originally from a burb of a smaller city in NY State. I'd lived in bigger cities, but I wanted to experience a BIG city, which is why I wanted Seoul. I also wanted proximity to universities, language programs, cultural attractions and major transportation links to the rest of the country. Professionally, I wanted to be as close to as many opportunities in as many industries as possible. Didn't hurt at the time to be close to immigration and the U.S. embassy as paperwork was even a bigger pain in the arse then than it is now. I figured if a quarter of the Korean population wanted to be in or really near Seoul, there had to be something to it, and that was a good call.

But it's not what everyone wants. Some people want to be the only foreigner in their town and school to get that 'nobody has ever done this or been here' experience. That's cool. Some people want to see if they actually have what it takes to make a complete break from their home culture for a year without going bonkers, and that's no easy task. Some people feel that their overseas experience is cheapened if they go to western style establishments and are surrounded by people from English speaking countries. You can get that in both Seoul and Incheon, but you have to go looking for it in both cities, rest assured, although the area is a bigger blip on the map in Seoul.

So I guess I'm pro-Seoul for a variety of reasons, primarily professionally, but also for reasons of comfort and convenience. It's a small country, and I'd rather take the short jaunt to experience the rest of it while living in Seoul. Some people say that you don't get the 'real Korea' if you're in Seoul. What the hell doesn THAT mean? Seoul is in Korea and the people in Seoul are Korean. Koreans in Seoul are no more un-Korean than Americans in Chicago are un-American. Bunk.

[wejazzjune]

PRagic, that post pretty much sold me. I'm not into partying all the time, but I do want to be close to major cultural attractions. But thank you to everyone that took the time to answer my question.

[riverboy]

I can say that Incheon has just about everyting I need in a city. I also found Seoul to be far too crowded and I just never saw the big attraction, or what was better.

Itaewon, or Hongdae, if you like to be around drunk expats I suppose. As for pollution, it depends on which part of Incheon I guess. I know living in YeonSu Songdo, the air is much cleaner than in Bupyeong, but it is a bit out of the way. As far as the yellow dust, it covers the whole penninsula, so where ever you are, it is not pretty.

I think that in some cases, you can get a job where you would be, or feel a bit isolated though. Seo gu, Or Seo Incheon would be one of those places. Non Hyeon Dong another. I would recommend Bupyeong, Gyeyang, Guwol Dong or Yeon Su Dong. All have a decent enough night life and expat community to get you through your first year.

I've been here going on seven years now and I'm not going anywhere soon.

[Crockpot2001]

I've been in Incheon (Songdo actually) for a year now. I too was looking forward to being in a big city that also featured good cycling access and a wide range of foods. Bust.

The bike paths here are merely government provided parking lots for the businesses. Although the path issues are in every part of Korea, I am sure, it's particularly problematic here and seems to be encouraged by the city to keep the streets flowing. I find that if I want to get somewhere I need to just get on the road and hammer like my life depends on it...actually it does at times. The upside of the seldom used paths is that there are fewer walking zombies. You will understand once you've been here a while. Warning: if you hit one, even if it's their bad (probably), you might be in trouble.

The range of food here is pathetic for the total number of people. We have found a few gems in places like Bupyong but nothing great south of there towards Dongmak. There is rumor of a Paki restaurant but we've yet to see it.

If we were to get transfered to Seoul for some reason we would miss the low traffic which was already mentioned. However, subway transport and the sheer number of things we enjoy in Seoul would make up for it.

[riverboy]

Hey CrocPot
I just got back from a bikke ride on the trails (with a few short cuts through streets), Right out to the ocean. Plus there is a trail right behind Emart that works it's way to Incheon Grand Park.

As far as food, I guess you have to get used to Korean food.

There is an Indian/Nepalese restaurant right at Bupyeong, A Russian one in Dong Incheon, Songdo resort has a few good restaurants including an Italian one (I heard) There is a Thai restaurant in Guwol dong as well...

And, I have a Charcoal BBQ on my balcony and routinely take it down to under the bridge for some steak and some cold Tsing Tao from the foreigner stores in Nam Dong.

I love Song Do!

[Crockpot2001]