Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kitkatl3ar]

Hi! Has anyone used the recruiting agency "Travel and Teach" or taught in Daegu? I am in contact with them now and just wondering if they're good.

Also, TT sends teachers to a bunch of cities in S. Korea, but for some reason I'm specifically interested in Daegu (they also send to Ulsan, Cheonan, Seoul, and others). Can anyone offer some insight on Daegu, what the schools are like, what it's like to live there, etc.. also if you have any suggestions on other cities, that would be great!!

I'm currently a college grad interested in teaching in an urban location (small cities okay, I'm thinking Seoul may be too big) that's got tons of culture and things to do.

Thanks!

[nate2008]

OP: If you are new to Dave's, this web site and forum is notorious for being full of negativity and hatred for Korea, so you may end up with many bad responses. Try and ignore the ones that are clear Korea bashing, and only pay attention to people with reasoned opinions.

Let me first approach the "thinking of a small city" idea: I was also very open to the idea of teaching in a small city, but ended up in Daegu. I have to say, I think I got VERY lucky. Small cities in Korea are nice to visit, but living there would be hell in my opinion. I think you would quickly run out of things to do. In many small cities, on the weekends things close earlier than they do in large cities it seems. And if you ever want to visit smaller cities, all the ones worth visiting are mostly accessible by train or bus, and are relatively easy and cheap to get to. Summary: live in a big city, visit small cities on long weekends and such.

Regarding Daegu: Personally, I love Daegu. The foreign community is really good, there are tons of nice and fun people. We know how to have a good time. Compared to Seoul or Busan, the foreign nightlife may be considered somewhat limited - there are maybe half a dozen clubs/bars that are frequented by mostly foreigners, plus another half dozen Korean places that are semi-frequented by foreigners. The city itself is just like any other large city in Korea. There is a large theme-park-type thing in the center of town, plus the city is surrounded by mountains if you enjoy hiking.

Regarding Schools: Public schools are all I can comment on, but they seem like good quality schools for the most part. Personally I LOVE my school. They treat me well, work is easy, and I have many co-worker friends who are not even English teachers, just cool guys I enjoy hanging out with after work from time to time. Also, I have yet to hear a true horror story from any of my public school friends (which is a significant amount of people).

Negative things about Daegu: Honestly I am struggling to think of any. I would say that the nightlife can get a little redundant, and more selection of things to do would be nice, but I can't remember the last time I was bored here.

All in all, I would highly recommend coming to Daegu.

Regarding your recruiter, I have no idea about them, but are they trying to set you up with a hagwon job or a public school job?

[Sector7G]

I have been in Daegu about a month after living in Busan, which I loved and hated to leave.

But Daegu is turning out to be a lot cooler than I had imagined, for all of the reasons nate2008 mentioned.

The only discouraging word I have heard is that it's hotter than Hades in the summer, at least when it's not monsoon.

[Xuanzang]

Flying out on vacation can be a pain in the butt if you need to do it from Incheon. Gimhae has some flights but limited access.

[Pa Jan Jo A Hamnida]

Daegu will be hotter than hell. Expect to sweat. Culturally it is quite conservative and not as enlightened as Busan or Seoul. Otherwise, it is really up the person whether or not the place will be suitable for them.

[EzeWong]

I decided to come to Daegu after intensive research of SK.

But overall here are some of the major beneifts of Daegu

1) Hiking/Nature. Daegu has readily accessible greenery and hiking that is always less than 1 hour away. During the summer months is absoultely goregous and I can't imgine not being around some trees once in a while. Also, there is a spectacular view of the mountains at all time. Always inspiring to wake up groggy and dead, get outside and breathe and take in the spectacular view.

2) Conservatisim. This can be good or bad, but I attribute to good. There are a lot of good people here that have good principals. Most of the people I met are genuienly nice and will take you into their homes. People will want you to fit right in, even if you are a forieigner. I enjoy a night on the town a lot but I'm hard working too, so it's good to be around like minded people when you go to work.

3) Suburb feel. Honestly, You would think this is a bad thing but it actually is highly advantageous. Daegu isn't so crowded as Seoul or Busan. Although, it's very populated it's not densely populated. You aren't ear to ear full of people and no one's up in your grill all the time. Yet you can stilll go downtown and get swarmed with people around you. So basically you have the option of being in a crowded area or not. In Seoul... you have nowhere to run.

4) Girls. Ok I'm being very serious and mature about this. The girls in Daegu are rumored to be the most goregous looking girls in all of South Korea. I have to admit there is a large amount of pretty faces... articial or not I'm not always sure, but since Daegu is highly conservative, plastic surgery is less prevalent and you see a lot of natural beauties.

I'm sure there are more things that I just can't think of right now. You still have many options for things, even food. There are french, italian, and even chinese/american fusion food. No shortage of things to do.


PS. Sup nate? How ya doing?

[kitkatl3ar]

nate, i think they are going to set me up with a public school. if i had a choice, i would choose that over a hawgon.

right now i'm deciding between seoul and daegu. daegu sounds nice, but i have been talking to some korean-american friends and they recommend seoul instead. it may be they only know seoul and have never been to daegu.

how easy is it to travel out of daegu to other places in korea? are their bus/train systems reliable? would it be easy to go to seoul for the weekend, for example?

also, traveling around the city itself. do they have a decent transportation system.. what is there to do downtown? i have lived in coastal cities my entire life, how far is daegu from the water?

[Skippy]

Daegu is a good play to start! Great for newbs to get their nails sharp on.

I worked their quite a few years and left it a few years ago too. I go back for trips and all I can say is it gets better each year!.

Remember this is Korea! At times Daegu, it's people, or your school will suck! But remember it wold suck 10 times worse in a small town or small city!

[Xuanzang]

[DavePuff]

[nate2008]

The subway is great. If you happen to live nowhere near a subway (the subway goes in a large X shape and thus anything due north, east, south or west will be far from a subway) then the bus system will get you wherever you need to go.

Downtown Daegu is a lot of fun. There aren't many sky-scrapers...in fact there really aren't any. But the area is very busy all the time, even on a random Monday afternoon it will be busy. There are hundreds of restaurants and shops. There are 3 or 4 movie theatres, all of which play both Korean and English movies. All the best nightlife is downtown, and you will run into many foreigners downtown.

There are 2 major train stations in Daegu. A KTX from Daegu to Seoul will take about 1.5-2 hours and cost around 40,000 won. The slow train (mughawan or something weird like that) to Busan will take about an hour and cost around 7,000 won. A slow train to Gyeongju will be almost exactly the same price and also take about an hour. I highly recommend going to Gyeongju at least once to see the temples and the ocean. I plan on going when the Cherry blossoms begin to appear as I hear it's beautiful.

If you go to Pohang, don't go swimming! The waters near Pohang are very near to many factories and I hear that the waters are highly polluted.