Korean Job Discussion Forums

[c_malinow]

I'm looking into teaching at this place in Gumi, has anyone had any experience with this place? I can only find limited old posts about it. Is it a good place to work?

Does anybody know what Gumi is like? Do you need a car to get around or is there public transportation? Thanks

[tomato]

I lived there for about a year and a half.
It's a nice place.
It has public transportation, but I seldom needed it.
I had everything I needed in walking distance.

I worked at Che Yoon Hi, but wouldn't have if I had checked the blacklists.

I took Japanese classes at another school, but the director kicked me out.
He assumed that I was incapable of understanding what was going on in class without English translation.
I heard that that director had quite a pattern of having disagreements with his foreign teachers.

I was about ready to go through a lawyer, but someone told me of another school just a couple of blocks away which also offered Japanese classes.
I'm sorry, but I can't remember the name of either school.

My apartment was a block away from the public library, which had a nice park adjoining.
My roommate hung out with other wegukin's at a bar.
I am an introverted nerd, so I never went there.
If I recall correctly, the name of the bar was "Extra."

[yeremy]

Gumi's not bad to live in. It's more like an industrialized bedroom suburb, which shuts down around 10 pm, than a rockin hot spot. If you want to prowl the big bars or go clubbing, you want to check out Daegu. Gumi has a population of about 300,000 to 400,000. It's one of the bigger cities in Gyeongbuk. It has 3 or 4 colleges or universities. Hagwon row in Gumi is in Hyungok dong, which is the center of the city.

Gumi also has an E-Mart, a Lotte Mart, a HomePlus, a CGV movie complex, a VIP's and a Viking seafood buffet bar inside of the Lotte Mart. The KTX stops in Gumi (check the schedule for yourself, pls) and as the previous poster said, there is bus service though a car is very handy if you end up living in the less developed parts of Gumi, or you want to go to Costco in Daegu or take a day trip out of Gumi. Most of the foreign English teachers who live here do take the train to get out of Gumi. There is also an English Plus here and one big bookstore, which has a very small English section. Waygook Cook is the most famous foreign restaurant in Gumi and they have a rugby team which travels and plays other teams in Korea.

The locals are friendly and hiking is popular with the middle-aged or older and the cycling is quite good here, too. The English teaching jobs are either in the hagwons, in the public schools (elementary to high school) or in the local colleges and university.

[c_malinow]

Thanks for your replies. Thats horrible that you got kicked out of your school! Do you know if most of the schools in Gumi are like that? Yeah, it seems like the type of area I would be interested in after living in NYC for 10 years. It seems to have all of the amenities and less hassle. I'm also more of the hiking and cycling type that doesn't go clubbing at all.

Have you guys ever heard of the Global Foreign Language Institute? The guy I had an interview with over the phone seemed o.k., I'm just wondering if anybody might of had any experience with them.