Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pangaea]

I am considering moving to Gwangju and I am looking for information on the city. Anyone got any opinions/comments about living in the city? I am specifically interested in taking Korean language classes and finding a gym and convenient places to shop. Information on any English bookstores or interest groups in the city would be helpful, too. I checked meetup.com but nothing was listed. I assume the KTX makes travel to other parts of the country fairly convenient. I would like to easily be able to make it to Seoul or Busan and maybe go skiing in the winter if there is someplace close enough. Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

[poppydaisy]

which Gwangju? in which province? there are 2 Gwangju's in Korea

[pangaea]

I know, that's why my topic was Gwangju Metropolitan City. Maybe they are both the same? I don't know. It's the one in Jeolla province, not the one near Seoul.

[Smee]

Run a search here there have been a million Gwangju threads like this before.

There are Korean classes offered at the Gwangju International Center, even on Saturdays. If you're a hagwon teacher and working in the afternoons/evenings, you can take a morning three-hour course at Chonnam or Chosun Universities.

There are gyms everywhere.

There's not much in the way of English bookstores. There are a few selections at the store in the bus terminal, a few selections in the store next to Starbucks downtown, and maybe you can dig up a few in the bookstores along "hagwon street" downtown. But with whatthebook.com, you can order just about anything and have it delivered.

There are places to shop everywhere, too. A couple Home Pluses, several E-Marts, at least one Lotte Mart, a Shinsegye, and others.

Transportation in Korea is good, wherever. There's a KTX in Gwangju, and buses go everywhere, too.

There's a ski resort in Muju, which is in North Jeolla province.

There's a Facebook group for Gwangju which can answer any other questions you have, and there are tons of Facebook groups for just about everything else in Jeollanam-do.

[i]

I lived there for 3 years in the 90's. Only stayed there that long because I got married to someone who lived there. I only agreed to come back to Korea if I could live in or close to Seoul.
Kwang Ju is good for someone wanting to immerse themselves in Korean culture.
You CAN get better housing than in Seoul if you've got a decent boss. The food is worlds better than Seoul. People pride themselves in the food they make there, but it is still Korean food.
The bad: it's boring. I traveled or worked all the time since there was little to do there. Spent a lot of time traveling to Seoul and Busan.
The subway doesn't really go anywhere you need to go. I only rode it once to see what it was like.
If you've got the urge for something "Western" or "foreign" you are generally out of luck. Back then there was a small US base there and you could get black market items, but the base is long gone and I think the selection of Western items off bases would be pretty small now.
The English teachers back then rarely re-signed. They either hated it and went home, went to Seoul or to another country. And some pulled midnight runs.
People stare and kids (and even young adults) constantly yell out "Hello," "What's Your Name" and others "Son of a Bichee" and "Puck You." Like living in a fish bowl. Even now when I visit the in-laws there, the kids are the same.
In Seoul, most people ignore you. That's what I prefer.
As a side note: Things I did in Kwang Ju that I've never done in Seoul...rent movies, go to movies, go to bars, spend hours in music shops looking for out-of-print western music, go to Norebangs (karoke) with students, eaten a hamburger in a "Western" restaurant with a slice of apple (and other kinds of fruit) in it. Around Seoul, there's so much you can do, my life is world's different than when I was in Kwang Ju (now Gwang Ju).
I'm sure some things are different now but that's just my 2 cents.

[Sergio Stefanuto]

The best I can personally say about Gwangju is that it's tolerable.

It's the 6th biggest city in Korea, and compared to the 6th biggest city in any Western country that springs to mind, it's pretty lame, but, as I say, not intolerable.

Many folks teaching English in Korea are from very small towns that I've never even heard of, so naturally to some, Gwangju will seem considerably more impressive than to those who are a little more urbane.

[Smee]

Gwangju will look pretty different now than it did in the 1990s, and a lot of the items that weren't even available a few years ago can be found at Shinsegye or Home Plus. In fact Gwangju will look pretty much the same as every other place in Korea: some hills, wall-to-wall apartments, traffic.

Gwangju is tolerable, that's true, but I do like walking around. If you open your mind and eyes you can find interesting stuff. However, the best part of the city is the bus terminal, and not because it takes out elsewhere: they recently put in an IMAX, another Burger King, and the city's first Coldstone.

There are a lot of good Korean restaurants, and they just put in a Nepalese and an Indian place not too long ago. There is other "Western" food, like Fridays, Outback, VIPS, but that's, um, so-so.

I've lived in rural Korea, where the people have been supernice but the children and middle-schoolers extremely annoying. The people in Gwangju are friendly---even if their politics can be off-putting---but damn, I've never encountered more catcalls (Hellooooo! Hey! Hi! Whassup man! Nice to mee chu!) in any other place in Korea. Sure, it happens anywhere you go in this country, but whenever I walk around Gwangju I always get students, or even adults, being jackasses to me. You'll have to learn to deal with that. It's one thing I haven't really gotten used to or accepted. I'm not sure how frequent it is in Seoul or Busan, but here I have to take that into consideration when I make plans. For example I want to go to the ice skating rink, but I know that there will be tons of students there who will do nothing but stare and cat-call. At restaurants, too, the food better be good enough to take my attention away from the people staring at me.

[pangaea]

Thanks for the replies. I lived on Jeju Island for over a year so I am used to the stares, the children shouting, and the blunt comments (telling me I'm fat, I have a small head, etc.) I also got along just fine without a lot of Western goods. I actually miss Korean food which I didn't really expect. I have a few favorite dishes that I'm looking forward to having again. Of course, it would be nice to have a Friday's and an Outback close by for a good Western food fix. I'm sure I will also have to take a trip to Seoul to buy clothes every now and then but it will be a nice weekend trip.

I'm mainly concerned with finding a city where I can find Korean language classes and where I can conveniently travel to other parts of the country. Is the KTX easily accessible?

I'll check out the facebook group for Gwangju, also. Thanks for the info. I welcome any other comments!

[Sergio Stefanuto]