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E_athlete
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Location: Korea sparkling
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 Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 11:12 am Post subject: Iksan? Anyone been here? |
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Yeah I have no idea what this place is like. Has anyone taught English here?
The only information I have with me is what I got from wiki and this blog ->http://fortyminutesofhell.blogspot.com/2008/12/revenge-is-dish-best-served-after-youve.html |
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TheChickenLover
Joined: 17 Dec 2007
Location: The Chicken Coop
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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I live in that city. It's somewhat small, but has most of the amnemities that you'd need to live comfortably. Not much of a real nightlife (I stopped clubbing years ago) but if you want a quieter place, it can be comfortable.
Chicken
PS: My 4 week ban is over! YAY \o/ |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 5:58 pm Post subject: |
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| TheChickenLover wrote: |
I live in that city. It's somewhat small, but has most of the amnemities that you'd need to live comfortably. Not much of a real nightlife (I stopped clubbing years ago) but if you want a quieter place, it can be comfortable.
Chicken
PS: My 4 week ban is over! YAY \o/ |
I lived there my first year but then headed to the big cities. But you know what? I may go back. I liked it there.
No, not much of a night life, but enough of one. Jeonju is only 40 minutes away if you want some more diversity. The fairly large city of Daejeon is only 1 hour away by KTX.
Speaking of the KTX, Iksan maybe the smallest city in Korea that has a KTX stop. That is a huge plus as you can get to Seoul in less than 2 hours. Or south to Mokpo in about the same amount of time or less. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:12 pm Post subject: |
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| One more thing. I just heard that 18 of 20 teachers who worked for my old company, but all at different public schools, are re-signing for another year. These are mostly 20 somethings and 30 somethings that like to have fun. That should tell you something. |
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E_athlete
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Location: Korea sparkling
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:16 pm Post subject: |
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thanks for your input. I might be going somewhat soon. The pay is 2.1 million won which i think is pretty decent. I was just worried with all these things Ive heard about the city.
I dont really mind a small city and what not. I just hope I can get good food outside for cheap. I heard about the KTX there, Im curious though how much it costs to go to seoul and back? I want to also take the green subway that goes around the city.
what were your monthly expenses like in iksan?
internet?
food? (eating out korean food everyday)
...that pretty much covers my living expenses unless im supposed to pay utilities for housing. For phone Ill use my internet + laptop + skype w/ unlimited korean calls which is about 6 bucks each month. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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| E_athlete wrote: |
thanks for your input. I might be going somewhat soon. The pay is 2.1 million won which i think is pretty decent. I was just worried with all these things Ive heard about the city.
I dont really mind a small city and what not. I just hope I can get good food outside for cheap. I heard about the KTX there, Im curious though how much it costs to go to seoul and back? I want to also take the green subway that goes around the city.
what were your monthly expenses like in iksan?
internet?
food? (eating out korean food everyday)
...that pretty much covers my living expenses unless im supposed to pay utilities for housing. |
What things did you hear about?
Iksan doesn't have a subway. If you are talking about Seoul, I am unfamiliar with the Green Subway.
Internet was around 35,000 won.
I mostly cooked for myself, but eating out is cheap. Usually less than 5,000 per meal.
Yes, most places require you to pay your own utilities. Could be as low as 25,000 a month and as high as 100,000 depending on your usage.
Here's the Korail link:
http://www.korail.com/en/pr/pr21100/w_pr21110.jsp |
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E_athlete
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Location: Korea sparkling
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 6:30 pm Post subject: |
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| good stuff im loving this forum. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Wed Jun 10, 2009 8:52 pm Post subject: |
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E_athlete wrote:
thanks for your input. I might be going somewhat soon. The pay is 2.1 million won which i think is pretty decent. I was just worried with all these things Ive heard about the city.
What things did you hear? |
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E_athlete
Joined: 09 Jun 2009
Location: Korea sparkling
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| Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 9:19 am Post subject: |
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| Sector7G wrote: |
E_athlete wrote:
thanks for your input. I might be going somewhat soon. The pay is 2.1 million won which i think is pretty decent. I was just worried with all these things Ive heard about the city.
What things did you hear? |
-child prostitution. some 28yr old got arrested for sex with a 16 yr old.
-employers cheating teachers by artificially inflating korean taxes and skimming money off them.
-iksan is a ghetto and people are not happy.
-not very many foreigners/teachers.
the only thing that bothers me is the skimming money part. Other than that I can live with the rest. |
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Sector7G
Joined: 24 May 2008
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| Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2009 4:32 pm Post subject: |
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| E_athlete wrote: |
| Sector7G wrote: |
E_athlete wrote:
thanks for your input. I might be going somewhat soon. The pay is 2.1 million won which i think is pretty decent. I was just worried with all these things Ive heard about the city.
What things did you hear? |
-child prostitution. some 28yr old got arrested for sex with a 16 yr old.
-employers cheating teachers by artificially inflating korean taxes and skimming money off them.
-iksan is a ghetto and people are not happy.
-not very many foreigners/teachers.
the only thing that bothers me is the skimming money part. Other than that I can live with the rest. |
Well, I never heard the one about child prostitution, and I think I would have, because that type of news would spread like wildfire. I think I did hear some gossip about some high school girls in Jeonju hooking up with older men via the internet. At any rate, stuff like that is extremely isolated. The Koreans are very protective of their children.
Iksan is far from being a ghetto. It's as clean or cleaner than most cities it's size. There may be a few older, run down neighborhoods, but I have never heard any one describe Iksan as a ghetto before.
Just guessing, but I'd say there are at least around 100 westerners there. EPIK and YMCA provide for the public schools, and there are the usual slew of hagwons. Wonkwang University also has about 8 teachers in their language center, not to mention the regular university faculty. There are several bars where people hang out, and probably several large cliques of people who get together regularly.( I use that word in the good sense).
I saved the skimming problem for last. Yes, one certainly has to be on the look out for that, but that is a problem everywhere in Korea and definitely not just an Iksan problem. Read some more on Dave's and you will see what I mean. Just keep watch on your pay stubs. They may try to scam, but the law is usually good about forcing employers to comply. |
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