Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Antrugha]

Hey, I've recently gotten an offer from (what seems like a GREAT school); the International English School in Wonju. I was wondering if you guys know if this is a good school and if Wonju is a good place to live? Sounds like a nice, small city with good proximity to different cities (aka Seoul), but I was wondering how easy it would be to meet others that are in my age group which is early 20s?

[cubanlord]

i'm in wonju. check out the link below. pm me if you need more info.

[Antrugha]

[coolsage]

[C.M.]

Wonju always looks nice when I'm drunk.

[Antrugha]

hahaha, i don't know whether to take that as good or not

[zappadelta]

I lived in Wonju for a year. Wouldn't do it again.

[steroidmaximus]

Depends on what you like. I've been here my whole time in Korea, and I like it here, but then I don't go out drinking every weekend and can live without a Starbucks. If you're a nature buff, there are plenty of trails and places to walk about, and Seoul is only an hour and a bit away for that monthly / bi-weekly / daily shopping trip, with a COSTCO conveniently located off the 1 so you don't actually have to go into Seoul proper for groceries. Nature is one of the big draw points of the city, and it is listed on the WHO's list of cleanest cities to live.

If you're young and want to run around and dig the nightlife, Wonju will grow stale, fast. That's partly to do with your attitude as well, but I've seen a lot of teachers pull up stakes and move to the more cosmopolitan Seoul, Busan, Daejon etc. The local girls are not as friendly as in other places, this from a significant number of male teachers I've seen go through here in the last 6 years. Wonju people are very friendly however, and I've made some lifelong friends here. I like Gangwon-Do, since it is like eastern Canada in terms of people's attitudes and disposition towards life i.e. a lot of blue collar and tradespeople, fishermen and farmers yeehaw.

Once you know the place, you can find many of the conveniences of home in terms of food, drink and shopping. It's developing at an insane rate, so I expect there will be a good market for English in Wonju for some time to come, especially with the newly planned medical research centers: lots of doctors with lots of bucks with lots of kids needing English.

If anyone wants to come down and spend a night in Wonju, or would like more info, they're welcome to drop me a PM and we can hook up. We got a few expat bars which the GI's rule until curfew, but not bad places at that.

[Antrugha]

thanks so much for that reply steroid, it's difficult to get proper answers on this board sometimes but those that do help, tend to help sooo much and I appreciate it.

so, I've basically decided to take the plunge and go for Wonju because of how trustworty the school I will be working with seems and the fact that Wonju seems so centrally located (i love beaches/skiing) and so close to Seoul for when I *do* want to go and get the drinking out of my system.

I'm not coming to Korea to really meet girls but more to experience the culture of Korea and I guess that's why Wonju is a big draw for me. Like I said earlier though, my biggest worry is being lonely. Coming to a country whose native language I do not speak or understand and living in a smallish city is a bit of a step and I'm worried about not being able to make friends, as some people have expressed on this board. I'm not particularly religious so church may be out for me, but I was hoping to continue with my martial arts training and possibly take up judo or tae kwon do, are there any clubs in Wonju that you know of possibly? Other than that, how else would one meet individuals? Is there an english community network kind of thing by any chance or are they more scattered around?

Also, what do you do in your spare time?
Thanks a lot for the help!
Anirudh

[ttompatz]

[steroidmaximus]

Glad to hear you're making the plunge. When you arrive, drop me a PM via the board; I can hook you up with an excellent Tae Kwon Do Master who speaks better than passable English, and give you the tour. As for discussion lists, here's a link for a yahoo group that gets info for Wonju teachers passed around.

What do I do in my spare time? I don't have much of that, but I read, play with my kids, go hiking and network, baby, network.

[Snowkr]

I love Wonju.
It's not much to look at, but the people here are awesome. Wonju is also the sister city of Roanoke, Virginia... only 2 hours from my hometown. Pretty cool for me. I've met a few students from Roanoke College who've come here for the exchange.

Only two and half more months to go here but I will really miss it. I wouldn't trade it right now for another bigger city anywhere.

[zappadelta]

[dulouz]

Wonju = armpit

[dogshed]

When I get out of the big city will I need to buy a car?

How close to skiing is wonju?

How much is a season lift ticket?