Korean Job Discussion Forums

katsu · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Location: here and there

Anyone in Jeongeup-si, Jeollabuk do? What's it like? How big is the place?
Is there a downtown area? Emart?

Can't really find much about it, aside from all the natural wonders surrounding it...but i'm wondering about the city itself. Thanks.

IlIlNine · Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: Gunpo, Gyonggi, SoKo

katsu · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Location: here and there

thanks for your reply. u really find it better than gunsan? how so? got some offers both in gunsan and jeongeup actually...
i know gunsan is bigger...why do u say jeongeup is better than gunsan? how so?

IlIlNine · Joined: 15 Jun 2005 Location: Gunpo, Gyonggi, SoKo

katsu · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Location: here and there

well not really set on any of these locations, but got offers for public schools in both of the places...i'm not really into Seoul or Gyeonggi...been there, lived there, so i thought going south would be better...though i have been in Gwangju and i hated it...Jeongeup looks nice, and it has an emart, so it can't be that bad...gunsan seems more lively, especially on their facebook site...but now that u had created this picture, i seem to have my doubts lol...
i would really like to know what's up in gunsan, perhaps i'll start a new thread...if u have anything else to add about any of the two places please reply and let me know. thanks.

Kurtz · Joined: 05 Jan 2007 Location: ples bilong me

Katsu,

I think in theory you're doing the right thing asking about all these places, but well, I don't think you can rely on other people about what they think of the place. By the way, I trust you're not in Korea so you can't check out the places first hand?

Sure, ask if there is an E-Mart etc., but anything further than that is just totally subjective. In these towns, you're going to have a fairly fluid/transient group of foreigners some of might be OK, some might be total freaks. I really wouldn't rely on the foreign teacher community, hell, I try and avoid them like the plague. I lived in a small city once, the place was overrun with geeky Canadians who wouldn't leave their apartment unless they were meeting up with 10 friends as they always roamed around in packs. That was my perspective though, see my point?

The place in question, if I remember correctly, was an average little town, just like all the rest of them. It's got its restaurant area, crumbling pavements, brand new bakeries, coffee shops....surprise surprise it's your archetypal Korean town. Seriously, the lack of regional differences in the cities here is astounding. It's near Naejangsan National Park, a very nice little place, and funnily enough it's on the KTX line.

If you're going to go rural, I'd look for places with easy escape routes to bigger cities, or places with good outdoor recreational opportunities nearby. Jeongeup-si might fit the bill.

Have you given up on Hadong?

katsu · Joined: 15 Mar 2007 Location: here and there

@Kurtz...thanks for yet another reply...ur rigth, i'm not in Korea at this moment, thus it is difficult to see the places with my own eyes. I really do like living in Korea, but I seem to prefer some places, some areas over other. I really wouldn't mind trying a small city/town/area for the experience and perhaps its meaning, but i do have my reservations, and really just want to hear what people have to say about certain areas. It's true that everyone has their own opinion and opinions vary, but at the same time i don't mind hearing people out.
I'm a city girl, so i'm wondering where and how i would fit into a certain area...putting other things aside, i still want to have an Emart close by, skin food, face shop, a bakery, a pharmacy...and little things like that. I can compromise, but to a degree, so i'm just finding out what's here and there since offers in these places pop up.
I think I would enjoy myself in Jeongeup, did some other research and this would be a potential place...however, my recruiter just let me know that they only want males for this particular school, he didn't know about that until now...it's a bummer...I guess a wrong match again! As to Hadong, I've realized that it might be just a bit out of my comfort zone...I really don't want to take the bus and have to travel to another city for Emart or HomePlus, plus they wanted me to teach at 3 schools...just seemed all too much, thus had to let it go...thanks for asking though!