Korean Job Discussion Forums

[teretere]

Any thoughts on Lisbon, specifically Cascais, would be appreciated.

[bucheon bum]

Just visited for a few days. Nice, mid-sized European city. Cheaper than a lot of Western Europe (but not by a lot). Pretty compact, not too difficult to get around. Certainly wouldn't mind living there.

Porto and Coimbra are also pleasant cities that are worth visiting.

[deizio]

Lived in Porto for a year, had fun although wasn't the most lucrative year of my life. Only visited Lisbon briefly and never Cascais, although did teach students from there and got the impression it was a fairly affluent area by portuguese standards?

English wasn't widely spoken compared to other places in Europe and I found the people and culture a little more impenetrable than e.g. Spain. The countryside and coast were nice, good weather, but imho whatever Portugal has, Spain does it a little better.

Not sure if you're planning on teaching there; I had a language school job and was mostly traipsing around different offices during the day with classes at school some evenings and sat mornings. I quite enjoyed the independence of it but the money was subsistence (salaries were lower but prices are about the same as Spain) and the travel was a grind.

Despite being in the EU it's quite a poor country, not so noticeable at first glance but there's a steep drop off outside city centres and tourist areas.

To sum up: Porto 7/10, Portugal generally 6/10. your mileage may vary...