Korean Job Discussion Forums

[chaiplz]

I have read thread after thread about how bad Ulsan is, and thread after thread about how great it can be. I've been seriously considering it, but I can't tell if the older threads are still valid or the people that were saying it's great are few and far between (and the sort of people that like to keep 'trophies' of their victims in their freezers )

I guess the question is, based on MODERN day Ulsan (not 5+ years ago, because a city can change a lot in a few years) is it a decent place to live/explore with an ok ex pat community?

A 'Why I said yes/no' comment would be awesome as well.

Thanks!

[Hyeon Een]

Ulsan's GDP/capita is around $80,000. It's the richest city in Korea. Per head. Make of that what you will.

[noobteacher]

Just moved from Ulsan, so thought I would weigh in here. Ulsan had a bad rap in the past, but the city has grown and improved a huge amount as well as gained a much larger foreign community in the last 5-10 years. It is a pretty darn good city to live in and most of the people who don't like it are the type of people who need to party/club/get wasted all the time and believe that Seoul is the only true mecca here in Korea.

Ulsan has 1+ million people, is considered a wealthy town (like above poster mentioned) and there are tons of foreigners in all corners of the city that range from your typical hagwan/PS teacher to engineers, etc. who work at the Hyundai plants.

Yes, it can be boring at times, but honestly any city can be that way. There are three main areas of town that have the majority of shopping, good restaurants, clubs/bars, etc. Obviously they are much smaller in scale than what you might find in Seoul, but you will definitely not feel deprived of any of those things if that is what you want. There is also Ulsan Grand Park which is massive as well as the Munsu Stadium area which are great if you like outdoor activities. Busan is also only a 45 minute bus ride away which makes for great weekend trips or even to head out there for cultural stuff, concerts, clubbing, the beach, etc.

As for the foreign community, I was not too involved with that, but there are tons of foreigners all over the city and there is a great website run by a fellow foreigner that has amazing information on just about anything and everything in Ulsan.

All in all, you could absolutely do WAY worse than Ulsan if you come here to Korea. If you are offered a job there, I say don't fret, come on over and enjoy your time! If anybody has any questions feel free to send me a message

[austinmc86]

Ulsan isn't terrible, but Busan and Seoul and even Daegu are better.
Ulsan has bars, but no clubs. The bars are decent, but nothing great. There are a decent number of foreigners, but they are spread out all over the place, so it is sometimes hard to meet them, unless you live/work near them or frequent a few of the popular bars.
Ulsan has decent beaches with decent trails, some nice hiking, and the people are generally very nice.
Koreans are more shy here than in Busan or Seoul, and there are less English speakers.
All in all, Ulsan isn't terrible, but Busan and Seoul are funner if that is what you want.

[southernman]

I had a very good two years in Ulsan, good expat crowd, friendly locals I left about June 2009.

Most people I met there had a ball, many stay on for longer than one year. If you're a social person you'll have no problems at all meeting people.

I actually new how wealthy it was before I went there and I like living where the wealth is. Things are generally better. Peoples attitudes are certainly better when everyones making a good living.

Some teachers there are pulling in good money,as well, both at PS's and on F visas. I was at a Hagwon on the usual money but living was cheap and generally very enjoyable.

I was going to apply for a transfer back there when my current contract is up but I can't be bothered with all the paperwork, plus the loss of holiday time that it entails

Footnote : I did know of 3 female western teachers who were either woken up with a korean man trying to break into their apartment or by a Korean man in their apartment. One of them was raped. How that statistic differs from elsewhere in Korea I'm not sure of. But that was unsettling

[austinmc86]

By the way, Ulsanonline.com is the best site for people living in Ulsan.

[chaiplz]

thank you to everyone that has posted

[West Coast Tatterdemalion]

"Great" and "Ulsan" should never be used in the same sentence.