Korean Job Discussion Forums

[MattAwesome]

Do you live in daegu? do you have experience living in daegu? you can help me!

I am looking for some advice about Daegu. I have been living in Seoul for 4 years, I like my current living situation, but my growth has stunted. I am not a fan of coteaching anymore, mostly because mine change so often or I get 2 different coteachers for hte same grade, so lesson planning is that much more difficult.
I do want to go somewhere where I can have my own classes. If this means moving to a uni, putting my time in there and coming back to soeul to get a good uni job. I will. Most unis in the seoul area will not hire a non experienced uni teacher without an education degree or masters.

What do you think about schools and classrooms in daegu?
What's it like living there? Do they have places to hang out, shopping, lots of young adults I can relate to?
I dont mind speaking korean most of my time outside of work, i just need people my age to enjoy life with.
Is there some kind of foreign area I can go to kind of taste home? a itaewon-type area. Everyone needs a comfort zone right? However, i dont want be surrounded by foreigners. I just want to develop solo teaching for the future. I will not work at a hagwon, unless it is a fair deal.

[furtakk]

I lived there for a year.

The job situation isn't much different from seoul. There are public schools, the big chain hagwons, after school programs, unis, etc.

There aren't really many different areas to hang out. The downtown area is where everyone usually heads on the weekend. There are certain bars frequented by foreigners, but there is no itaewon type area like there is in seoul. You can find most of the things that you can in seoul (in terms of food), but you'll have much less choice and poorer quality.

I'd say that the nightlife is probably best compared to a much smaller and more toned down Hongdae. There aren't any upscale clubs like there are in Seoul, but there are a few western style clubs and places like FF, GoGos, etc. There are plenty of hofs/pubs, but not nearly as much as you'd find in sincheon, hongdae, gangnam, etc.

Some people talk up the university areas, but there is really not a whole lot going on there. Think Konkuk, but really, really small.

Shopping is okay. It's all downtown as well. There's a uniqlo, zara, gap, etc. But not nearly as much as you'd find in Seoul.

The good thing about living there is that it's kind of in the middle of the country so it's relatively easy and cheap to take weekend trips often. I traveled way more often there than I did in Seoul. But that may be because there was less to do in the city.

Anywhere worth going to is pretty close which is nice. Nothing should take you more than 20 minutes by subway, bus or taxi to get to. I lived all the way at the end of the subway line and I never traveled more than 15-20 minutes to get anywhere.

The expat scene is kinda tight knit even though the city has a big population. You may not know everyone, but you'll definitely run into the same faces every weekend. Can be good or bad.

If you're looking for a uni job, check out Yeungnam and Daegu Catholic university. They will hire with just a B.A. but don't expect great pay.

It's not a bad place to live. Check it out one weekend if you're in the country to see if you'd like it.