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bmwendt
Joined: 13 Dec 2013
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 Posted: Sat Dec 21, 2013 3:31 am Post subject: Moving to Chungbuk |
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Hello,
I just found out I am being placed in Chungbuk. I am trying to hide my disappointment I was hoping for Jeju or Busan.
Can anyone tell me anything about teaching and living there?
Thanks,
Beth |
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Vianca
Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Location: a Korean woman in Seoul
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| Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 3:31 am Post subject: |
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Last edited by Vianca on Tue Aug 18, 2015 1:03 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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bmwendt
Joined: 13 Dec 2013
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| Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 8:52 am Post subject: Thank you |
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Do you know what cities teachers are placed? I am very excited about teaching in Korea and would like to do some research on the cities I might be placed.
Thank you! |
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airdrieboy1984
Joined: 24 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 5:08 pm Post subject: |
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Don't worry about Chungbuk... it would have been almost impossible to be placed in Busan or Jeju. Chungbuk is the centre of Korea...
Most places in Chungbuk you will only be 90 minutes from Seoul or Daejeon.. Southern part of Chungbuk you will be less than an hour from Daejeon.
Cheongju and Chungju have big foreign communities and Cheongju is a great city to live in. |
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mayorhaggar
Joined: 01 Jan 2013
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| Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 6:36 pm Post subject: Re: Thank you |
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I live and work in Chungbuk, kind of in the middle of it. I'm assuming you're coming here via EPIK.
In general Chungbuk is alright but it's sure as heck not Seoul or Busan or even Daejeon. One of the best things is that everyone here is pretty friendly despite it being a rural province.
Overall it's fairly poor and definitely very rural compared to other parts of South Korea. On the plus side there are a lot of mountains which are fairly scenic, but on the minus side that means it can take a long time to get anywhere especially by public transit. The accessible places like Songnisan are easy to get to on the bus but are crowded as hell. Going to less accessible and less crowded places means getting a car.
If you're in the southern half of Chungbuk then Seoul can be a bit of a hike but getting to Daejeon and Busan will be easier, though it will take about as long as to get to Seoul overall probably. Hopping on KTX in Daejeon is the best way to go to Busan, it's about a 90+ minute KTX train ride versus a 4 hour bus ride.
If you're in the northern half of Chungbuk then getting to Seoul should be pretty easy, and you'll be way better situated for exploring northern Chungbuk and maybe Gangwon. (for me it would be like 6 hours on public transit just to get to Danyang in northern Chungbuk...just not doable on a weekend!) But getting to Daejeon and Busan would probably be a real drag because there's fewer buses to Daejeon.
In any case no matter where you are there will be buses to Seoul and definitely buses to Cheongju since it's the provincial capital. Cheongju is alright for shopping and dining but it's not too exciting to visit. Daejeon has an E-Mart at the main bus station in Yeonjong-dong which has a really good Western section (used to be better though) and a very good beer section. Daejeon also has a Costco which is great for Western food as well.
| bmwendt wrote: |
Do you know what cities teachers are placed? I am very excited about teaching in Korea and would like to do some research on the cities I might be placed.
Thank you! |
Well you're probably not going to Cheongju because most people there renew, but who knows. Maybe you'll get Cheongju but it's probably not likely. I'll focus more on rural placements since it's more likely for you, it's what I am familiar with, etc.
Chungbuk is split up into a bunch of counties, and each county has one major town basically in the middle of it, like Okcheon or Eumseong or whatever. You will PROBABLY be given an apartment in the main county town, but I've heard of some teachers being made to live in the middle of nowhere out in the rice fields. It completely depends on your school, who have total control over your apartment. As for where you'll teach, you'll either teach in the main county town or at much smaller rural schools out in the sticks. You will pretty definitely have multiple schools to teach at, everyone in my county does. In my county everyone can get to their schools by buses but sometimes it's really inconvenient. I go to a rural school once a week and it takes me about 20 minutes on the bus through a flat area. A friend goes a similar distance to a country school but it takes an hour because the route is very mountainous and windy.
Anyway I wouldn't really stress too much, in general whether you're in a bigger city like Jecheon or a smaller town you should have everything you need for daily life. My town is really small by Korean standards but there's plenty of grocery stores and there's a few very good restaurants. For me it's 3 hours to get to Seoul or Busan and I've made a LOT of trips to both over the last year and really enjoyed it a lot. No matter where you are in Chungbuk you will be able to get out and travel whenever you want with public transit.
Putting all this stuff aside, the biggest gamble for you will be stuff to do with your school. Your co-teachers, the apartment, the school administration. That's stuff that you can't really change, and it could be good or bad. In general my advice for teaching here would be to be flexible but unbreakable, and get used to not working yourself up about things that appear to matter greatly but don't actually really matter. |
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airdrieboy1984
Joined: 24 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Thu Dec 26, 2013 6:57 pm Post subject: |
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Putting all this stuff aside, the biggest gamble for you will be stuff to do with your school. Your co-teachers, the apartment, the school administration. That's stuff that you can't really change, and it could be good or bad. In general my advice for teaching here would be to be flexible but unbreakable, and get used to not working yourself up about things that appear to matter greatly but don't actually really matter.
I agree with everything the previous poster has said especially the above... Get involved at your school ie dinners etc and try your best.. The school will set the mood for your whole time here. Most public schools I know in Chungbuk are friendly enough. You will have some support from regional moderators and also your rep at the education office is very good. |
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bmwendt
Joined: 13 Dec 2013
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 5:23 am Post subject: Great information |
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Thank you so much for all the great information. I don't mind being in a rural area as long as I have internet. Do you have an internet issues?
I didn't want to be placed in a large city. I am interested in seeing a different way of living and experiencing it as well. There were two things I was hoping for and I got one of them. I wanted to be near the ocean and I wanted to be in a small town.
The riding buses to different schools doesn't sound like fun, but it could be worse.
Beth |
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airdrieboy1984
Joined: 24 Apr 2010
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 5:29 am Post subject: |
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| Good good, don't worry about internet, it's the most connected country in the world, you will get very high speed broadband almost anywhere |
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bmwendt
Joined: 13 Dec 2013
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| Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2013 5:35 am Post subject: |
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Great that is all I need! The rest will be an amazing adventure  |
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Vianca
Joined: 02 Oct 2011
Location: a Korean woman in Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2014 3:55 am Post subject: |
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