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Coops88
Joined: 31 Mar 2014
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 Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 4:44 am Post subject: Bucheon |
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| Hi Guys I applied for a position in Seoul through a job website called tefl.net but a company called Morgan recruiting who posted the job got back to me saying they have a position in Bucheon. I looked and this city seems to be 30-40 mins south of Seoul. My question is: Is this place worth living in for a good expat lifestyle? |
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edwardcatflap
Joined: 22 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 5:20 am Post subject: |
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| You'll get more constructive replies if you tell people what you're hoping to find there. |
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aq8knyus
Joined: 28 Jul 2010
Location: London
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 10:55 am Post subject: Re: Bucheon |
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| Coops88 wrote: |
| Hi Guys I applied for a position in Seoul through a job website called tefl.net but a company called Morgan recruiting who posted the job got back to me saying they have a position in Bucheon. I looked and this city seems to be 30-40 mins south of Seoul. My question is: Is this place worth living in for a good expat lifestyle? |
If you live in Jung-Dong then Bucheon is great and has everything you could want.
I would actually say it is better tha living in central Seoul.
If you are outside of wonmi-gu though...it is less appealing. |
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RangerMcGreggor
Joined: 12 Jan 2011
Location: Somewhere in Korea
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| Posted: Sun Aug 03, 2014 3:58 pm Post subject: |
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| Bucheon is a pretty big area so it depends. I live in Sosa-gu so it's a short treck to western Seoul mostly. If you live in Jung-Dong then it's even easier as there are plenty of buses. |
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Troglodyte
Joined: 06 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Mon Aug 04, 2014 4:04 am Post subject: |
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As others have said, it depends on the area but generally speaking, it's a good city. There are plenty of foreigners there. There are a fair number of parks and green areas for a city that size. There are lots of bike paths. There is shopping and entertainment. There are two areas that could be classified as "downtown". The western one is along the main street and has a lot of higher end shops, restaurants, bars, etc. In the eastern area there is another entertainment district near the university (more precisely it's next to the metro station). That area is a bit less refined but a lot of young people hang out there, it's cheaper, and arguably it's more exciting. Housing in Bucheon runs the full range from cesspool to luxury suites, so you'll want to get some photos of the apartment in advance, or ask for the address and perhaps someone on the forum could tell you what the area is like.
Like you noticed, it's close to Seoul, plus it's also close to Incheon (lots of foreigners there) and not far from Suwon (another area with lots of foreigners). |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Fri Aug 08, 2014 4:36 am Post subject: |
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| Bucheon is a pretty good place. I've lived here for about 3 1/2 years. I agree with the previous comments about won-mi gu being better. |
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Coops88
Joined: 31 Mar 2014
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 3:14 am Post subject: |
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The address of the school is:
Dream building #405 1034-4
Jung4-dong Wonmi-gu Bucheon-city
Kyunggi-do,
Is this in a good part of the city? |
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Milwaukiedave
Joined: 02 Oct 2004
Location: Goseong
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| That is pretty much downtown Bucheon. Lots of places to shop. The transportation is good. |
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wonkavite62
Joined: 17 Dec 2007
Location: Jeollanamdo, South Korea.
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| Posted: Sun Aug 10, 2014 6:26 am Post subject: Hi |
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| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| You'll get more constructive replies if you tell people what you're hoping to find there. |
Yes, it depends on what you are looking for! I am assuming to want to live in a place where there are plenty of amenities, shopping centres, gyms cinemas, nightlife and so on. You are maybe a little bit worried that because it's not Seoul, it's going to be inconvenient and boring, out in the sticks. Well, the good news is that it's not bad at all. Bucheon is conveniently located and it's quite easy to travel from there to Seoul, Incheon or Suwon. As the other respondents have said, you are going to be in a convenient area.
It might have been different. The country has lots of lovely ***coastal cities*** and you could have gone to one of them.
I am eligible for the E-2 visa. But I can't get a job in Seoul or Gyeonggi because most ads are for ***North American teacher*** only. I got a call from a hagwon in Bundang. The lady who called said "You're from Scotland, aren't you? We generally don't understand Scottish people but I understand you perfectly." Exactly.
She was prejudiced of course. It wasn't about whether she could understand me. When Koreans are prejudiced, they ignore all evidence that doesn't support their view.
I got a job in a public school in a coastal city. I am not complaining about the job. The job was fine and my co-teachers were fine except for one overworked teacher on Fridays. But it was kind of "out there" if you know what I mean. 4 hours from Seoul, and 2-3 and a half hours from anywhere decent. I like big cities. I like nightlife, going to pubs, cafes, and so on, with people, and I thought that a coastal city would have these things Yes, but no.
I had lived in a small Korean city before. But that place had been like Bucheon will be for you. Pleasant, and with friendly westerners. The place I went to last year had enough western people, but they were an odd group. They were mostly very young, but not that friendly, and 90% from Canada. We did eventually get a foreigner's pub, but on Friday nights it could be like a morgue. I realised some were private people who had chosen the location precisely because they wanted a quiet life. There were some married couples. But one got the sense that there was a clique there too, with secret events going on.
I visited friends in Seoul and Daegu and it was totally different. In these places, I had a great time. You might have a great time, but if you don't you can still meet people. |
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ChrisPK
Joined: 07 Aug 2014
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 1:49 am Post subject: Re: Hi |
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| wonkavite62 wrote: |
| edwardcatflap wrote: |
| You'll get more constructive replies if you tell people what you're hoping to find there. |
Yes, it depends on what you are looking for! I am assuming to want to live in a place where there are plenty of amenities, shopping centres, gyms cinemas, nightlife and so on. You are maybe a little bit worried that because it's not Seoul, it's going to be inconvenient and boring, out in the sticks. Well, the good news is that it's not bad at all. Bucheon is conveniently located and it's quite easy to travel from there to Seoul, Incheon or Suwon. As the other respondents have said, you are going to be in a convenient area.
It might have been different. The country has lots of lovely ***coastal cities*** and you could have gone to one of them.
I am eligible for the E-2 visa. But I can't get a job in Seoul or Gyeonggi because most ads are for ***North American teacher*** only. I got a call from a hagwon in Bundang. The lady who called said "You're from Scotland, aren't you? We generally don't understand Scottish people but I understand you perfectly." Exactly.
She was prejudiced of course. It wasn't about whether she could understand me. When Koreans are prejudiced, they ignore all evidence that doesn't support their view.
I got a job in a public school in a coastal city. I am not complaining about the job. The job was fine and my co-teachers were fine except for one overworked teacher on Fridays. But it was kind of "out there" if you know what I mean. 4 hours from Seoul, and 2-3 and a half hours from anywhere decent. I like big cities. I like nightlife, going to pubs, cafes, and so on, with people, and I thought that a coastal city would have these things Yes, but no.
I had lived in a small Korean city before. But that place had been like Bucheon will be for you. Pleasant, and with friendly westerners. The place I went to last year had enough western people, but they were an odd group. They were mostly very young, but not that friendly, and 90% from Canada. We did eventually get a foreigner's pub, but on Friday nights it could be like a morgue. I realised some were private people who had chosen the location precisely because they wanted a quiet life. There were some married couples. But one got the sense that there was a clique there too, with secret events going on.
I visited friends in Seoul and Daegu and it was totally different. In these places, I had a great time. You might have a great time, but if you don't you can still meet people. |
Is there any specific reason why the majority of foreign teachers in that city were Canadian? Is it an undesirable place to live? And normally such a place is filled with odd Canadians? LOL. |
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Chaparrastique
Joined: 01 Jan 2014
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 7:17 am Post subject: |
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| Coops88 wrote: |
Dream building |
Ah yes...korea..the land of dreams.
Whats your dream? |
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jackson7
Joined: 01 Aug 2006
Location: Kim Jong Il's Future Fireball
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| Posted: Mon Aug 11, 2014 7:37 pm Post subject: |
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Bucheon is a fantastic place to live. A lot of cool cultural things go on, you're close to several different sports teams, if you like that sort of thing, and there are the foreigner-friendly things present, too (burger king, subway, mcd's, etc.). There are a couple nice foreign pubs that serve good beer, and the 1300 bus will take you directly into Sinchon and Hongdae, not to mention there are now two subway lines (1 and 7) in the city.
Check out the Indian restaurant (Annapurna -- it's a 5-minute walk or so from the station, and not necessarily obvious, so use that smart phone GPS or a local to find it) close to Bucheon Station for some of the best Indian I've had in Korea over the past seven years, and the Lotte Cinema in Jung-dong generally offers 50% movie tickets if you stop in the day before and snap a photo of the promotional poster. All in all, a great place to start your Korean adventure.
J7 |
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modernseoul
Joined: 11 Sep 2011
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 5:11 am Post subject: |
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| Coops88 wrote: |
The address of the school is:
Dream building #405 1034-4
Jung4-dong Wonmi-gu Bucheon-city
Kyunggi-do,
Is this in a good part of the city? |
One of the more central areas, good access into both Incheon and Seoul. A few expat hangout are close by (names escape me at the moment). It's a good place to be located. |
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Enduro
Joined: 26 Apr 2014
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| Posted: Tue Aug 12, 2014 7:59 am Post subject: |
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I lived there for a couple of years in 2005-2006. Not sure how it is now, but the park is huge and awesome. Tons of meat and fried chicken shacks on a pedestrian road up after the park. Had a great time watching Korea in the World Cup in 2006. Every restaurant/bar had a huge flat screen TV outside and on the nights that there were games, it was electric.
Also at that time, there was a bar called Canada Buddy with great food, western style. Not sure if it is still there though...doubtful.
I thoroughly enjoyed my time there. Some weirdo expats, though. One mormon guy in particular was quite the oddball. Never heard someone talk without taking a breath before |
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wonkavite62
Joined: 17 Dec 2007
Location: Jeollanamdo, South Korea.
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| Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2014 2:30 am Post subject: But |
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Bucheon itself will be awesome, BUT then there's the "school" you will be working at. You might have no trouble at all.
When I was in China, I met a Canadian guy who absolutely loved Bucheon. He had goten a job at a private kindergarten there. Having taught at a kindergarten in Canada, it seemed logical to do so again in Korea.
So, he did what's known as A MIDNIGHT RUN! 
He came to Korea, full of optimism. He started working at 9 a.m. and finished around 7:30 p.m. every day, being forbidden to leave for lunch or anything else. In fact, he had to work and*** play*** during lunch with the kids. (Can you imagine, doing word games with your mouth full? High fiving a five year old. You have a piece of kimchi in your chopsticks, and have to play "HARI, BARI BO, HARI BO, AW F***! the kimchi stained my shirt)." The pace was relentless, and the hagwon was pretty ruthless. So he
quit.
In China I did ask him if the contract had stated he'd have no lunch break. He said YES, IT DID.
I wouldn't have signed it. You might be okay in Bucheon, but it's always wise to pay a little attention to what's in the contract, and compare it to the average. Check with the school to make sure that's what you will sign up to. |
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