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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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 Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 6:51 pm Post subject: TWO hagwons hiring here on Geoje island, in my small town |
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There are only four or five hagwons in this relatively small community (about 35,000 people) on the east coast of large Geoje island, yet two of the other hagwons are hiring now!
What are the odds.
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=16538
http://www.eslcafe.com/jobs/korea/index.cgi?read=16537
It's on a bay, though it's a ten to fifteen minute walk to the nearest sandy beach, like this sandy cove village.
I'm willing to go for a walk and talk with the competition! Let me know if one of you guys is thinking of heading this way.
The air is fresh and the winter's so mild. I'm in my third year and lovin' it. |
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Derrek
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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How does that area compare to the size of your hometown area?
Can you actually date there, or would that be sacrelidge?? |
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JongnoGuru
Joined: 25 May 2004
Location: peeing on your doorstep
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:45 pm Post subject: |
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I bet if you met the right kind of girl (tough when & where it counts and soft in all the right places) and wanted to settle down, a setting like that one could be quite attractive. "COULD" is what I said. That girl needn't be a Korean. But the locals would need to behave themselves.
As a matter of fact, I might even look into something like that for myself at some point in the future, when I grow weary of managing people and dancing attendance on clients in Seoul. I wouldn't be after those jobs VanIslander mentions. (Indeed, I wouldn't even be considered: 'Hello, we are looking for an enthusiastic and vivacious teacher from Canada ASAP'). But that setting could really suit me. Hmm...
Derrek, would you describe yourself as vivacious? Who among Dave's members would call themselves vivacious? (Besides the washwoman in the men's toilet.) Sounds like they want Miss Manitoba to come to Korea and teach their kiddiewinkles. Island of Fantasy? I love panties? what?
Last edited by JongnoGuru on Tue Jun 21, 2005 8:03 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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just because
Joined: 01 Aug 2003
Location: Changwon - 4964
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 7:57 pm Post subject: |
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Just make sure the hagwons are reputable...
Wouldn't wanting to go and encourage people to come only for it to be a shocking place to work.... |
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matthews_world
Joined: 15 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:31 pm Post subject: |
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I'd rather have Van Islander's job. Moreover, who's to know if his school is in good financial condition or not;)
Better yet, those other school might fold if they don't get a teacher. More students and work for Van Islander. |
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adventureman
Joined: 18 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Tue Jun 21, 2005 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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Looks like the perfect place to work....
...for a married couple in their 40's.
I'll pass. |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 2:25 am Post subject: |
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| Derrek wrote: |
How does that area compare to the size of your hometown area?
Can you actually date there, or would that be sacrelidge?? |
It's far more acceptable to date the locals here than the average rural area in Korea? Why? Because the second largest island in Korea is host to two of the top five shipbuilding ports in the world, Daewoo and Samsung. That means there are over a thousand rich foreigners floating around, engineers, inspectors, owners, managers and shipbuilders sent by the parent companies (mostly in Europe) to oversee the construction of their new ship. There are so many fortysomething European men walking around with their arms drapped over a Korean woman's shoulders, often women half their age. Many of these men are here for only a few months or a year at most and have families of their own to go back to. EVERY single foreign woman I've ever met around here is a wife to someone at the shipyards, usually from Finland or Norway or Latvia or Spain or Britain or the like. Their English is often lower than the Korean women who teach at the local hagwons.
So, yes, you can date the locals.
There are a quarter million people on this huge island (takes an hour to drive from the scenic east coast pictured above to the west coast bridge at Tongyeong - and to give orientation: it's fifty minutes by ferry northward to Busan).
The hagwon I'm at is smaller than the two that are advertising for teachers but I'd never go work at the competition on the island because I'm loyal. I'd go to another market, Busan or Tongyeong, if I were to leave the hagwon I've been at since the fall of 2002.
The picture above is of one of the small coves you could walk or ride a bike to in the mornings like I do. I've even been tempted to live there, even though there are no hagwons, such little villages are close to the three urban areas on the island, Gohyeon (over 150,000 people, where city hall is), Okpo (the nightlife "town"), and Jangseungpo (just a port basically, maybe ten thousand people because of some shipyard workers and it's historical home for some).
Okpo is on the east coast, has about forty thousand people living here but has restaurants and nightlife for ten or twenty times that size, because it's where most of the shipyard workers come to eat, drink, and play.
It's small but lively on weekend nights. Feels like a big city.
The east coast has many beaches, several very close to Okpo and none more than 30 minutes away north or south.
Take the 50 minute ferry to Busan, and get off within a few blocks of both the subway and the nightlife area of Nampodong. The ride is only 15,000 won and I've spent several weekends in Busan when I've wanted a more urban atmosphere.
In fact, back in 2002, I made a logical choice to go somewhere in Korea near a large city but in a most scenic coastal community with beaches. Anyway north near Ulsan seemed too polluted, and so I looked for places near Busan. I was first offered a job in Masan but a little searching on the 'net showed it to be what it is: a concrete jungle with little to draw me to it, without any noteworthy beaches and polluted a bit to boot due to smokestack manufacturing. Tongyeong looked nice, and in fact is nice, almost perfect, except it's a couple of hours from Busan, too far for a quick getaway. I like to wake up at 8:30 saturday morning, suddenly decide to go to Busan and be there before 10:00 am!
You don't need to be in your forties to live on Geoje island and enjoy it.
There are wind surfers off of the north and east coasts on the weekends, and I know several scuba divers. No kayaking it seems. But I never said this place has it all!
It does only get an hour or two of snow per year. It falls and melts before you know it. My first two winters I missed the snow because it fell while I was teaching and was gone by the end of my 3-9 pm shift. Many people say it's 2 to 4 degrees warmer than Busan, and gets slightly different weather systems (the eastward moving systems from China often don't reach here when they are pushed northward a bit due to high pressure systems coming from the south. I have walked in my shorts on days when Seoulites have complained about snow and wind! (kind of how like Lethbridge in Canada can get chinooks while nearby Calgary is in a deep freeze, but not so stark a contrast). Anyways, the weather is great. The rainy season is indeed rainy and typhoon season stormy (Maemi, and even earthquakes from nearby Japan - a country you can see on a clear day) but it's funny how the rest of the year is typically blue sky, even when Jeju far to the southwest is getting rain after rain after rain.
Anyways, I just want to say, for those seriously considering coming to Geoje (and it's not for everyone, like unadventurous adventureman) I'll gladly be your welcome wagon! (just give me a week's notice) |
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VanIslander
Joined: 18 Aug 2003
Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 2:32 am Post subject: |
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I am in Okpo and often walk to Pah-rang-po to swim at the beach (small, not on the map), about ten minutes from Okpo.
And at least once a month I walk to Deokpo Beach (see map), and in the warmer half of the year scoot down to Wayheon Beach (see map).
Some of us never get tired of being near the sea, and the local hills can be quite tall, making for some scenic heights.
Anyway, to some who want to come to Korea and live near a major urban area yet smell fresh air and enjoy the benefits of more countryside living, then consider Geoje!
I could use some friendly fellow teachers. There have been a couple of nose-to-the-ground mumbling types come here. Maybe they tried to chat with a Lithuanian and got an earful! lol Who knows. |
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harryh
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
Location: south of Seoul
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 3:38 am Post subject: |
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I would recommend Geoje too, for many of the reasons mentioned by VanIslander, as I worked there for two years from 2002 till 2004.
Personally, my favorite beach is Gujora, as it is usually quite clean, and lovely for swimming in. The views can be nice, especially the sunsets!
Hakdong beach is great for camping. Had some nice evenings there in the past. Also, it's a only a short hop to Oedo, where there is a botannic garden. The south-east coast is a very scenic area.
Geoje has a lot of potential as a tourist destination, but one thing which I don't like is the amount of garbage on some of the beaches. Do the authorities ever clean up? I would certainly say the beaches on Jeju are much cleaner. Last weekend I went to Guyeong beach, and I had trouble finding a spot without trash. The beach has so much potential! But.... TOO much trash. I've been there a few times and it is always the same. Two weeks ago, I found that Wahyeon beach wasn't much better.
With regards to finding a lady, it is possible. I did ok  Mind you, Busan is an easier place to find a date. I don't have any experience of living in Seoul, so I'm unable to make a comparison.
It is a foreigner friendly kind of place. Never, ever had a problem getting into a bar, restaurant etc. Many people go out of their to talk to foreigners.
Apart from trash on some of the beaches, I would say Geoje is a fine, peaceful place to live. If you want to live away from a busy, polluted city, try it. |
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jajdude
Joined: 18 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 6:28 am Post subject: |
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| It looks and sounds like a nice place. I'm sure one could easily do worse. |
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Bulsajo
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2005 7:01 am Post subject: |
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2 hagwons hiring at the same time?
What are you doing that is driving all the other foreigners off your island?
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captain kirk
Joined: 29 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2005 5:33 am Post subject: |
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| I've met VanIslander and he's not in the least repellant. He's as friendly as Robinson Crusoe when the pizza boat comes if you ever get down there. |
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