Korean Job Discussion Forums

[bulgogiboy]

Hi all,


I'm supposed to be moving to Goje-do in the not so distant future. Wondering what Okpo and Goje-do are like? Is Okpo fairly cosmopolitan for a tiny city in the outback of Korea? Anybody recommend any good bars/restaurants?

I've heard there's an approximate ratio of 1 waeguk for every 100 Koreans, because of the shipbuilding industry. Did it seem to be packed with foreigners?

Thanks,

BB

[schwa]

Vanislander will be here in a sec with the lowdown. 3-2-1 ...

[VanIslander]

zero! Here I am!

(the only reason I'm not on a beach on a Thai isle this week instead of near Dave's is because of a friggin' foot injury that has me limping in pain.)

old spelling "Koje", new spelling: "Geoje" (almost all the spellings around here were converted to the new spelling before I first came in 2002)

Here's a picture of Okpo, a small, compact town on the east coast that feels like a city because it has the nightlife district of the island: great restaurants and red light stuff.


I live in the low rise behind the apartment with the blue oval image in the left foreground. Far off in the top left you can see the lights of the edge of the shipyard area for Daewoo (DSME).

Okpo has several great restaurants, way more than it should for a population of about 50,000 (draws people from elsewhere at night, try to find parking on a summer's weekend night!). There's even a great Swiss chef at a French/Italian restaurant. There are over a thousand foreigners here, tons actually, given the local population, though most of them are European engineers and dockyard workers here to monitor/assist with construction for four to six months or so, so friendships come and go, lots of Norweigans, Latvians, even some Brits, Aussies, other Euros. Interesting and lively Foreigner's club for the entire island is right here in Okpo, at the Admiral Hotel (one floor above the illegal imports shop - like the red door in itaewon - you can buy stuff the shipyard workers brought with them - a korean woman has made quite the little business for herself here: today I bought triscuits from america, cheese from australia, maple syrup from canada (it being the holidays and all) and lasagna noodles straight from italy. the store didn't seem like much when i first came to korea but now it's a must-shop place for me and others.

blah, blah, blah.

okpo is a compact place you can walk anywhere in ten minutes if you haven't a gimped leg like i do at the moment.

buses for under a buck can take you elsewhere on the island, like the larger community of Gohyeon that has a department store and movie megaplex opening next year (has a couple of movie theatres now).

and straight from in okpo to near the nampodong area of Busan goes several ferries a day, for about $30 return, and takes about 45-50 minutes each way, so by 9 am saturday you can be in the big city of Busan, by noon you can be in japan by ferry and thanks to the new express bullet train, you can even zoom up to seoul by 1pm or 2pm on saturday for a weekend there if you're so inclined.

don't count on snow though, in the last three winters there have been exactly two snowfalls, only one if you count snow that stays on the ground for more than ten minutes, and that one solitary true snowfall since 2002 was a freak storm this year March 5th (same system that blanketed Busan - Geoje is a couple of degrees warmer than Busan so in past years when it has sprinkled in Busan it has rained on geoje).

blah blah blah.

the air is clean, the local fishers conplain the water isn't, though it doesn't stop the many area beaches from being filled, and in the past couple of years i've made several morning jaunts per week to the beach... though this year i've hard darn foot problems (have i mentioned it yet?). don't expect elevators, unless you're in a highrise, my apartment is a rooftop on a 4-storey, so the stairs it is (try that on one good foot every day).

blah blah blah.

just get here already.

the only truly "bad" hagwon on the island is in Gohyeon, not Okpo, though a few yahoos have come through here ruining the rep of foreign teachers as partiers, womanizers and drunkards who are late and lazy to work... the local nightlife can do that to a guy if he's tempted.

blah blah blah

PM me when you get here and i'll show you around.

(i do get tired of answering questions of potential newbies because sooooo maaaaannnnnyyy of them decide against coming at the last moment... recruiters must get frustrated, i don't know what the rate is, but a lot of prospective teachers must get cold feet (owwww feet! did i mention one of mine aches?) and back out before they even get here!

jump with two feet - i'll be your support network - others around here will vouch for me as being not a freak (i hope).

and if you run out of heating oil early on christmas morning you can call the company and they'll deliver in 20 minutes and even give a gift (dish soap), happened to me.

locals won't point at you, as foreigners are what make this island rich: beside shipbuilding, only fishing and tourism are significant (though there's a tropical flower greenhouse that produces expensive rare bloosoms i hear, but have yet to visit - and there's an art park of sorts with a real baboon and some peacocks, but that's sort of touristy, though more of a hobbyist-turned-public sort of operation.

blah blah blah

i am rambling today because i'm laying here with my leg propped up, why? ... hey, you're right, because my foot hurts! ... you are intuitive, you'll fit right in

From my apartment in Okpo it takes only three minutes to walk up one hill to the following sort of sight:



and if you keep walking and down into the next mini-valley you can go to abeach in under ten minutes on foot (owwww!)

until later, happy holidays!