Korean Job Discussion Forums

[ortiz1029]

Hello,

I'm heading to South Korea in a few weeks, and wanted to get your thoughts/opinions on the Jeongja area of Bundang. I'll be teaching at the Yes Youngdo English School in Jeongja; I've been in contact with a current employee who loves the school and area. But I'd like to get some other opinions (either on the school or area).

Thanks!

[ucfvgirl]

I teach at Jeongja Middle School and I personally like the area. It's pretty central for the Bundang area. You can get to grocery shopping relatively easy by subway or bus. There is a subway stop called Seoyheon (?) that is only a couple of stops away. There are many pubs, shops, western restaurants, bookstores, etc. at this stop. Central park is not too far away and there is a river called the Tancheon to walk along. It's pretty nice. Close to Jeongja station there is a post office, banks, Starbucks, Outback Steakhouse, Pizza Hut, Dunkin Donuts, and numerous Korean style restaurants.

From this area, it takes about an hour to get into Downtown Seoul by subway and about 30 minutes by bus. To get to Gangnam, another popular spot, it takes about 15 min by bus, but quite a bit longer by subway. I would suggest learning how to take the bus. It's much faster.

I hope this information is helpful. PM me if you would like to know anything else.

[red dog]

I liked the area. Don't know about the school.

[ajgeddes]

Jeongja has some of the most expensive real estate in Korea and it is a very wealthy area where everything is new. I live right beside it, one subway stop away. You are pretty lucky to live in that area. I just hope your school is good.

[dogbert]

"Jeongja" means "sperm" in Korean.

Enjoy your stay.

[red dog]

[Tiberious aka Sparkles]

[seoulsista]

I used to live in Jeonga. Matter of fact I used to work for that branch of Yes Youngdo. Jeonga is really lovely. You should be moving into this big officetel building (can't remember the name). But there is a tailor, small grocery store, post office, Baskin Robbins, and a number of really good restuarants in the vicinity. It was hard for me to save money living there.

Also, the bus to Seoul/ Suwon/ Incheon Airport leave from the street directly in front of your apartment. Which is also right next to the subway station. Also right in front of your apartment is a small river. The river's a dirty sesspool but if you can ignore the smell it's got a really lovely walking, running, biking track right next to it. The track even goes into the woods a bit and into the park in a different direction.

There are tons of places in the area to go hiking. There are even more in Seoul. There's a beautiful little park not too far away. Some really aggressive rabitts live there. You can feed them carrotts. If you're into that sort of thing .

As far as Youngdo goes, I assume you have already signed the contract, so I won't bother telling anything that won't make your job easier. Please, save yourself a whole lot of frustration and remember that the only thing they care about it is money. So don't tell the manager, Bill, things he doesn't want to hear: such as a student isn't doing well, being disruptive, etc. Even though he will encourage you to do so: don't. The whole conversation will only turn into him lecturing you about how you are not doing a good enough job teaching which is why the kids aren't behaving properly. Just keep all that to yourself and deal with it as you see fit.

When he calls you all into a meeting every Wednesday where he introduces a new policy or rule - just ignore it all. It'll never be enforced and if it turns out to be unpopular amoungst the mothers you'll end up getting the blame for it. When it comes to report cards the official policy is don't give the kids what they deserve give them what will keep them paying. As far as the essays go - don't kill yourself trying to get them done. No one ever checks them even though they collect them. The number you are supposed to assign is ridiculous - luckily the majority of the students never write them so don't worry.

They only way you will come out winning from a place like Youngdo is to remember you're not a real teacher, you're only there for your paycheck and you don't care if the majority of kids make any improvement. Also, most important if you want to do well there here's the golden rule: don't think competence equals doing a good job. Being friendly with Bill and never complaining about anything is what will make you a good teacher at Youngdo. You can be the most mediocre teacher ever, show up hung over and late every day, completely disregard the cirriculum and play boardgames but if the managers like you you'll get teacher of the year. No kidding - it actually happened.

But as you will soon be told by other posters it's a typical first year gig in Korea and there's probably a million other even worse jobs out there. Jeongja is wonderful and if you work with other great teachers, as I did, that can also make up for any of Youngdo's shortcomings.

[ortiz1029]

Hey Guys,

Thanks for the quick response; sounds like Jeongja is a pretty nice place to live. I was really having a difficult time finding info on Jeongja.

Thanks again

[ajgeddes]

[bluelake]

[red dog]

[bluelake]

[ucfvgirl]

You might want to check out this link. It'll give you an idea of what the area looks like. Jeongja is part of a larger city called Seongnam City. These pictures are from all over Seongman City.

http://skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?s=642f493f41274e18effb55845cf8dde2&p=5392644#post5392644

[plattwaz]

I'll add my two cents and say that Jeongja is the nicest area of Korea I've seen, when looking at it as a place to live for a year.

Mind you, I did like it about a year ago before it was as populated and developed as it is now, but it is still one of the easiest places to live.

I really enjoyed my year there, and would love to go back. (Not that I'm too far now, just a few minutes up the road, but would prefer to be back in Jeong-ja).