Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lichtarbeiter]

I'm looking into possibly going to South Korea to teach EFL. While I am definitely intrigued by the experience itself, my number one goal is to accumulate as much money as possible in order to pay off my student debt and to finance my subsequent post-grad education.

I must say that Seoul appears to be the most exciting city, but I've also noted that it seems to always rank in the top 3 among the world's most expensive cities. I know that rent is usually provided, but is food and transportation really that crazily expensive? Are there areas of Seoul that are much cheaper than others? And outside of Seoul, is there a lot of variation in the costs of living in each city? Which cities are the cheapest?

Any information would be much appreciated.

[butlerian]

If accommodation is provided, living in Seoul is probably cheaper than living in most places in UK. The only problem is that the number of temptations to spend your money is greatly increased by living in Seoul.

[Hyeon Een]

The actual cost of 'things' is pretty much the same across the country (korean meals, drinks in bars etc). Seoul has lots more stuff so you might have to exercise more self-control if you live there.

In some ways Seoul can be cheaper. For example in the first town I lived in none of the bars sold draft beer, only bottles. The standard price was 4,000 won a bottle, which made getting drunk fairly expensive. In bigger cities you can buy draft beer which is usually about 3,000 a pint. So Seoul would be cheaper there..

[lichtarbeiter]

Great, thanks for the info guys!