Korean Job Discussion Forums

Lostone7 · Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Location: SE Asia

Anyone live here? Any information on the city would be great.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

I live there.... What would you like to know?

Icicle

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

I lived there for 4 months and I didn't like it much. Nothing to do or see, no really outstanding restaraunts, no decent western food but there are 2 Lotterias. Thankfully, there are buses to Seoul and Bundang which is where I spent my weekends when I lived there.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

cj1976 · Joined: 26 Oct 2005

I lived in Kyeongan-dong which is about 10 minutes walk from the town centre. I guess if you like the quiet life, it's good. Personally, I was bored to tears and just couldn't wait to get out of there.
It certainly does have a rural, undeveloped feel to it. The kind of place where people still point at planes.

DCJames · Joined: 27 Jul 2006

There is jack sh!t to do out there. It's completely isolated from any comforts or western ammenities..

Lostone7 · Joined: 08 Jun 2006 Location: SE Asia

Thanks everyone!

So is it on a Subway line? how big is it?

chronicpride · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

Gwangjuboy · Joined: 08 Jul 2003 Location: England

Although it's only a 30 minute bus journey to the nearest subway station (Cheonho or Moran) it's actually quite far from central Seoul. Once you get to Moran the subway journey to get into central Seoul adds another 40 mins to the journey. Cheonho is considerabley better but after the bus journey I wouldn't have the patience for long trips like that. Not to mention that Gwangju (Gygongi-do) is the armpit of the region. Like some other posters I also think the place is dreadfully boring. It depends largely on your personality though. Some people prefer it to Seoul.

chronicpride · Joined: 16 Jan 2003

Something to keep in mind if you are hoping to get into the nightlife or sauce after work. Bundang has great nightlife and is only 30 min away, so if you are like most teachers in Gwangju and work at a public school, you're off early and have plenty of time to go to the bigger city, hang out, shop, eat, drink, see a movie, etc, before taking the last bus back. If you're at a hagwon that finishes late, however, you can still do it, but might have to cab it back. But then again, hagwons usually start in the afternoon, so you can always stay out until 5am and take the first bus back.

But Gwangju is one of those many towns in Korea where you can maximize your savings potential, do hobbies/local travel throughout the week, and then head into the big city on the weekend.

icicle · Joined: 09 Feb 2007 Location: Gyeonggi do Korea

This is the English langauge website of the city government.

http://english.gjcity.go.kr/

I found it useful when I was first deciding to take the job there.

Icicle

dean_burrito · Joined: 12 Jun 2007

I'll be moving to Gwang-Ju tomorrow. I had originally mistaken it for the larger city down south. Hopefully I'll still enjoy it. I just lived a year in the Zizkov area of Prague. I loved it. too much at times since you can always find a party or two any given night in less than one blocks distance in any direction. A quieter life might do me good for awhile but if anyone is willing to show me the ropes and the pubs and hiking getaways that would be sweet. Dean.

ilovebdt · Joined: 03 Jun 2005 Location: Nr Seoul

I live in Hanam the next city over from Gwangju. I thought I lived in the country, but Gwangju is even more countryfied.

ilovebdt

dean_burrito · Joined: 12 Jun 2007

Well I grew up in the woods of Mississippi so I can handle a little country living. Of course that is why I left as well. It's too late to back out now anyways so I'll just have to make the best of it. I'm pretty fortunate that I find good people wherever I go. Or maybe they find me. As I posted earlier it is not the place I was expecting to go but I'm still looking forward to it.