Korean Job Discussion Forums

[wayfarer]

What's it like in the satellite towns of Seoul? Is it like American cities where everything worth looking at is in the city, and the suburbs are isolated and dull? Or is it all basically the same? I need to decide whether to consider some jobs in the suburbs or to only stick with Seoul.

Is there a palpable difference in the way it feels- how cosmopolitan, urban, how many other foreigners walking around?
And how much difference does it make in terms of culture, entertainment, shopping, etc.

[Bibbitybop]

All the fun nightlife for expats happens in Seoul, but I know people who live in Bundang who like it, and people live in Bucheon or even Incheon who don't mind the subway commute on the weekends. Many people like being out of the big city.

[mrsquirrel]

Upside

It's quiet. There are hardly any other foreigners around. Commute to work is easy. Air is relatively clean. Not surrounded by towers of concrete.

Downside

Going into Seoul needs motivation even though it's only 40mins bus ride away. Sometimes I need things like coconut milk and I can't get it easily.

[icicle]

[Jenia]

what do you know of this area? Bucheon,Kyunggido

[Saxiif]

What I do is live in Seongnam where its damn cheap and I can easily afford my own two bedroom apartment (will never life in company provided housing again if I can help it, makes me feel like a serf) and commute into a rich hagwon-filled area. As long as you don't commute during rush hour I can just get a lot of reading done and get the best of both worlds.

For nightlife I can get a taxi home from the Seoul hotspots for $15-30ish depending on how far away they are, whcih is acceptable since its split between me and my wife. Works out well.

[Saxiif]