I've lived/worked in Korea coming on 7 years now...

Changwon will bore you to tears. If you want a medium sized city just choose a Suburb of Seoul.

The best options are Ilsan, Bundang or Bucheon. All are very clean, much more spacious, more green spaces. Plus a decent local night-life and all the other amenities. Ilsan gets a bonus because it has a Costco and an artificial lake park.

All 3 are 20-30 minutes from Seoul either by Subway or Taxi.

hey jack,

what are you doing? I want to ask if you're a girl because of your name but I'm not getting that vibe~


Greg~

yuna as in the girl from snsd?

Pretty sure he's talking about the figure skater

but SNSD

yeah the figure skater

여자 아니거든!

I guess the name is kind of a feminine concept, never really thought about it. Heh.

I came here to teach in 2002 and never left. Now I'm doing my Masters and grinding poker.

interesting. How come you never left? Are you in Seoul btw?

jack, are you fluent now that you've been here for so long?

leaving Toronto today for Korea.

It's pretty bittersweet but damn I'm excited for some galbi, kimchi, soju, and beer.

Yea that's where we'll be.. I'm thinking I'll probably just end up DVRing them at home instead of being up at 2am to watch.. I'll try though but I don't want to sleep during the day from being up all night

do you have a slingbox or w/e? you like connect it to your cable at home, then can watch on your comp from anywhere in the world apparently.

and Syous have a good trip back.

i have a really bad headache so im going to sleep. goodnight all

There was never any incentive to leave. After two contracts I landed a really sweet gig where I only worked 4 hours a day for full pay, free housing and no prep or other BS. I was saving +$1000/mo and still living it up. If I went home I'd have to work 8hr days plus some BS commute pay stupid amounts of tax and be lucky to save $100-200 a month.

I live in Seoul yeah. From Toronto too, originally.



I should be be, but I've been really lazy with studying. My Korean is decent but advanced grammar and structure are a pain in the ass for a 흰둥이 (honkey) to wrap their mind around.

For reference, how long (time, also distance) is a train-ride from Changwon to incheon (what I understand to be the SE and NW corners of South Korea)

Not sure about distance. But its an hour from Incheon airport to Seoul Station. Then if you take the KTX high speed train its 3-4 hours to Changwon. A lot longer if you don't take the KTX.

Its also a lot faster if you fly into Kimhae in Busan since thats way closer to Changwon.

How cheap are intra-country flights? Would it make more sense to fly from changwon to Incheon for a weekend to see friends?

What airlines operate (air korea I assume amongst others), and do the normal OTAs work for Intra-Korean flights (kayak and such)

Domestic flights are cheap, but the train is cheaper plus less of a hassle if you're just going to visit someone. You'll need to book your tickets with a local agent probably. Asiana, Korean Air and a couple smaller companies offer domestic flights.

Or you could just not live in a crap-hole like Changwon.

Would you mind elaborating on why you dislike Changwon so much, haven't made a decision yet so I'd like whatever I can get!

Hi guys,

I was wondering a few things about Poker in Korea:

1. Is it legal and tax free?

2. If you would like to live in a city like Gyeongbuk (our university has a partner school there) or anything smaller that is close to beautiful nature and beaches - what would the rent be if you do not look for something baller but for something normal.

3. Same for Seoul, not baller but middle standard, what you have to pay for rent/internet? (lets say 2-3 room condo for 2-3 players).

And for the people that are Koreans or that are knowing some people over there: I am sure it is way more expensive for foreigners to rent a condo than it is for Koreans, who could help to rent something over there?

thx in adv.
Chris

Chris,
How long are you staying in Korea for?

For poker, its illegal for a Korean national to play, so im not really sure what the situation is for Americans. Also, im pretty sure most(if not all) of us playing poker in Korea cash out to an American bank account.

Also, do you speak Korean? I know for the SKY universities they require level 4 Korean literacy, im not sure about the other universities. I am pretty inclined to think that speaking Korean is a must.

There's different types of rent in Korea, and it usually requires a large amount of Key money. Some you put down key money+ monthly, others you put down key money to cover the whole cost of the apartment.

Syous can confirm but pretty sure key money can be at least 5million won. (you may find less if you hunt around.)

For Korean or foreigner renting an apartment/condo or w/e the jeonse is still a lot.

In Seoul if you're not looking for something really baller I'd get an officetel or something. I think rent for a 2-3 br apt would be a 2k or so a month? although im not really sure. im sure you can find cheaper if you looked around.

For baller places, I like mok-dong. I have a friend there and her apartment is incredibly baller lol, although rent is like at least 4.5k month I think.

im on my phone so it won't let me edit, but I think for a regular 2-3br apartment in seoul itd be like 1.5k-2k a month? for smaller cities its prob cheaper.

Its a "city" but its still rural. All of Kyeongsan province is a little backward thinking outside of Busan. Unless you want true cultural immersion living in a place like Changwon will increase your culture shock and feelings of isolation. Your circle of friends will be severely limited. And in a place where a lot of the foreigners are insufferable you really want some selection.


Online gambling is illegal in Korea for both Koreans and foreigners. They don't come after you for it though, they simply block the sites at the ISP level. I have been playing on Pokerstars for ~6 years here with no issues.

If you're in a major city, foreigners will pay the same price for housing as Koreans. There is no gouging as the real estate agents 부동산 are extremely competitive and everywhere.

There are a few places in Seoul where you can straight out rent a place. The majority are "serviced residences" designed for visiting executives and such. These are extremely baller and run from 2k-5k a month depending on location and services offered. Here is a typical one: http://www.somerset.com/en/south_kor...amenities.html

For other places you can get 1-2 room studio/small apartments. But you can't rent them outright. You have to do something called Wol-Sae (윌세). Which means you put down a sizable fully refundable deposit typically between 8,000US-17,000USD then pay a smaller monthly rent like 350-800USD a month + utilities.

Utilities are dirt cheap. Internet is about $30 a month for super high speed no caps or limits.

wow I run bad. was planning on buying ticket back to korea for the weekend, get called for jury duty instead.

im really pissed goodnight im going to sleep

how is korean hard to learn, lol

soooo ***** ez grammar wtf

Rekrul is right. Reading Korean is super-easy and dramatically increases your quality of life. Never heard of anyone without a learning disability having trouble learning it. Writing comes shortly after reading.

For me, understanding/speaking is pretty hard at the moment though.

i can understand it a lot better than i can speak it, and yeah agreed reading it is easy

Anyone tried out a software like Rosetta Stone to learn it at all? If I get a contract signed I'll try to learn as much as I can before I come over and I've been recommended Rosetta Stone from a few persons (and commercials )