As regular readers will know, I live in Bucheon a satellite city of Seoul. It feels like I live in Seoul. The last week or two I've been experiencing a very different atmosphere in Chinju, also spelled Jinju.
Chinju is a city of about 350,000 people and is considered to be quite conservative by Koreans I know. The expat community is, of course, much smaller than in Seoul.
This can be good or bad depending on how you look at it. My wife and I are having a great time. We've probably met most of the foreigners in Chinju and they are quite freindly. Foreigners say "hi" to each other when they see each other and it's normal for strangers to introduce themselves when meeting for the first time. In just a couple of weeks my wife and I feel that we've begun several friendships and have really been welcomed by the Expat community.
Making friends in Seoul take quite a bit longer, at least in my experience. I ahve heard a few rumours about places in Chinju you really do NOT want to work. If you're entertaining a job offer you might consider contacting me to see if that's one of the schools I've heard of.
Posted by James Trotta at February 13, 2005 4:12 PMHi, me and a friend are recent college grads and are considering applying for a job teaching english in korea. i was wondering if you could give me some advice and let me know what to avoid. thanks
dan
Posted by: Dan at February 15, 2005 8:31 AMHi, My name is Greg, I am Australian and my wife,s name is Soo Juong. We live in Jinju at Hotan-dong. Have been here for 2 months. Have not seen too many foreigners in Jinju. I would like to hear from you maybe meet.
Greg
Posted by: Greg and Soo Arnold at March 6, 2005 5:36 AMHi ...
I am looking for the name of a good summer camp in Chinju... for about 4 weeks this summer. Do you know the name or contact email and # for a summer camp there?
Thanks,
greg
I agree with you...I'm living in Seoul (Youngdeungpo area) and it seems to take a while to make friends. Expats don't salute each other. It is nice that there is an area like Itaewon where there are more foreigners than Koreans...it's a nice escape.
Posted by: bob at August 5, 2005 11:56 AMHi, I may be taking a job in a school called oss english in Jinju in january. was wondering if you know anything about it? ands whats life in jinju like in general?
Cheers,
Jenny
Posted by: jenny at November 9, 2006 6:41 PMI didn't even see all these comments, but I'll answer Jenny's since it's the most recent. I've never heard of that school. Life in general depends on what you're used to. Coming from the suburbs, I thought Chinju was a real city because it has a bus system and I could walk to my kumdo place, etc. Now I live in Seoul and like most Koreans, I consider Chinju a small country city (of 350,000 people). If you find a good teaching position you can certianly be happy in Chinju.
Greg - I'm in Seoul now. I visit Chinju sometimes. My email is jtrotta@gmail.com
Posted by: James Trotta at November 16, 2006 3:54 AMESL blog is one of many Blogs for learning English & teaching English. Translation services information.