Living in the Republic of Korea, Chosun can be an exciting and enlightening time. This is my third time teaching in Korea, albeit the first time as a fully international teacher. My past two tours here were as a DoDDS teacher in Busan (1998), before that school closed, at the Seoul district office (1999) and High School (2011), before that school closed, and at Humphreys Middle/High School for its opening in 2013. In that span of two and a half decades, the changes in the communities have been monumental. Now, I’m teaching in Sacheon, about 90 minutes from Busan, at Gyeongham International Foreign School (33 total comments).
Coming as an international teacher, not a DoDDS US federal employee, guarantees a substantial change in lifestyle due to the differences in compensation and benefits then vs. now. At my current school, housing is provided, and I’m living in a flat in the on-campus dormitory with my wife and son. That fact alone eliminates a huge factor from the expenses that one could be facing.
The city of Sacheon, located in the very south of the Republic, is a small city of a little over 110,000 people. When compared to the metropolitan Seoul area (population: over 9.7 million) or Pyeongtaek (about 500,000), Sacheon is definitely on the small side. The area is primarily agricultural; however, Sacheon is also the home of many large aerospace industry names and is soon to be the home of South Korea’s space agency.
Getting around the local area, Sacheon-up, for me is normally by foot; there’s a small but well-stocked Woori Mart grocery a five-minute stroll away from the campus flats, a Daeso household goods store about ten minutes along the main roads, a Baskin-Robbins two minutes away, and lots of smaller shops as well. Taxis are normally available at two close stands, and there’s a bus stop about 3 minutes away from the school gate which provides reasonable and inexpensive transportation to Sacheon-si, Jinju, and nearby cities including Busan and Seoul, via transfer at the bus terminal. My personal preference for further distances is the KTX train through Korail, with the nearest station in Jinju (20,000KRW/18 USD taxi ride away). While not as economical as when I was in Korea for past tours, I feel 58,000KRW a reasonable price to get to Seoul Station in 3 ½ hours. From Seoul station, it’s an easy and cheap train ride to Incheon, a subway ride to points infinite in the metro Seoul area itself, or easy bus trips to other Seoul locations. Taxis take both credit cards and T-money cards for payment; bus transportation requires the re-loadable T-money card; one can purchase train tickets online with credit cards (both Korean and international), for cash or credit cards at the station windows, or at the ticket kiosks in most train stations.
In Sacheon-si itself, one can find many shopping and eating options, while in the nearby city of Jinju, shopping options include E-Mart and HomePlus. Also, one can shop in Western style at Costco in the Busan area, about a 90-minute bus ride from Sacheon/Jinju. While the presence of Costco was a major change for me compared to previous tours, the online shopping opportunities in Korea are impressive, albeit somewhat expensive. Coupang, a Korean company that is traded on the New York Stock Exchange is probably the best known, but Amazon also ships to Korea at reasonable rates, and a number of my colleagues use the online retailer AliExpress. With those options, many products that were simply unavailable in previous years are an order away. But, here’s a caveat for people: comparison shop! Many products available online can be found by digging locally. Likewise, prices are not uniform between online sellers or even on the same online platform.
As I mentioned earlier, Sacheon is a small community, and with that smallness comes a perceived limitation of activities. There is limited nightlife, but the sporting world is very active and a number of folks at the school follow the local baseball team; hiking is a favorite pastime of many people here, and there are sights to see. In Sacheon, one can ride the cable car over the mouth of the river, visit the aquarium, and more. Also, down the road in Busan, one has a major metropolitan area 90 minutes away including beaches, nightlife, theatre, and more. A bus or car can get you to Namhae Island in about 3 and a half hours, where there are beaches and more, including a reasonably authentic “German Village”. Seoul, a 3 and a half to four hours trek up north provides Busan’s features (less the beach) in spades. Travel from Korea to other areas in Asia, or even the West, is reasonable and reliable either from Incheon, near Seoul, or from Busan.
If you’ve lived in Daegu or Seoul or other areas further north, you’re used to colder weather than we normally experience in Sacheon. Before I arrived last year, I was told there was snow on the ground, once, for a few hours. This past winter, while other areas of the Republic experienced some substantial snow, we only saw one hailstorm that deposited anything freezing on the ground. That’s not to say it hasn’t been chilly to cold, but the frozen precipitation hasn’t been an issue. The rain has seemed a bit more intense compared to my previous times in Korea, but not anything extraordinary.
Is Sacheon for everyone? No. Absolutely not. Many people can feel isolated and bored if they are used to more active locations. On the other hand, if one is looking for a low-stress community and a comfortable, low-stress school environment, it can be a very good choice.
This article was submitted by guest author and ISC member, Rich Walrath.
