Author's product rating: 
| Advantages: |
cheap, friendly, people, my apartment ! |
| Disadvantages: |
the food (ahh red pepper), distances between dongs, |
| Recommend to potential buyers: |
yes |
I loved South Korea. I taught over there for a period of time. When I first got to South Korea I was a bit dismayed. I stayed in Ulsan, right down the bottom. It was very industrialised and hugely commercial. My apartment was in darkness when I got there and resembled a bad neighbourhood in south london. I got to admit I really wanted to go home at this point.
Woke up the next day felt awful. Felt that oh my god what have I done now feeling. Rang my family then decided to pull myself together and go out! Silly idea I walked a few miles in general direction I came in by to try and find a district I had seen previous night! Not speaking a word of Korean nor beingable to read the Hangsul characters I got lost within an hour and had to phone my new boss. This is where I found out that the Korean people are amazing. So understanding and kind and generous. I never wanted for anything my whole trip!
Things got better rapidly and I must say I miss it now I am back here.
Korea is covered by mountains and hills about two thirds of the country looks like that. The hills are generally covered in trees and the whole place looks beautiful. The scenery can be amazing.
There is a distinct lack of wildlife however. Despite this the Korean way of life is very laid back socially. There are many places to drink and chill out but nothing like the clubs at home. There are western bars but to be fair I found the Korean bars more welcoming and better. The beer is a bit weak and the Soju they drink is a bit nasty at times but after a few bottles I passed caring. Theres not an amzing amount to do out there but savour Korea for what it is. You have to admire the country for pulling itself up to where it now sits and the people are amazing. The level of education and their desire to succeed is great and the whole place does buzz a little due to the friendliness and wacky ways they have.
Ulsan's downtown was great vibrant and big with all the leisure facilities you could wish for. Very americanised however in places and this is worrying for the older generation. Its also very weird to see how commercial the area is but only filled with Korean products. Not much is even Japanese due to the bad blood between the countries in the past.
I don't think I could last an amazing amount of time there. 3 months was enough for me as I had to return due to family emergency but I went back to finish off my notice period and I was sad when I left.
I long to go back. Although its not top of my destinations it taught me to stand on my own two feet and cope with a completely different culture I would recommend the experience to anyone, anytime.
