Where the path leads

Last Friday my plans for Korea became much clearer. I was able to meet with two of my future Korean supervisors who had traveled to Canada from Korea. The meeting was informal, over coffee at a hotel restaurant, but I was a bit nervous nonetheless. The questions they asked were about what I had expected and addressed my reasons for wanting to teach in Korea, classroom management techniques, whether or not I'm a team player, and how I anticipate handling the culture shock. Everything went fairly well and I was officially offered the job and proceeded to sign my name about a hundred times.

During this time I was also able to talk about where it is that I would be teaching. The location was dictated by which age range I was interested in teaching. I decided to go with my training and stick with the elementary grades. This provided me with a few options, all of which were in smaller cities in south-eastern Jeollanam-do.

Map of Korea showing the Jeollanam-do prvince

I don't remember all of the names but the one I went with was the largest of the cities offered: Suncheon.

Map of Jeollanam-do province showing the Suncheon area

I chose Suncheon for a couple of different reasons. Firstly was its size. While small by Korean standards at approximately 270,000 people, it will be by far the largest place I have ever lived. It's my hope that this size will allow for something of a western presence in the city to help with some of the culture shock and with acquiring the amenities that I am accustomed to, but also it's small enough that I can experience much of Korean culture.

Second was its location at the intersection of two rail lines; the Gyeongjeon Line (running east - west) and the Jeolla Line (running north-south). I figure that this will allow for fairly easy travel around the country and connection to Korea's high speed rail lines.

















Third was the living situation. The recruiter told me that most if not all of the western teachers that they had placed in Suncheon, approximately fifty in all, lived in the same apartment complex. This interested me as it offers me something of a ready made social community. This I feel will not only be important for helping with the culture shock and acclamating myself to Korea, but given the fact that I will be the only western teacher at my school I can't rely on meeting other westerners at my job like many english teachers.

The Jeollanam-do coast line

Jeollanam-do is known more for its agricultural production than anything else. It isn't as mountainous as other sections of Korea which allows for greater farming. Jeollanam-do also has nearly 6,100 km's of coastline and approximately 2000 islands. The province receives abundant rainfall and has the warmest weather in Korea.

Suncheon, known as the City of Beautiful People, is a mixed agricultural industrial city located near Suncheon Bay. Situated a little over an hour from the provinces largest city, Gwangju, and roughly forty minutes north of the port city of Yeosu, Suncheon is experiencing strong development.

Cultural and historical attractions near Suncheon include the 16th century Suncheon Japanese Castle, Baekje stone castle, Naganeupseong Folk Village, the Songgwangsa Buddhist temple, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site featuring grave markers, Dolmen, from the first century BC.

It looks like it will be an interesting place to live and explore.