Climbing/Place to Live -- Beta Needed!

[bhylenski]

Hey everyone,

I have kept tabs on the climbing community in Korea via a friend in Sokcho, that I visited and climbed with in 2004. I have lived, worked and climbed in Japan/Thailand/Laos for the last two years. Im looking to hunker down for a year or so in one place and make some money, if possible. I loved Korea, especially Sokcho, but jobs seem a bit more sparse there. I was hoping to get some ideas for locations to live in Korea with the best outdoor climbing. I climb 5-10-5.12. My wife climbs 5.8-5.10 (Trad or Sport, I have gear for both). A location with a gym for winter climbing/bouldering or ice climbing would be great as well. I do not want to live in Seoul. I was hoping for a smaller city, but I know that there is good climbing around Seoul, Im just not interested in Seoul/Bangkok/Tokyo type cities.

Any info would be great. My biggest problem with researching this myself is the governments new spelling changes. Towns are constantly spelled different, despite being the same place. Im sure this is easy for all of you experts, but being a "Rookie" korean traveler, its still very confusing.

Any help would be great. I have experience teaching in a variety of countries in Asia, any tips on which teaching jobs or schools to look for or STAY AWAY from would be great as well.

My email is [email protected] if you would like to contact me outside this thread. Thank you in advance for your help! GREAT SITE, by the way!!

[Eric]

Hey bhylenski,

Here are some similar threads that have been posted here about the same thing:

http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forum...read.php?t=171
http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forum...read.php?t=121
http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forum...read.php?t=110

Sokcho is a cool place. I think greggnjenn (the user here at KOTR) lived in or around sokcho. You may try contacting him for any leads.

Also, you would have a lot better luck finding a job there by showing up and knocking on doors. a lot of schools need teachers but they don't always take advantage of all the resources out there to advertise jobs.

Also, i found Job # 1719 at eslHQ.com is in sokcho and Job # 1678 is in gangneung. this is a bit old but you never know.

hope this helps and good luck with your search!
Eric

[Eric]

I've also started this thread in hopes of providing more information about cities/climbing in Korea.
http://www.koreaontherocks.com/forum...-climbing.html

[bhylenski]

I'll check these forums out. I know GregnJenn, there the friends I stayed with and have been in contact with since I left. Great people! The time we spent up in Sokcho with them is one of the big reasons we want to come back. Thanks for the info, I'll take a look and keep an eye out, appreciate your time!

[Eric]

No problem and good luck with the job hunt. Let us know where you decide and if you have any more questions!

Hope to see you on the rocks,
Eric