Quote: (05-19-2011 10:10 PM)Dash Global Wrote:
Welcome to the forum BusanCanuck!! Just the guy I need to get some perspective from as I am HEAVILY considering Busan also.
Pretty much I need a solid VIBRANT nightlife to keep me entertained. Busan at close to 4 million people from my intel has pretty good nightlife. Enough to keep me happy. Am I correct?
Can you break down the nightlife and women of Busan for me? I really love the BIG CITY on the beach with the mountains in the background. I am just concerned with what I will be missing out on in Seoul.
Interesting about Daegu, as I have heard the same thing in regards to their women.
I'll try to break down the two cities briefly the best way that I can.
Seoul and Busan are both huge metropolises which each have a different flavour, but both have lots to offer. Keep in mind that any city of over 1 million, or any city that is a satellite of Seoul will have a decent nightlife and will have its share of liberal girls who would not rule out dating a foreigner. Also, there are foreigner groupies. When I lived in Daejeon, which is less than half the size of Busan, I was pulling just as much.
I'll start with Seoul.
The scale of Seoul is absolutely massive. It has 11 million people in the city alone, plus plenty of surrounding suburbs, some of which have around a million people. If you include the port of Incheon, which is connected to the Seoul subway but is its own metropolitan economic zone, you would have 24 million people if you added all those cities together. Most of them are connected by subway.
Seoul itself has everything that you can think of. It has upscale bars and restaurants where you could easily drop 500 in one sitting, clubs which are world-rated and often feature top DJ's, a massive foreigner area which can get pretty seedy, anything that you can think of.
There are 3 main areas for foreigner friendly nightlife, although there are pockets all over the city. I'll describe a few of them.
Itaewon:
This is likely where you'll spend your first night out. This is the main foreigner area and it's full of Nigerians, Middle Eastern dudes, US GI's and other expats. During the day, it's a place to shop and get foreign food from practically anywhere. At night, it's wild, although I hear that 15 years ago when there were more GI's, the place was like the Wild West and trashy as hell. It has lots of good bars and some clubs, some good, some dirty as hell. Generally, the good part of the district is the area behind the Hamilton Hotel and the bad areas are anywhere surrounding "Hooker Hill", but it really depends on what you like. Just keep your wits about you in Itaewon.
Traditionally, the Korean chicks that Itaewon attracted were the foreigner groupie types who like to rebel against Korean society. Korean perception of Itaewon is changing though, and it's becoming more acceptable for 'mainstream' Koreans to hang out there.
Hongdae/ Sinchon (area around Hongik University)
This is a very popular area for both foreigners and Koreans. It has a ton of different bars and clubs and has much less US GI's than Itaewon does, as many clubs won't allow them. I've never had problems with GI's, but when you have a bunch of juiced up young guys who are basically above the law with a bunch of sexual frustration at the end of the night, they've been known to pick fights and cause a lot of trouble.
Hongdae is mostly an area for young people and it's a great place to pull some 19 year old university ass. It has some good clubs and some trashy ones. Stay away from Club Tinpan. The place is a sausage fest and so packed that you can't even move, even far away from the dance floor.
When the weather is nice, which is most of the year, the park in the center of Hongdae is a great place to hang out and it's full of hot young girls who are taking a rest. It's a great place to open a lot of different sets.
Gangnam:
This is the rich and trendy area of Seoul. Women there are smokin, the place is full of high-end clubs with big cover charges. This is the area that I have the least experience with, as I've never lived in Seoul and usually when I visit, I end up north of the Han River, where Hongdae and Itaewon are. Gangnam is south of the river. Taxi fare is expensive in Seoul and while the subway is convenient, there are ten different lines and you have to do a couple of transfers when you're going a long distance. I plan on taking a trip there soon though, but I should get some nice clothes first.
Seoul has a lot of advantages, its main disadvantages being heavy traffic and high prices. Also, if you get a job in Seoul, you could be way up in the northern area, or far west or east. In that case, you may be looking at a one hour subway ride or a $30-$40 cab ride to get to the party, but there are small spots throughout the city where you can hang out and have a decent time. Seoul is full of affluent Koreans who speak some degree of English and have an interest in other cultures.
Busan has everything that Seoul has to offer, the place is enormous.
Here is a website run by expats that has some good information on the nightspots and the general goings on of Busan:
http://www.busanhaps.com/
The thing about Busan is that each part of it has a much different vibe. Haeundae Beach feels completely different from SeoMyeon (downtown) which feels completely different from Gwanganli Beach.
When I first got to Busan, I made the mistake of asking the wrong people where the good bars were. They directed me to a bunch of foreigner sausagefests.
There are 5 main hot spots in Busan. I live way out on the west side, so during weekdays I typically stay around my neighbourhood and hang out at hostess bars with old Korean dudes, but the good thing about Busan is that its subway system is much simpler than Seoul's. You'll have to make one line transfer at worst to get to where you're going. That being said, if you move here, make sure that you live near a good station.
The 5 main hotspots are:
SeoMyeon:
In my experience, this is a good area for picking up girls. This is because the area isn't oversaturated by a bunch of foreigner herbs, but still has enough foreigners to meet some new buddies/ wingmen. there is a good club there called Foxy Club which has two floors- a dance floor and a place to chill. Korean girls seem to make up a much bigger ratio of the people in any given bar than some of the more popular areas. SeoMyeon is in central Busan.
PNU:
I don't go up there much, because that would be the longest subway ride for me. I was there during the day and it seemed cool. It's Pusan National University area, so there are plenty of hot young girls around. I'll have to try hanging out up there at night, it seems like my type of place.
Kyungsung University area:
Seems to be the most popular area for foreigners to go. Honestly, there are too many foreigners. It's good for meeting some buddies or for starting your night out in and there are some good restaurants and it does have its good nights. However, more times than not you'll walk into one of the bars and see a bunch of guys sitting around. I've met some quality girls around there though.
Haeundae Beach:
This area is famous. There are some high end clubs there, plenty of lounges and pubs, great restaurants, a cheesey ass lounge called U2 which always seems to have a bunch of dudes sitting around.... This is a very good area more or less. I got my ass sunburned from sleeping on the beach last week though.
Gwangali Beach:
A much nicer beach in my opinion, and feels like more of a cohesive area than Haeundae. it's very well lit up, full of bars and restaurants, plus a couple good clubs. Beach bikini club has a huge lounge area upstairs and a big balcony that looks out over the beach. The bridge that goes from Gwangan to Haeundae is lit up at night and it looks spectacular from the beach. On a warm spring or summer night, this would be the place where I would choose to be.
Of the two cities, I'd imagine that I'd get the greater volume of ass from living in Seoul. Both cities are vibrant as hell though in terms of nightlife and you'll find what you're looking for in either. If I was offered two jobs with the exact same conditions, but I had to choose between the two cities, I would have a very hard time deciding. To be honest though, either place will offer you anything you need.
Hell, I even had a blast living in a city of 1.5 million, which is big, but much smaller than either Seoul or Busan. Matter of fact, I'm headed there tonight. Dunsan-dong, Daejeon is a very good place for picking up.
Busan does have easy access to japan, plus the Gimhae International Airport where you can get cheap flights to Seoul, Taipei, Japan and a few places in China.
Anyway, you could do far worse than Korea.
Another positive that I forgot to mention is that in Korea, you have a lot of freedom that you don't have in North America, as long as you obey their legal code. You won't be getting a 400$ fine for smoking in a bar or too close to a doorway, or getting put in the drunk tank for public intoxication. This means that you can grab a 40 o beer and sit on some chair or a bench outside a convenience store in a busy area and just hang out with your buddies. Korea is very good for street game, especially at night. It's cheaper and often more effective than going to the clubs. In Korea, it's like the whole nightlife district is a club. I've pulled some good ass just from sitting on a picnic bench. When girls sit at nearby benches, it makes it very easy to open them
There are some things about Korea that will stress you the fuck out from time to time, but the positives outweigh the negatives by far in my opinion.
Just make sure to read your contract very carefully. If you want some good guidelines, go to the job discussion forum at Dave's ESL Cafe Korea. They have a sticky thread with tips for making sure you don't end up at a shit school that will fuck you over. Also make sure that you'll be living in a decent area, or at least one with decent subway access.
