The link for the current SIWA (Seoul Int. Women`s Association)
with has "dogs" as a topic....

http://siwapage.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/dec-jan.discovery-for-internet.pdf

Happy reading!

Post a Reply

00abuse

Choosing an expat health insurance provider is an important decision. Get a quote from our trusted expat health insurance partner, CIGNA. With Cigna Global Health Options, you can create an international health insurance plan that's perfectly tailored for the needs of you and your family.

Learn More Get a Quote

1. You will have 4 seasons.
2. We live on Jeju Island and had to leave our lab behind. Koreans on our island are not keen on dogs as pets as a rule (some are). I saw something posted by the humane society before I came showing many dogs in cages (3-4 in a cage) that were stolen and transported to the mainland to be killed for meat. It's not common here to eat dog but they still do it. Watch your dogs very carefully!
3. I have Jewish friends here that don't have any problems.
4. I wouldn't muzzle my dog. They should be OK.
5. Dog food is VERY expensive here. I have not purchased imported dog food. I would not buy any made in China.
6. My husband teaches at an international school so I don't know about the language in Korean schools but I believe they are taught in Korean. In other words they may have to take a class to learn Korean to understand the teacher.
English would be the foreign language most taught.
7. On our island it is VERY difficult to communicate. Very little English is spoken. I met an Australian here who said he'd traveled the world and this was the most difficult place to be as far as communicating. It's better in larger cities like Seoul.
8. All kinds of clothing are worn here. At school the teachers have to cover their shoulders. I personally don't as it's VERY hot and humid in the summer.
9. Hiking is the biggest pass time here on our island. Great trails. Golf, skiing on the mainland and the beach.
10. On our island locals are, for the most part, VERY friendly. One even drove me to a doctor appt when I got lost!
11. I thought there would be a lot of organic produce here. That's not the case. We live in a rural area and daily I see them spraying the crops. E-mart has some organic vegetables but not a lot and they are expensive. In Korea they grow most of their food. On our island every inch is taken up by a crop or a building.
I will answer more in another reply.

Post a Reply

00abuse

I have been commuting often to Seoul to visit my husband in the past year. I have seen big dogs with xpats about but I hear some apartments don't allow pets. We have pekegnese dogs and the parks here are endless as longer they r kept on leash also we take them to dog cafés for socializing there are quite a few about. Some areas like ours gangnam don't see many foreigners, I would say the language here has been the most frustrating barrier I have faced. The driving is chaotic and no one ever gives way, I find walking or taking taxis public transport safer and healthier and cheaper. The cost of living is high here unless one has a high package not worth the move. The seasons are beautiful, big choice of restaurants
And nightlife, never seen or heard of any crime always feel very safe here.

Post a Reply

00abuse

Bless the woman who fosters these injured dogs! We have a dog across the street from us and I am sure his back or pelvis is broken. He has an owner who does not seem to care. It breaks my heart. We live in an apartment where we cannot have dogs, or we would have brought our own beloved dog with us. I do not know what to do about this poor dog.

Post a Reply

00abuse

I totally agree with Ananewbie that the cost of living is high and the drivers are crazy! They all just take the right of way.

Post a Reply

00abuse

My wife and I moved to Seoul last summer, after 3 years in Saudi. What a breath of fresh air! People are happy, and the surroundings are cultured. Drivers are intelligent, but Very Competitive. (Saudi drivers have cheap gas, and no training) Traffic police are barely present, so minor infringements are common.
Seoul is Very Densely populated, so living space is expensive, as is free-running area for dogs. But there are parks galore (bring your pooper-scooper). We see lots of people with lapdogs. And we see no stray dogs, only a few cats.
Cost of Living? Imports are expensive, and nothing is subsidized. But local food is quite reasonable in markets and restaurants.
Public transport and taxis are stunningly good and cheap, but linguistically difficult.
Strangest thing about utilities is the tradition of under-floor heating, which is slow and difficult to control, therefore possibly expensive.
Climate? August is unrelentingly hot & humid; January is unrelentingly cold & dry. Other months fall in between.
As one of the most (historically) homogeneous societies in the world, it can be prejudiced; but the government is extremely welcoming to foreigners.

Post a Reply

00abuse

British Schools - Dulwich College Seoul http://www.dulwich-seoul.kr/

Foundation through to yr11 is UK National Curriculum. School will be introducing IB Diploma in 2 years.

Good luck!

Post a Reply

00abuse

You didn't mention where you are possibly moving to in Korea, but I'm assuming since you mentioned Yongsan that you are looking in Seoul. I've lived in Seoul for 3 years and our family loves it.
You can live very comfortably on 8-10 million KRW/month, depending on how posh/large of a home you are looking for. There are plenty of apartments, villas, and single family homes available in your price range, including homes with gardens and/or fenced yards.(http://www.nicerent.com is a good place to look, keeping in mind that many rents are negotiable within a million KRW or so) We lived for 2 years in an extremely nice 3-bedroom high-rise apartment near Yongsan army garrison and our expenses (rent+utilities) were below KRW6 million per month most of the time. The largest bill we had - in a 4-bedroom villa - was for electricity (summers here are humid and hot) which hit right around KRW1,500,000. Water and gas together should not cost more than a few hundred thousand per month. Internet/cable is usually included with the rent and paid by the landlord but is probably less than 100,000 KRW per month. Most people also have a bottled water dispenser (tap water is safe but doesn't taste good.) Petrol is much more expensive than what you are used to, but a lot depends on how much/if you drive. We now live in a slightly cheaper, older (less posh) villa near UN Village in Hannam which has 4 bedrooms and is bigger, but has higher utilities since it's older and less efficient. Most popular areas for foreigners (where you will find more English-speaking locals, etc.) are in the Yongsan-gu area (gu= district), including Itaewon, Hannam, and UN Village (UN Village is close to Doksaegwan-ro, or Embassy Street, where many embassies - and international expats - can be found.) Seongbuk-dong is further north and outside the city, but has larger homes with yards - very suburban, very nice. Same goes for Yonhi-dong - a little further out, but also very nice. Yonhi-dong is also the location of Seoul Foreign School ( http://www.seoulforeign.org/) which has a separate British Division through Grade 8 and then offers the IGCSE and IB programs in the upper levels (my son attends there. It is the oldest international school in Seoul.) There are other international schools in Seoul including Dulwich (already mentioned) and several others. All of the international schools I know of offer Korean language as an option, although the level of intensity varies from school to school. You don't mention the ages of your children, but obviously this will impact the amount and type of instruction they receive, unless you send them to a Korean school, which would mean they would be taught in Korean and learn English as a second language. Living in Yonhi-dong or Seoungbuk-dong means more traveling to get into the downtown area and less ready access to public transportation, but many people do it. It just depends on your own tolerance for transportation times and how you feel about driving in Seoul. All the international schools in Seoul provide bus service, but if you plan on being very involved at your children's school, it is something to consider. We live less than 12 kilometers away from my son's school, but due to traffic conditions, it can take anywhere from 25 minutes to 45 minutes to drive there. Driving in Seoul can be intimidating, but it is not that bad as long as you take your time and don't ever be surprised when people do crazy things. The good thing about Seoul traffic is that it doesn't move very fast, so you don't have to worry much about accidents. Also, because it's crowded, people pull all kinds of crazy maneuvers and everyone just sort of tolerates it. You see very little aggressive driving or 'road rage' here - just a lot of pushy people all trying to find space to get where they want to go. If you need to cross 5 lanes of traffic, you can do it by just pointing your car where you need to go and moving slooooowly in that direction. People will let you in! Public transport here is excellent and well-marked in English and I have traveled all over with no problem at all. It's one of the best aspects of living in Seoul. The buses are a little more challenging (less English) but can be learned with a little practice and all of it is cheap, safe, and efficient. Taxis are cheap and safe (the drivers seem crazy but they know what they're doing) and are plentiful as well. It can be challenging because not many drivers speak English, but you can work around that by printing out Korean directions/maps and showing them to the driver. As far as dogs go - we have 2 (1 is a lab) and you don't need to muzzle them, but be prepared for people to give your labs a wide berth. Koreans are slowly warming up to small dogs, but there are many who are afraid of even little ones, and a lab-sized dog is considered 'big' here. Westerners are (obviously) much more dog-friendly, but no one is going to scream or faint or anything. They might pull away from you or cross the street at most. Hardest thing is if you have friendly dogs who are used to being greeted by one and all - and then they are suddenly just ignored because people have a different attitude toward dogs. Not mean, but just not the same. There are many parks in Seoul, but you do need to double-check because not all parks allow dogs (most do, but not all.) Our 2 favorite places to go are Namsan (mountain) park and Yongsan Family park. There are definitely many landlords who won't allow pets, but there are many who do, so it should not be a problem for you to find accommodations that allow dogs, and if you are looking at a house or a villa with a garden, you should have no problem. We had many neighbors in our high-rise with labs, and we have one in our villa now. Just have to tell your realtor you need a place that allows pets. You can get quite a few different dog foods here, we feed ours HIlls Science Diet, which is procurable everywhere, as is Royal Canine, but there are many others, and E-Mart (local supermarket/department store) has many varieties as well as 'all-natural' and 'organic' treats. We fed Blue Buffalo in the US but have never seen it here. Human food is expensive in the supermarkets (especially if you are buying organic or imports) but probably not any worse than in the Middle East and you can find pretty much anything if you look long enough. Restaurants can be extremely cheap. Korean restaurants do serve a lot of beef and pork, but many restaurants have English translations and as long as you learn the word for pork (pig meat) you shouldn't have any problems. In Itaewon (international district) there are many restaurants with English menus including Halal restaurants where you know you won't be getting pork. There are Jewish services on the Yongsan army garrison, but you will need to have someone with base access sign you on and escort you each time you want to attend. I am not Jewish, but I do know there is a Chabad organization in Itaewon (maybe the community center you are thinking of) and would expect them to be extremely welcoming. Koreans as a whole are very accepting and are religiously diverse themselves (30% are Buddhist, 30% are Christian, and the rest are nothing or something else) and you might be surprised to know that many Koreans are interested in Judaism. Koreans have a great respect for education and are aware that this is a value shared by the Jewish community. I have been in more than one bookshop where I've seen children's books about Judaism written in Hangul (Korean language.) You should have nothing to worry about in that regard. As far as clothing goes - no problems. Oddly, you will see the shortest miniskirts and the highest heels you have ever seen in your life in Korea, but you will never see a low-cut blouse (on a Korean woman.) Most Korean women take fabulous care of their skin and will wear long sleeves even in the summer (impossible for a foreigner to understand) to keep protected. You can wear whatever you want to, though. Many people in Seoul speak a little English, but most foreigners very quickly make a Korean friend or two and get help with complicated matters. It is a difficult language to learn - at least as difficult as Arabic - but if you go places that are frequented by foreigners, you shouldn't have any trouble buying things, etc. Learn how to ask how much something costs (many things are not marked) and most vendors will punch the price on a calculator to show you. Bargaining here is not very big - you might get a small discount for using cash or if you buy several items at a market - but if you are in a department store or grocery store, prices are fixed. For recreation: anything you want to do, you can do in Seoul. Hiking is a hugely popular pasttime as we are surrounded by gorgeous mountains, and every weekend you see droves of people in full hiking kit heading to spend a day on one mountain or abother. There is cycling(great cycling paths along the Han river also a great place to take the dogs), swimming(tons of public pools, great for kids), running, tennis...anything you can think of is probably done here. It is a world-class city of 10 million people with endless things to do. In the winter, we ski - there are several good resorts within an hour's drive and world-class skiing in Yongpyeong (site of the 2018 winter olympics) about 2.5 hours' drive away. Rock and ice-climbing, water skiing, boating, yoga, tae kwan do, ...the list is endless. And that is just in Korea, not including the many other Asian countries that are just a short flight away. Hope this helped a little with your information gathering and best of luck with your move.

Post a Reply

10abuse

"My main concerns with a move to Korea would be our dogs. We have two chocolate Labradors, aged 11 and 9. We cannot possibly leave them and would like to bring them with us. "

Dogs are not a problem, but you may find people scream, grab their kids, and run to the other side of the street... I'm not kidding. I have a Huskey and have had all of those things happen (on a regular basis), been yelled at more then once, I just ignore them.

"We would hope to be able to cover rent and utilities with 8-10m a month if this is a realistic figure? (employer is willing to negotiate)"

That is plenty, you can get really nice places in the center of Seoul for less.

"So I am looking at areas and am completely lost! Please can anyone advise on areas to look at which would be within our budget and that may tick as many boxes as possible for us. The following is obviously a dream but any recommendations gratefully received."

I would suggest the Namsan area in Seoul. It's near Yongsan base, the mountain park is dog friendly (just keep a good hold on them, there are rabbits running around up there), the Gyeongnidan road is the craft beer mecca for Korea (if you're into that sort of thing). Pretty foreign area, so loves of restaurants around when you're tired of Korean food.

"If such an area exists I would prefer somewhere low rise, with villas/houses (small yard as a minimum for dogs and BBQ), as green as possible, accessible parks that accept dogs, local community that will not be too upset by dogs and within a reasonable distance of a good British School. If there is a Jewish community nearby (I understand there are services available at the US military base in Yongsan and a community centre in Yongsan-Gu?) then even better."

Green is hard to find, I have seen a house not too far away that had a small (one lane) pool and some grass... but it was 6m/mo plus utilities.

British school, go with Dulwich, it is by far the best one around (for any school). Keep in mind ALL international schools in Korea run 25-30m/yr. Dulwich currently only goes up to Year 8, but they are adding to the Senior school. My son goes there (Y1), I spent over 6 months researching all the schools available and this is it.

Already mentioned the parks, if you have base access there is also a dog park there. The Gyeongnidan area also has 2 vets, one I don't trust (wanted to shave my Huskey) and the other (Itaewon Vet) is a little pricy but good care. Base also has a Vet, but not full service.

No idea on Jewish services, the base definitely does. If you can't find anything local, and don't have base access, you may be able to get the Rabbi (or a member of the temple) to sign you on base for services.

"A few other questions, again I apologise for my ignorance and obviously should things be confirmed that we are moving I will buy a book on Korea and do as much research as possible:"

Books are useless, don't waste your time or money.

"My dogs are very friendly but should I muzzle them in public if locals are likely to be afraid of them or will a muzzle make them more afraid (implying they need to be muzzled)?"

No need to muzzle them, Koreans will be terrified either way. My wife (Korean) has a few friends that won't come to our house any more because I refuse to cage my dog when there are people in the house. As far as I'm concerned, outside of any medical issues, the dog has more rights than any guest, she lives there.

"Are high quality dog foods available in Korea and what sort of premium (%) can you expect to pay on imported dog foods?"

No, and a HUGE amount. Science Diet (which is pretty crap) is about the best you can find outside of the blackmarket from the base. You'll pay probably 30-40USD for a small back of Science Diet.

"Can you be openly Jewish in Korea or is it something (like the Middle East) you need to keep quiet?"

No problems at all. For the diet I have seen some Kosher places, the Foreign Food Mart in Itaewon has a select of Kosher (great little store, even has imported Italian Parmesan). There's also a few great butchers near the mosque in Itaewon, I believe one of them advertises himself as both Halal and Kosher.

"Will my children learn Korean in school? Is it compulsory on the curriculum and if not what is the most common second language taught?"

Depends on the school. Dulwich teaches Mandarin 30 minutes a day, and offers Korean as an extra-curricular option. Be sure to read the reviews here on the schools, some of them (especially the big names) are pretty toxic.

"Are the locals friendly to expats or are the communities segregated?"

I wouldn't say segregated, but you will feel unwelcome at times.

"Unfortunately I don't presently speak any Korean, although would be keen to learn, however what kind of English can I expect to be spoken by most locals and are day to day things very difficult without a grasp of local language?"

English is taught in Korean kindergarten, pretty much everyone has studied it (except for the older generations). Most will not even attempt to use it though. Save face thing, better to not use it then make a mistake. In general though, if you're in the Foreign areas, you won't have too much of a problem. Learning to read is easy (a day or two to learn the alphabet, seriously) and then pick up a few basic phrases/numbers/etc and you'll have enough to handle to basic day to day stuff. Pretty much any company will be able to get to you an English speaking person if you call or visit.

"Is there a dress etiquette in Korea in public? Shoulders, knees covered? Are things like jeans, t-shirts acceptable or will this be considered offensive?"

There used to be, but what some girls wear now... (not that I'm complaining...)

"What are popular recreational pastimes in Seoul?"

Drinking, hiking, drinking... sauna, drinking... yeah, I think that about covers it.

"Is it easy to purchase organic and fresh produce or are many things imported?"

In season stuff is easy to get. Many areas (such as the one I suggested to you) have little "farmers markets" where you can get a lot of fresh meats, veggies, herbs (some herbs are hard to find). When fruits are in season there's bound to be a truck parked on the sidewalk somewhere selling them.

"What are utilities costs like? Internet, phone, water, electricity etc."

Internet cheap, I pay less than 50USD for fiber (100 up/down, no throttling). Phone, pretty cheap but you have to buy the phone (expensive), your current phone MIGHT work with just a new sim card. Water is cheap. Gas is cheap. Electricity is the killer. Korea uses a 5-tiered system, the more KW you use in a month the higher the per KW rate goes. As an IT guy I have plenty of computer equipment, and I hate the heat so ACs run during the summer. I've seen 1 month utilities go over 1m, multiple times.

Good:

Public transportation, one of the best I've seen in 14 countries.

Eating out (if local) is very cheap.

Easy, and relatively cheap, to travel to other Asian countries.

Internet is fast, and cheap.

It's different, and that's always a fun thing (for a while, until you get to 14 years...).

Seoul has a phone app that lets you report all the ^%#$@%@s that park illegally.

We have 4 seasons. (after you've been here a few months, you'll get the joke).

Bad:

people drive fast, recklessly and roads are lethal

People park on sidewalks, side of the road, well pretty much anywhere the %$#@ well please (pisses me off, in case you haven't noticed).

Foreign stuff can be VERY expensive.

Hard to meet locals because of their culture. Bars/coffeeshops/etc are all places you go only with your friends and only talk to your friends. Koreans generally only meet people through work, school, or current friends.

Electricity is expensive.

Gas is expensive.

Koreans aren't racist, that's between black people and white people... no seriously, been told that more than once. They can be quite racist, in both subtle and not so subtle ways.

-------

Since you mentioned skiing, there are 2 main ski areas here. I don't ski, but I've heard they're pretty good.

Feel free to contact me via this site if you have any specific questions. If you'd like, I can recommend a realtor for the area mentioned, I've used him for years and am quite happy with him.

Post a Reply

00abuse