For those who are thinking of living here, this is a handy guide. I will probably post another one in a few months time. I will try to talk about jobs, people, activities, transportation, etc.
Jobs- This is probably most important, considering the vast majority of English speaking foreigners will come here for teaching jobs. Samcheonpo has about 10 public schools. There are elementary schools, which I believe are co-ed, and coe-d, male, and female middle schools. The same goes for high school, though I'm not 100% sure. As far as I know, there are about 5 private schools here that have foreign teachers. My school employs two, but I think one of them might not be hiring any more foreign teachers after the one they have leaves.
There are also jobs in Sacheon and Namhae. While Samcheonpo and Sacheon are the same city, they are about a 20 minute bus ride apart, and I've never actually been there beyond just passing through. Namhae is an island with several towns on it, and I believe several hagwons there have foreign teachers, though I'm not sure. Same with public schools.
People- You can read Wikipedia if you want an exact population count. There are quite a few people here, but it's basically an overgrown fishing village. Sure there are a lot of buildings, but they're mostly apartments. Most people here are either very young or very old. There aren't a ton of young people here; most go to university or get jobs in other places. I do have some friends that live here for work, but they're in their 30's with kids. Young single people tend to move away it seems.
There aren't too many expats here. There are some foreign workers, but they're from Southeast Asia and I haven't actually talked to any. There are some foreign wives as well that come from other Asian countries and marry Korean farmers. Again, I haven't talked to them. I haven't even met all of the English speaking expats and there's less than 10 I think. The English speaking expats are mostly older from my experience, or relatively older at least. All the ones I know are in their late 20's or early 30's. I'm in my early 20's and there's only one other person my age here. It might seem like a small gap but people that are older generally don't seem to go out too much, though it might just be this group of people.
Jinju is the closest "big" city. Big is in quotes because it's only big when compared to Samcheonpo. But it is a university town, and there are a lot more young people and things to do there. There are a lot more expats there as well. I have a few friends in Jinju, and I go there on Saturdays to take private Korean lessons. It's an hour bus ride from Samcheonpo, or about 45 minutes by car. There are 2 movie theaters, lots of bars, and a few clubs. Samcheonpo doesn't have any clubs or movie theaters.
Activities- Like all places in Korea, Samcheonpo has a ton of restaurants. The social life revolves around eating and drinking. I must say, I have never gotten more drunk in my life than drinking with Koreans, and that includes a year studying abroad in England.
Hiking is also very popular. There are a lot of mountains in Samcheonpo, there's even one right behind my apartment. Samcheonpo also has a small beach. It's not too bad. Not the nicest beach I've been to but I've been to way shittier beaches (the Sands). Fishing is also popular here, and there are many fishing shops.
Transportation- Samcheonpo has public buses for the city, buses to other cities, and lots of tacis. Getting a taxi is never a problem. I haven't ridden the city buses many times, but they seem pretty efficient. I have taken the buses between cities a lot and they are great. Decent condition, always leave on time, and they run like clockwork. There are buses to Jinju every 20 minutes. However, I walk everywhere. I rarely take taxis when I'm in Samcheonpo.
Thats all I could think of for now. If you have any specific questions, feel free to leave a comment.
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