Where to live in Busan city?

I'm going into teaching in South Korea with a blind eye and I've narrowed it down to the Busan area. My next question is which part of Busan would you live. A little about me: I'm a pretty active person who likes to run, hike etc. I like mountains and being reasonable close to the coast. I also like to party and have access to western life as well for my sanity and to lessen the culture shock.. Being able to join a club or organized sports team as a social outlet would be a HUGE plus as well... Also, I love fish and sushi and would eat a diet soley consisting of it if I was able to do so. I'm a guitarist and enjoy a good music/arts scene as well.

I have offers from the following areas:
Munhyeon, Chagwon City (near Busan I think), Ulsan city (near Busan city), : Andong city (near Daegue city, Dowon-dong (in Daegu city) or Hwamyeong (Busan city).
Thank for your response,
Chad

Of the places you've mentioned, only Hwamyeong is in Busan, and it's at the other end of the city from the beaches. If you want to be close to the beaches, nightlife, and Western restaurants, you should be looking for a position in or near Daeyeon-dong/Namcheon-dong/Gwangan-dong (all in the area of Kyungsung University and Gwangalli beach), or in Haeundae/Jangsan (near Haeundae beach).

Hwamyeong is the only place you've mentioned that is actually in Busan. It is far out from the beaches and the nightlife, but the nice thing about Hwamyeong is that there's a nice tight-knit community of foreigners who live there, and so you will be able to make friends quickly in Hwamyeong. Also, even though it's far out, there's a subway that runs right through Hwamyeong, and cabs in Busan are ridiculously cheap, so it's not that big of a deal to be far out, anyway. Other nice places to live are Haeundae. If you take a job in Jangsan, you're still pretty darn close to Haeundae. Gwangalli would be another nice place to live. Near there is Daeyeon and Namcheon, so if you take a job in any of those neighbourhoods, you'll be fin (they are also very close to Kyungsung, hugely pupular with foreigners for nightlife). Another place that has a lot of nightlife and is pretty much in the centre of the city, so close to pretty much everything is Seomyeon. If you can get a job in Seomyeon, Bujeondong or Beomnagol, you'd be pretty close to lots of action. The other nice place to live is the area around PNU (Pusan National University). It's very far away from the beaches, but it has a good vibe and lots of nightlife. Jangjeon-dong is practically PNU, as is Oncheonjeong, and I'd say that even if you lived as far away as Guseo-dong, you'd still be close enought to PNU.

If you want to live in a big city close to nightlife and with some Western conveniences at your fingertips, here are some places to avoid: Gimhae, Ulsan, Changwon, Masan, Jinhae. Yangsan, Tongyeong, Andong, and Munhyeon. These places all have their charms, but they are very far out from Busan.

Hwamyeong is far out from the action, but the bonus to living there is that there are quite a few other foreigners living there who all hang out together, so you'll make a huge group of friends really quickly. Also, cabs are ridiculously cheap in Korea and there's a subway stop in Hwamyeong, so even though you're kind of out there, you're still connected. As the previous poster said, Haeundae/Jangsan, and Gwangan/Daeyeon/Namcheon are good places to live. Another good place to live is the Seomyeon/Bujeon/Beomnaegol area. It's the centre of the city and there's heaps going on there, and since it's the centre, it's not too far away from anything. Another good one is PNU/Oncheonjang/Jangjeondong/Guseodong. PNU is another area of the city that's popular for nightlife and has a good vibe, and the other neighbourhoods are close enough to PNU that you could live there and still feel like you're part of the action.

If you want to be in a bigger city with lots of nightlife and with Western conveniences at your fingertips, some places to avoid are Ulsan, Gimhae, Masan, Jinhae, Yangsan, Changwon, and Tongyeong.

Check out www.pusanweb.com for more information about Pusan, events in Pusan, sports teams, and job listings in Pusan (and area). I hope you enjoy living in Busan!