Korean Job Discussion Forums

[lawyertood]

They do sell Brita water filter systems at Costco in Korea and possibly at Walmart ( I saw them once but sometimes you see something on one visit and it's gone the next).

[keguri]

Yes, I thought of boiling it and then Brita-ing it. I also thought that there might be some type of filter I could buy there to put on the faucet?

[steroidmaximus]

If you have an address, sending a box of books surface mail is not a bad idea. Books here are expensive, and academic oriented materials are nearly impossible to find.

You can buy quite a bit of food here, but like others have said, the cost is 3-4 times what you'd pay back home.

I bring:

Curry powder (it's quite expensive here)

Tandori powder

mixes of various sorts (taco, chili, lemon-herb, etc)

Most other spices you can find at your local Hanwa Mart or Emart. Hanwa mart now carries Coconut milk, which makes for a great curry. Emart has cheese, sometimes. . .these days it's an Australian cheese, Bega. Bought some Edam the other day that is quite good.

Welsh juice concentrates (wrapped in plastic to avoid any problems from condensation or accidental explosions. . never had a problem) although the Cheju madarin juice is really tasty. . buy the one that is in a mostly white container, it's the best

MAPLE SYRUP (usually 4-5 cans. . .you can make a very delicious marinated beef dish that goes over extremely well at dinner parties with your Korean friends). . .If you bring maple fudge, carry it on since otherwise it will crystallize

Canadian beer! I carried on a couple of cases bought at the duty free before leaving, no problem. . .one bottle of Molson Canadian (not my first choice) costs about $4-5 at a grocery store here!

If I could figure a way to carry a year's supply of gasoline, I'd do it.

This list could go on and on. ..

What I bring back to Canada with me:

Kim, that tasty seaweed (my wife is an Oh if you're thinking anything nasty )

Kimchi (make sure you wrap it well)

Bekseju should work out a deal with the local Korean grocer at home to buy my soju, which he sells for $12 a bottle! The only restaurant in town sells it for $20!

Other Korean wines

5-6 cartons of smokes (I give a lot of em away)

Denjang paste

Bamboo salt

[denz]

my top 10 list of things i recently brought back:

1. immodium (for those of us who eat whatever is lying around)
2. vacuum sealed plunger coffee (red coffee scented water isnt my bag)
3. plunger
4. various other drugs for eye, ear, mouth, skin (was underimpressed by being provided time and time again with a brown medicinal drink after explaining all my symptoms to a local chemist - i wonder if they even prescribe it for contraceptive purposes)
5. cotton bed sheets (100%)
6. a copy of the big lebowski on dvd (got to be the only copy on the peninsula - that rug really tied the room together)
7. "lush" soaps
8. aussie flag (in event of war)
9. cadbury chocolate
10. tea tree oil (mum's suggestion - unware of possible uses at the moment)

other than that, i get on all right. haddon house in hannam has been getting most of the gear that i need. they've had coconut milk, green and red curry pastes, tim tams, you name it, for a long time. prices are exey, but still cheaper than getting things sent from home.

i do miss australian produce. fresh herbs, fruit and veg. man... that said, i also missed dwen jung jigae when i was away. cant win.

denz

[IconsFanatic]

[exportedhabster]

I don't know where, but you can buy a pump and have very large water bottles delivered to your home. You can pump the water into empty 2L bottles and store them in your fridge. Cheaper than always buying 2Ls in the long run, and more environmentally friendly.

[keguri]

The Brita filter would cost around $15, I think. A pack of three filters is about $18. So that's about, let's round up and say $55 after tax. That gives me one pitcher and 7 filters, so say 7 months of filtered water (I'm hoping my parents will want to send a care package at some point, and I will ask for more filters at that time, hee hee). Normally I would consume about one to one and a half tall bottles of water a day (I use it for coffee and tea too). So let's round down and say 7 bottles a week. Let's say 7 bottles costs me about $6. In 4 weeks, I have already spent $24. In 10 weeks, I will have spent $60. I have already exceded the $55 I would have spent on the pitcher and filters. There is the cost of the gas, of course, but I think even if I include that, I'm still better off buying the pitcher and filters.

The water cooler idea is also something I've thought of, but I didn't know how much that would end up costing.

[SuperHero]

I want JELLO.

[coolsage]

This one is easy: Three tins of jalapenos, two kilos of smoked salmon, and a big brick of Emmenthal cheese! Sorry if it doesn't scan sweetly. And to all, a good night.

[Cthulhu]

Garlic olive oil (unless you can make it well at home)
Tandoori sauce
Half the president's choice sauce line
Beer (not recommended but I did it once)
Taco seasoning
Cajun spice
The tins of jalapenos is a good idea too

[purrrfect]

For myself, I usually end up asking my family to send me packages of dried herbs and spices for cooking, like nutmeg, ground cloves, DILL (I absolutely LOVE dill - mmmmm...)
My first year in Korea, I asked my family to send me some dried basil and oregano (before I realized that you can get that here)
Kraft Dinner, even though it's disgusting
I miss having a wider selection of cheese, but of course it's impossible to have that shipped from Canada.

[crazylemongirl]

[SuperHero]

[Sunray04]

[harpua]

[quote="panthermodern"]1000
1 Hamilton Tiger Cats Hat (OSKIE WEE WEE!)

OSKIE WAA WAA!
HOLY MACKINAW!
TIGERS EAT' EM RAW!!