|
Korean Job Discussion Forums
"The Internet's Meeting Place for ESL/EFL Teachers from Around the World!"
|
| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Which mega-stores are the best value? |
| E-Mart |
|
22% |
[ 4 ] |
| Home Plus |
|
33% |
[ 6 ] |
| Lotte |
|
0% |
[ 0 ] |
| other (please list in thread) |
|
44% |
[ 8 ] |
|
| Total Votes : 18 |
|
| Author |
Message |
revspook
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
|
 Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 10:26 am Post subject: What to do in Seoul in the first month |
 |
|
We've been bouncing around Seoul but have finally gotten to our apartments. We blew through a lot of money eating out/hitting the small convenience stores, due to lack of refrigeration in hotel rooms and such, so we're running tight until we get paid.
Last weekend, we went to Itaewon which led to spending too much money. Today, we walked about ten miles. No idea what to do tomorrow or next weekend. We've got plenty of Soju, so no real reason to hit the bars until payday, but need something to do on weekends, other than drink, wander around Mok-dong and watch inebriated salarymen urinating behind vending machines, be dazzled by the LED and neon signage, etc.
Thnx |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Gibberish
Joined: 29 Aug 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:07 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I suggest investing some of your leftover change into a good, well written money-management book. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ChilgokBlackHole
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
|
| Posted: Sat Mar 13, 2010 11:18 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Pots. Dirt. Seedlings. Get planting.
Learn to cook.
Go to the market - the street market - and buy three things you don't normally use. Calculate the cost and get at least 20% off when you buy those three things from the same vendor. Useful phrase: 얼마예요? (eolmayeyo? How much is it?) If they won't give you a discount, move on.
Make soup.
Find a bean you don't know how to cook and cook it up.
A lot of do-gooders volunteer at Animal Rescue Korea (http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/). You may not like mucking out cages, but for the low, low price of 300 won for the coffee machine, you can buy your new volunteer friend a cup of weak mix coffee and ask about other volunteer opportunities for foreigners in your area.
And for god's sake...don't drink soju. Your stomach won't be able to handle it for an entire year. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
revspook
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 12:42 am Post subject: |
|
|
| ChilgokBlackHole wrote: |
Pots. Dirt. Seedlings. Get planting.
Learn to cook.
Go to the market - the street market - and buy three things you don't normally use. Calculate the cost and get at least 20% off when you buy those three things from the same vendor. Useful phrase: 얼마예요? (eolmayeyo? How much is it?) If they won't give you a discount, move on.
Make soup.
Find a bean you don't know how to cook and cook it up.
A lot of do-gooders volunteer at Animal Rescue Korea (http://www.animalrescuekorea.org/). You may not like mucking out cages, but for the low, low price of 300 won for the coffee machine, you can buy your new volunteer friend a cup of weak mix coffee and ask about other volunteer opportunities for foreigners in your area.
And for god's sake...don't drink soju. Your stomach won't be able to handle it for an entire year. |
I don't drink much to begin with, but enjoy a good snort of soju here and there. Some of my coworkers are saying the thing to do on weekends is go out drinking at the clubs and I truly have nil desire for such things.
So haggling is acceptable here? It seemed fine in Itaewon, but that place is Mars compared to where I live.
As for planting, I've been looking at stuff, but no idea what most of it is. Also, I don't get a lot of light in my place BUT there's this roof that seems to be something of a laundry room/rec center. Plenty of light there, but no idea if this is truly shared space or what. I've not met the landowner, but more as a cultural rule-of-thumb, is roof-space and courtyard space typically communal or will the landlady get pissed if I start sunning my perennials outside? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 2:55 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Costco |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
soakitincider
Joined: 19 Oct 2009
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 5:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Memorize te subway system. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Aelric
Joined: 02 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Sun Mar 14, 2010 10:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I know you said that hanging out at bars doesn't appeal to you, but it really is the only place you can meet new foreign friends here other than random encounters shopping or whatever.
If you already have a crew, you could go play virtual gold just about anywhere in town, or a driving range. I heard there are a few bowling places as well, though I have not seen them yet. Pool halls are everywhere. None of these things should cost too much.
Also, the great thing about Korea is Family Mart. It truly is the quintessential Korean experience for a foreigner. You grab a can of beer or whatever and plop down outside the place and the world just draws itself to you. I and almost everyone I know have have the random Family Mart encounter, ranging from bad to great, banal to extraordinary, but always entertaining and cheap. Go sit down and spin the wheel. Do it around dusk for best results, though it is still a tad chilly outside. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
revspook
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:38 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Aelric wrote: |
I know you said that hanging out at bars doesn't appeal to you, but it really is the only place you can meet new foreign friends here other than random encounters shopping or whatever.
If you already have a crew, you could go play virtual gold just about anywhere in town, or a driving range. I heard there are a few bowling places as well, though I have not seen them yet. Pool halls are everywhere. None of these things should cost too much.
Also, the great thing about Korea is Family Mart. It truly is the quintessential Korean experience for a foreigner. You grab a can of beer or whatever and plop down outside the place and the world just draws itself to you. I and almost everyone I know have have the random Family Mart encounter, ranging from bad to great, banal to extraordinary, but always entertaining and cheap. Go sit down and spin the wheel. Do it around dusk for best results, though it is still a tad chilly outside. |
Until I got moved into my place which has internet, I was hitting the PC Cafes for an hour a day. My boss took me out drinking and shooting pool and that was a blast.
No idea what virtual gold is. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ChilgokBlackHole
Joined: 21 Nov 2009
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 4:00 am Post subject: |
|
|
| revspook wrote: |
So haggling is acceptable here? It seemed fine in Itaewon, but that place is Mars compared to where I live.
As for planting, I've been looking at stuff, but no idea what most of it is. Also, I don't get a lot of light in my place BUT there's this roof that seems to be something of a laundry room/rec center. Plenty of light there, but no idea if this is truly shared space or what. I've not met the landowner, but more as a cultural rule-of-thumb, is roof-space and courtyard space typically communal or will the landlady get pissed if I start sunning my perennials outside? |
If you want tomatoes and the guy is selling his tomatoes for 5000 won, expect to pay 5000 won. If you want tomatoes at 5000 won, onions at 3000 won, mushrooms at 2000 won, and garlic at 2000, from the same guy, expect to pay 10,000.
If I had your access, I'd put my flowerpots up there, just take them in at night. She may or may not care, people may or may not leave them alone. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
ramen209
Joined: 14 Apr 2009
|
| Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:41 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| gmarket |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Aelric
Joined: 02 Mar 2009
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:03 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| revspook wrote: |
| Aelric wrote: |
I know you said that hanging out at bars doesn't appeal to you, but it really is the only place you can meet new foreign friends here other than random encounters shopping or whatever.
If you already have a crew, you could go play virtual gold just about anywhere in town, or a driving range. I heard there are a few bowling places as well, though I have not seen them yet. Pool halls are everywhere. None of these things should cost too much.
Also, the great thing about Korea is Family Mart. It truly is the quintessential Korean experience for a foreigner. You grab a can of beer or whatever and plop down outside the place and the world just draws itself to you. I and almost everyone I know have have the random Family Mart encounter, ranging from bad to great, banal to extraordinary, but always entertaining and cheap. Go sit down and spin the wheel. Do it around dusk for best results, though it is still a tad chilly outside. |
Until I got moved into my place which has internet, I was hitting the PC Cafes for an hour a day. My boss took me out drinking and shooting pool and that was a blast.
No idea what virtual gold is. |
Sorry, typo, I meant virtual golf, you know, hit a screen with the ball and the video simulating where it ends up. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad-ish
Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Location: On the bottom of the food chain
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:06 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| the national museum is free. the only thing you have to pay for there is the special exhibits. i'd also try insa-dong (culture street), or do some hiking. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lorenchristopher
Joined: 25 Dec 2007
|
| Posted: Tue Mar 16, 2010 5:24 pm Post subject: |
|
|
If you don't have money now and are bored...go hiking, go to Insadong, go out and take pictures and make a collage of your first impressions, LEARN THE ALPHABET (takes about 4 hours), read a book in a cafe, go to a language exchange website like http://www.hanlingo.com/ and make some Korean friends. They would LOVE to show you around the city and introduce you to cool stuff in the city!! They may even treat you to a meal.
There are many things to do, although stocking up on soju and then making condescending remarks about the local drinking culture lends me to believe you aren't all that interested in getting to know Koreans or their language. So you may just want to sit tight in your apt until payday so you can head back to Itaewon. 
+1
I really wish someone had introduced me to gmarket when I first moved here. Now that I've learned Korean (to intermediate level) and can navigate around it, it's the most convenient and best bang for my buck. And about getting settled into your new place....they have everything you could need at cheaper prices often. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
dalem
Joined: 30 Dec 2008
|
| Posted: Wed Mar 17, 2010 2:32 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Give Dongdaemun a wander, just to soak in what it can be there. It can be a lot of fun, even if you don't buy anything. And if you do end up buying things, it's much much cheaper there. I noticed you were wondering where to get the most bang for your buck.... Dongdaemun would be the answer if you can navigate the maze and find what you're looking for. Also it's a quintesentially real korean experience, not to be missed in my mind. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
revspook
Joined: 15 Feb 2010
|
| Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:47 pm Post subject: |
|
|
Good replies here.
Thnx |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
|
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
