Korean Job Discussion Forums

[HardyandTiny]

In general I prefer small scale communities and I don't like the feeling of large shopping complexes with six level parking garages.

The Sookmyung Univ area in Seoul is ideal for me. One main street with a hundred small shops and two levels of apartments above them, and then one block off the main strip you can find mid-sized supermarkets with 4-5 aisles and just about all you need.
I think people are more likely to care about each other and the quality of their neighborhood when they can talk to the shop owners.

The e-mart/concos/hyundai malls ten to create dead concrete spaces with the emphasis on the automobile and how it manuevers in and out of its parking area. "Someone or something else" owns those places, it just wants our money and the "place" is meaningless.
I'd hope we can keep 'Mom and Pop', and just upgrade them a bit.

[just because]

I have one I frequent a lot.

Its great and the lady is so nice and will chat to me in SLOW Korean so it is good practice. She gives me an umbrella if its raining and always little goodies.

I feel like a traitor if I go to the LG 25 up the road. If I walk past her shop i try to hide the bag so i don't make he upset.

[ryleeys]

I'm gonna open me up a shoo-pa when I go back to America, just cause I like 'em.

[Universalis]

I've had mixed experiences with the mom and pop "suphas" here.

Sometimes the owners and staff have been quite pleasant. Othertimes, I get the dead expression/calculator in the face routine, which I hate.

Luckily, these shops are quite ubiquitous in Seoul, meaning it isn't too tough to find a better place if the service stinks. I've changed shops several times just because of rude owners.

BUt this thread reminds me of another complaint I had about small shops in Korea... because they tend to be family run, it's almost a second home for them (heck, it's a first home for some of them). I remember hitting a few real estate places near Itaweon when I was looking for an apartment... I'd walk in and there would be the ajusshi and three of his friends playing Go-Stop... I wanted to apologize for interrupting and leave. Then there are the family fights in front of the customers... lovely.

Brian

[phaedrus]

[djsmnc]

I think the supo's are something that shouldn't be taken for granted. They are the last remaining bastion of true down-to-earth Korean culture that appears to eventually be on its way out. I consider us to be fortunate to be here while it is still a staple of Korean culture.

A lot of young people here don't seem to want to be a part of the tradition of running a supo. It is a position that requires a lifetime commitment. I am certain that most owners of supo's make their entire living off that one store, and then spend the money to educate the one or two children they have.

I think that while there are a lot of traditional Korean behaviors and nuances that drive us a little nuts, the supo is something we shouldn't be upset about. Pojang Machas, supo's and hole-in-the-wall restaurants that serve recycled kimchi...while they may in many cases be the center of weird looking, rascist, ultra-conservative, dirty and uncivilized old people....I appreciate them for what they are, and for the fact that they will most likely fade out of existence over a relatively short amount of time.

In the US we have ancient breakfast and barbecue restaurants and truck stops. They have been a dying breed ever since McDonald's took over years back, but they also seem to represent the good old days, which most of us may be glad to be out of, but enjoy for what they are (even if just for a good laugh at the ignorant and simple-minded nature of certain patrons)

[indytrucks]

I love the shoopahs. You can usually find things there for cheaper than the LG or Buy the Way. The grandmas that run them are usually very friendly. The level of trust inside is unbelievable. The one near my house, I usually find the grandma napping behind the counter. Sometimes I have to wake her up to pay.

[shawner88]

I agree with the supa people. I personally hate the bright fluorescent, hospital, corporate-like feel of the chain marts like LG25 and 7-11. So what if there spot dead sanitized and shiny clean? I've never gotten sick off food I bought at a supa. Almost all the small mom and pop's I frequent have the friendliest ajummas/ajushis in them. The only time I goto the chains is if I need something late at night. They do all seem to carry the same crap though, but then again, so do the chains. I despise department stores and E-marts. I hate that in-your-face sales approach and as the Lemon said, most likely yhey are their to deter shoplifters. It's damn annoying though beging forced to leave your backpack in a locker while you buy some beer and fries and not being able to walk though an aisle, instead having to walk all theway around to the secutiy scanners.

Back to the supas. They remind me of going to the "corner store" when I was a kid. I remember being sad when the guy's store we went to for 10 years turned into a Hess mini-mart. The American landscape has become so unified that there is no individuality left and everything is owned by the same few corporations.

[matthews_world]

Support the mom and pop shops! Keep them in business. Don't let the big boys shut 'em down.

I buy 80% of my groceries and my local mom and pop shop. Plus I don't have to worry about lugging shopping bags home on the bus or taxi.

Big corporations are just evil. Take Wal-Mart for example.

[VanIslander]

So, Corporal, you seem to be in the minority with all the supha love going around here.
(That should be a song)

[the_beaver]

I'm ambivalent.

[Corporal]

I don't care.

I hate the supas.

I will walk an extra two minutes to a 7-11.

I don't care.

[just because]

What do you like Corporal???? It seems you are negative about many things.
(Besides Korean men )

[lush72]

[Wishmaster]

I'm glad that someone else agrees that those little Mom and Pop stores are pure garbage. I mean, they watch you like hawks and then give you the evil eye even when you give them the money. It's like, "Yes, we'll gladly take your money but get the hell out of our stores". Had that happen to me at a store down in Kwangju and I vowed I would never shop at one of those dives again...and I never have. I would gladly walk an extra half an hour or pay an extra 200won at Carrefour or Costco than go to a Mom and Pop store that is five minutes from my house. Lesson learned.