Korean Job Discussion Forums

[LOVYDOVY]

I have been looking to purchase a book on Seoul city guide. Any recommendation?

For some time I have been reading here that some people bring their own spices. What kind of spices do you bring from back home?

Beside basic vitamins, will I have problem finding things like DMAE, Alpha Lipoic Acid, Vit C Ester, etc? And what about prices? I'm thinking of bringing a whole year supply. I heard that you are not allowed to ship them from back home. Is this true?

How much does Sonicare toothbrush costs?

[LOVYDOVY]

Not even one single advice?

Are my questions that boring?

[Gollywog]

I don't live in Seoul, so I can't answer your question.

But for others interested in this from a broader perspective, I suggest looking at Korean online shopping sites to see what is and isn't available, and at what price.

GMarket has a fair amount on its English pages. Unfortunately, it is one of the most bizarrely disorganized websites I have ever seen. If marijuana weren't illegal in Korea, I would have assumed it was designed by a pothead.

Go ahead, try finding something specific, like vitamins.

http://global.gmarket.co.kr/

I'll help you. Consider this item:

http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_goods/goods.asp?goodscode=130736937&pos_shop_cd=GE&pos_class_cd=300004039&pos_class_kind=S

Folic acid, one of the cheapest vitamins around. This might cost $2 to $5, for a bottle of 400 in the States. Here, 24 kobuks. OK, it has B12, which 99 percent of the population doesn't need.

Click on the "vitamin" hyperlink to see more examples.

Of course, they don't have all the stuff that is actually vitamins in one place, and where they have vitamins not everything is actually a vitamin, such as the petroleum jelly. So you will have to broaden your scope:

http://global.gmarket.co.kr/challenge/neo_category/category.asp?gdmc_cd=200001192&link_type=LIST&search_err=

And most important, from your perspective, they don't have most of the more specialized vitamins and supplements. What they do have a lot of is the glucosamine, which is for arthritis, which Koreans have in abundance from eating kimchi three times a day.

There's Costco, but their vitamins are limited, not the same as the US formulas, and more expensive.

You may be able to have vitamins shipped from overseas at an affordable price. Anyone actually done this, and have a supplier to recommend?

Otherwise, my advice is bring an 18 month supply. You may find yourself staying longer before you take a trip home.

Does that answer your question?

[re:cursive]

The foreign goods section under Namdaemun market has several vitamin and supplement peddlers. I've never stopped to look closely at any of them but they appear to sell a number of varieties.

[LOVYDOVY]

Thank you Gollywog - but the g market does not carry what I'm looking for. Like you said, I'm just going to bring enough supply for a year

And for others, thank you for answering.

[sojusucks]

I definitely bring my own vitamins as they are too expensive here.

As far as a travel guide, I bought one that you would find in any bookstore in the West. I have found a few simple guidebooks here but they were not of incredible value.