Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Soul Forest]

I'm going to see my family next week. I want to bring some gifts, but I want to bring some nicer stuff than usual. I've lived in Korea for a while, so I've already done all that $2-$3 Insadong trinket shopping. I want to buy a few gifts in the 40,000 won to 100,000 won price range. Something nice, but nothing too extravagant. Something that reminds one of Korea, but not too, too touristy. I live in Seoul.

Any ideas or specific shop suggestions?

Are there any good about-Korea DVDs out there?

One idea I just had while writing this (for my brothers and sister-in-law) is some kind of interesting T-shirt from Dongdaemun.

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P.S. (for people who've spent time in Japan) I'm also going to Japan en route, and want to buy some things for Japanese friends. I usually buy them kimchi or kim, but thought that I'd like to get something different this time. Any ideas on this?

[heydelores]

I took lacquered boxes home to the women in my family, and they were a huge hit.

[just because]

3 presents in particular seem to have gone down really well in the past...

1. Hanbok dolls, not tacky one but 50 000 won ones that are about 30 cm tall. Girls seem to love them....

2. Hahoe masks. I bought my parents 4 of them a couple of years ago and now everybody wants them. Everyone that comes to their house wants to know where they bought them so I usually send home about 3 or 4 a year to various relatives and friends of the oldies....I bought a really nice box set of them that was encased in galss for about 60 000 won at the hahoe village near Andong that was really good...



3. fans...look i know fans aren't really a Korean thing but your parents and friends back home don't know that. You can buy some really nice ones here as well.....

[kat2]

I brought home jewelry boxes for female friends/relatives. Not hte black ones with the mother-of-pearl explosion. A little too glitzy for me. I bought ones that were wooden (maybe cherry??) with nice brass fixtures on them. There used to bea guy in Itaewon selling them near the hot dog place at the subway exit. Don't know if he is still there, but i'm sure you can find them in Insadong. For the guys, there's not much though. Maybe a nice business card holder? not really Korean, but they do make some nice ones here.

[butlerian]

Interesting Korean movies:

Oldboy - crazy but good 18+ movie about a man kidnapped and left in an apartment alone for 15 years.

Sympathy for Lady Vengeance - same director as Oldboy. Another revenge-based movie.

Welcome to Dongmakgol - a warming, funny yet at times serious story set in the Korean War.

Chingu - story about the gangs that held a lot of power in Korea (especially Busan) in the '70s.

There's also a good movie about a murder investigation that was made into reality TV, but I can't remember it's name now.

Typhoon is also meant to be good, but I haven't had a chance to watch it yet.

[kat2]

You might be talking about Memories of Murder. It is a fantastic flick.

Typhoon was not good. Really boring unless you like endless fight scenes in the rain (which I know Koreans do).

[ilovebdt]

There is a really nice souvenir shop in Itaewon called Rainbow Souvenirs.
It has nice, t-shirts, masks, and these traditional Korean scenes made of different coloured woods.
They also have the hanbok dolls, rice paper with traditional Korean pictures on, carved wooden smiling pigs.
One thing they also have which I like is these key rings with the Chinese symbols for wealth etc on.

ilovebdt

[ajgeddes]

[Dev]

Bring back a kilo of dog meat. They'll never forgive...forget you.

Okay, jus' kidding. You should get yourself to Seoul's Insadong street. It's the one-stop shopping place for Korean souvenirs. They have some nice Korean drink coasters that the older folks back home would enjoy.

Fans are good. You can also get handmade shoulder bags for 10,000 won. For the businessman in the family, I recommend a matching businesscard holder / keychain set. They're very cool looking and not too expensive. They have ladies make-up mirrors with the same designs.

[periwinkle]

I like Korean pottery- if it's too $$$, you can buy some mugs or dishes, or a small vase or something. Insadong is good for pottery shopping~

[ChopChaeJoe]

Is the Hahoe mask museum open on Saturdays? I went there once and saw those framed mask sets and wanted to get my mother one, but I was travelling light at the time.

[uberscheisse]

i've seen some of the cheaper-grade celadon pottery on carts just outside of gate 6 at namdaemun. it's odds and ends, but it's no doubt a hell of a lot cheaper than the (really beautiful yet expensive) stuff in insadong.

everyone i know who gets celadon as a gift thinks it's beautiful.

[kiwiliz]

I took a friend back a Korean stamp with his name engraved in hanguel. He couldn't read it and ofcourse coouldn't use it but it is something he wouldn't ever get elsewhere.
It was rather ornately carved as well.
I brough it from a artisan in the street who hand-carved the Hanguel, cost me about 20,000. Came in a nice little black wallet too.

took others back wooden chopsticks - and little carved animal zodiac sign things that people hang from their phone...oh and the wooden worry beads, bracelet size. (have a sister going to Nepal, she ws wrapped, she will wear it on the wrist she is not supposed to eat with!)

[kermo]

I shopped all over to find gorgeous and unique Korean gifts for my family and friends... then went downtown in my pop. 600,000 hometown and found the equivalent in a Korean-run gift shop.

One creative and fun gift is "yut-no-ri." They play it a lot around Chuseok, so if you don't know the rules, now's a good time to ask. It's a really fun game, a good mix of skill and chance, sort of like backgammon.

I think the masks are a great idea, particularly if you know anything about the dances and stories that lie behind them. The stories they tell are remarkably satirical, and quite revealing re: Korean culture.

Konglish t-shirts always go over REALLY well, and aren't too hard to find in the big markets, or most non-name-brand shops.

And finally, some shops in Insadong sell beautifully framed paintings. Don't buy silly reproductions of old paintings re-printed on an ink-jet printer. Find an artist who knows what he's doing, and buy something that speaks to you. I've got a hand-painted tiger in my room right now which I bought as a gift but I'd be loathe to part with it.

[RACETRAITOR]

When I want souvenirs for a number of people, I go to Lotte World and get trashy things, like garish hair clips, keychains with teen idols on them, and cell phone accessories. That's the Korea I'll always remember.