Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Boodleheimer]

i know it's a bit early, but i don't live in a big city so i'll probably only have two or three shopping trips before dec 25.

i really have no idea what to get my father.

i'll probably get my mother an embroidered brooch.

i have no idea what to get my boyfriend (who is here with me).

and of course various friends.

could i have some gift ideas, please?

oh, and do they sell christmas cards by the box in korea? (in the czech republic, i sent xmas postcards, which i will also settle for, but they're all sold individually. in china, they're well expensive --prohibitively so! [insert fake shock emoticon here] -- and they're individually sold)

[wylies99]

You're talking about mailing stuff back "home"?

Depends on what "home" is for you.

[oneofthesarahs]

If you're trying to send nice "Korean" gifts, I've been buying nice metal chopsticks/spoons sets for family members. They're easy to find, relatively inexpensive, and aren't insanely heavy so they shouldn't cost an arm and a leg to mail.

[wylies99]

I have two stamp collectors in my family, so I'm getting them Korean stamps. They'll be in HEAVEN.

[ChopChaeJoe]

Old Chinese swords for all the men in your life.

Just go to Insa-dong and walk around.

[Boodleheimer]

yeah, i found some of the insadong stuff to be overpriced. (maybe i'm just cheap) i'll probably get one of those key chain- business card holder- letter opener sets for a friend, though.

i've sent chinese chopsticks back home before, so i'm not sure i want to do that again. and anything for the home i send tends to be conveniently "lost" by my stepmother. evil, evil woman.

"home" is the usa, by the way.

[princess]

If you're broke, nothing will do the trick! Or for those broke people out there, make your gifts/cards. Christmas sucks anyways, because it's too much about gifts and too commercialized!

[periwinkle]

I bought my dad and stepmom a Chinese medicine chest one year from one of the antique stores in Itaewon- she even shipped it for me (although it took her 3 weeks to get around to shipping it- man, I was angry about that...).

The last couple of years I've been sending evergreen wreathes, evergreen tabletop Xmas trees, etc. from LL Bean. It's a lot easier to order online from a reliable company. LL Bean also has good quality items at reasonable prices, and they take foreign credit cards with foreign billing addresses!! I love LL Bean^^

[Ekuboko]

[Boodleheimer]

bumpsky.

[huffdaddy]

Where's a good place to buy some Konglish t-shirts?

[oneofthesarahs]

Just buy 'em off of street vendors. Go to any outdoor market and you're going to find ridiculous and generally cheap shirts. I always carry a bit of spare money around just in case I see something I have to have. My best find so far was a lovely shirt with a cat on it that said: "Romance. The perfect *beep*." What a nice sentiment.

[periwinkle]

Ever been to Ichon (it's maybe an hour outside of Seoul)? The pottery village there has some amazing stuff, and it's not all pottery. The pottery is reasonably priced and excellent quality. It's a great day trip, as well, and the stores in the pottery village are really cool. I've bought some amazing incense there (and I'm not a big incense fan) as well as some handmade jewellery. You won't be disappointed if you go out there.

[riley]

The Christmas cards here are great. I love the pop up cards that they sell.

[wylies99]

How much are these Christmas cards? I want to send them instead of real presents ( ).