Thousandwonerama

You know what this place needs? A Korean version of a Dollarama. A thousandwonerama. If this teaching gig doesn’t work out for me, I’ll open one.

Jess and I were each given $300 as a “settlement allowance” for getting our house up and running for the year. This may sound like a lot, but when you have to get your house up and running, the money disappears very, very quickly.

Thankfully, our co-teachers withdrew the money from Jess’ account and did most of the shopping to save us the trouble. Buying home essentials can be quite difficult when the only store in your town is a convenience store, and since we don’t have a car, carrying furniture from 30km away would be impossible.

Jess’s allowance was gone before we even arrived, but I still had mine. I easily pimped out my apartment in Montreal with fifty bucks at Dollarama, so I thought I’d be able to save at least some of my remaining allowance.

One quick trip to the supermarket later, it was gone.

Before coming to Korea, I thought that I’d be able to find everything for much cheaper than in Canada. I was very wrong…

Prices vary tremendously from city to city, store to store, but this is what I’ve noticed so far:

Cheaper:

• 
  
  Snacks! All cookies, chips, candies, dried seafood etc. are unbelievably cheap.


• 
  
  Local produce (especially apples, rice, and peppers)


• 
  
  Soju

More expensive:

• 
  
   Everything else

Ok, maybe this isn’t wholly accurate, but I’m still a little ticked off.

For my next trick, I’m going to make money disappear!

• 
  
  2 Pillows : $20.00


• 
  
  1 Sheet: $76.00


• 
  
  1 Bead Spread: $46.00


• 
  
  1 Pair of Scissors: $4.00


• 
  
  1 Cutting Board: $10.00


• 
  
  1 Frying Pan: $14.00


• 
  
  1 Pot: $32.00


• 
  
  2 Cups: $8.00


• 
  
  4 Teaspoons: $4.00


• 
  
  1 Knife: $4.00


• 
  
  2 Forks, 2 Chopsticks, and 2 Spoons: $18.00

*POOF!

- Ken