Living in Seoul: It's Free...But It Will Cost You!

Almost as soon as my plane landed, my family members and friends began to ask me so many questions regarding Seoul & Korea. Many of them I could not answer? Was it expensive here? How much does food cost? What about gas? The questions were endless. Now, Seoul is a very large city with almost 12 million people living within its limits. As with most big cities, prices for everyday items tend to be expensive...Seoul is definitely no exception in that regard!

In order for you to understand this a lil better I have included the prices of some everyday items that you can find in the US to compare them with prices in Seoul:

How much is Gas?
This is the first question my cousin Dre asked me when he spoke to me. At the time, I really couldn't answer his question. Although I had seen several gas stations, there was no need for me to use them personally and I hadn't quite gotten my arms around the exchange rate yet and the liters to gallons conversion at one time was a bit much. So it took me a little time to even figure it out.

Currently the US is feeling the effects of an unstable economy, that is in recession (I believe that we are not headed for a recession, we are in a recession, check out the definition in the link). This has impacted us significantly at the gas pumps. According to the Bloomberg report, the average gallon of gas was currently spiking at a record of $3.26 per gallon (3/24/08)! This situation can cause tremendous grief on the pockets, especially for you high styling SUV drivers. Ouch! That hurts :(

Knowing the problems that the US is experiencing with these rising prices. I decided to take a look at the gas prices in Seoul. So, while going past a gas station recently, I took note of their gasoline prices and was quite shocked:

A gas station marquee in Seoul, Korea

For the record, gasoline in almost every other country aside from America, is typically notated in liters instead of gallons.
~A liter is equal to .26 gallons (almost 1/4 gallon)
~A US dollar is equal to about 980 Korean WON (1000 Won =$1.02)

Therefore,
~Regular unleaded gasoline costs 1,569Won/Liter
~Which translates to 6,276 Won/Gallon
~Which translates to $6.40/gallon..., and we thought it was expensive in the US!!!!!

Strawberries
During my first visit to the grocery market in Korea, I was convinced that I was going to buy so many fruits & veggies because during this adventure I was gonna lose weight buy eating healthy, ...right? Much to my dismay, I noticed that the fruit of my choosing was extremely expensive. I just could not believe that I saw a container of strawberries, not even a quarter (1/4) of a flat for 16,000 WON ($16.50 US).

I guess this is the point in the story where I tell you that in America, I live downtown Detroit. On the weekends (when I can), I go to Eastern Market, our local open air farmer's market. I really enjoy this time, because I am able to negotiate with Apple Frank our with Veggie Louie to get the best prices on the freshest products available. Usually, I can get a whole flat of strawberries for $6 USD. In my experiences, no where in America have I seen strawberries, not even out of season organic strawberries, cost so much. How people can afford to eat strawberries, regularly, I just don't know.

Ice Cream

There is a unique phenomenon that I noticed in Korea...at some point, EVERYTHING runs out! I have witnessed this at the local TGI Friday's one weekend when they ran out of hamburgers (go figure?). But most recently, I have noticed this in the grocery store too. In the US, it is very rare that items are out of stock unless there has been some type of sale or promotion. Like during the Thanksgiving holiday it is not uncommon to find that a local market has ran out of Sage, the seasoning used for dressing or "stuffing" as some of you may call it. But standard items can usually be found with regularity.

Let me tell you about one such Korean experience:

It was Saturday afternoon, and my friend & I were walking around Itaewon after having lunch. We came upon a trailer where a gentleman was selling fresh strawberries for a good price. The aroma of these strawberries was almost hypnotic. Due to high price of strawberries in the market, we decided to buy some and were determined to make strawberry shortcake later that evening. As my friend & I parted ways, we decided to meet later that evening at my apartment for dessert....right? WRONG there was one small problem.

Most of you know that Strawberry Shortcake is made up of three key elements: strawberries, shortcake (or pound cake found in the military commisary, thanks to J!) and ice cream. Since we were in Itaewon, and there is a market in my building it made sense for me to procure the ice cream when I arrived back to my apartment to prevent melting. So upon my return, I went to the market,...I got a little confused immediately because I went to the area where I normally see the ice cream & the freezer was no longer there. Huh? Maybe, I was just looking in the wrong spot...so I asked for help. To my dismay, the grocery worker told me they had RUN OUT OF ICE CREAM! What a downer,....Ice cream? Not just chocolate, or rum raisin, but all the ice cream is gone? I just don't understand.

Having a positive attitude, I figured that this shouldn't pose too much of a problem since there are several convenience stores located within the complex as well. I would just go to GS25 or 7 eleven. When I arrived, I went right over to the freezer, and grabbed a pint of vanilla. At that point, I was praying that J didn't bring anybody with him for desert or else we might run out with this lil pint of ice cream. But sometimes you have to do what you have to do. When I got to the register, and the cashier rang me up, I could have been bowled over with a feather because that lil pint of vanilla Haagen-dazs Ice cream was 8,700 Won, almost $9 US dollars...now someone is definitely trippin in Korea. I'm not a cheap person, but I just couldn't even bring myself to buy it right then! The desert would have to wait.

Hair Conditioner

Taking good care of my hair is very important to me, like many people in the world. Therefore, I don't mind spending extra money on products that will help to maintain a healthy mane. In Seoul, I have found many different brands of shampoo & conditioner. Unfortunately, they are not any of the brands that I am used to, and I have a hard time finding the right formula for my hair type. You know how there are moisturizing, or volumizing conditions to suit every need. Well, since most of the bottles are written in Korean, it has been very difficult to find what I want.

One day while walking to my apartment, I came across a beauty product store. They seemed to have everything to do with making oneself beautiful, make up, perfume, facial moisturers & masks, etc. As I looked around the store, I came across the hair products. There were bottles of all shapes and sizes, and of course none of them looked familiar. A closer look would immediately prove worth my time. I located a small (very small actually) bottle of Paul Mitchell conditioner. I was excited & began to thank Jesus for my good fortune. My diligence had finally paid off!

As I said, I am accustomed to buying nicely priced products for my hair...no problem. However, I turned over this small bottle that was the same size as the family size Aquafresh toothpaste tube, and gasped!....What the.....? At that moment, I was convinced that my hair was gonna have to just break off & my ends could split to the roots if I had to spend 66,000 Won/$67.35 US on that little bit of conditioner! What happened to government control and regulations over price heisting?

Right now if you were to Google Paul Mitchell Hair products & look for conditioner. You could find a 10 oz. bottle for approximately $10 at the Walgreens. I know that American products would be more expensive here due to the high costs of transportation. But these examples, are just a few examples of "Highway Robbery" in procuring American products in Korea. No wonder, seemingly every country in the world buys their OWN products instead of importing over-priced goods.

Just a thought: Maybe we should start marking up all the foreign products in America, forcing Americans into common sense purchasing of American-made goods.

K