Let me guess, you stumbled upon this post and all your dreams came true. Yes, yes we did blog about grocery shopping. We just give the people what they want…ok? Let’s begin.
We have a few options for getting groceries. There is a street nearby that we did most of our shopping at when we first moved here; it just has a bunch of fruit stands, a couple small grocery stores, and a bakery. There is also a small store about a half a mile from our house, two that we pass if we walk home, and one that we pass if we drive home. We obviously have no shortage of choices.
All that being said, we try to make a trip once a week to the Korean version of Walmart, Emart (we have mastered the art of saying Emart in Korean: *clears throat* “Emart-uh” *takes bow*), where they have the largest selection, free parking, and lots of international staples (read: tortilla chips and sour cream). Actually, I realized in writing this post that where we shop is also determined by if we need bread or not. Most small grocery stores will not carry bread, or will only have a small (one shelf with maybe 6 small loaves when fully stocked) and unpredictable offering. I imagine that this is because Koreans don’t eat as many peanut butter sandwiches as we do, go figure.
Moving right along…most of the Emarts here are located in shopping malls. This is ours.
Just like most major stores here, it is multilevel with the moving sidewalks connecting the floors. Hang on tight, Judah.
Each section and sometimes even specific products have employees there to sell their item. If you are shopping for shampoo, odds are there will be someone in the section to help you make your selection. Need toilet paper? They are there to help. The employee’s outfits are also worthy of mention. Depending on what section they work in, they have different and…interesting uniforms. You would think the kiwi lady would look more excited…
They always offer free samples throughout the store. This has proven to be a great way to try different Korean specialties like vinegar juice, spam fried rice, and squid.
Oh ya, and right around the corner from the toothbrushes and electronics, you can pick out a new family pet!
Oh and another useless “fun” fact. If there is a promotion here like buy one get one free, it is referred to as 1+1 (buy one, get one). This is why we sometimes end up with three cans of off brand Pringles when we really didn’t even need one (Off brand items at Emart, er.. excuse me, Emart-uh are called “No Brand”.) Don’t even get me started about “No Brand” being dumb because inherently “No Brand”‘s brand is “No Brand”. Just ignore me.
And let me just say, we are going to be in big trouble if our $10 Haagen Dazs pints go 2+1 (I know you think you wouldn’t, but you move to a foreign country with a limited selection of ice cream and then talk to me about what you’d pay for it.) Desperate times…
As for asking for help, you better be up for a short game of charades and a scavenger hunt if you don’t speak Korean. When we had to start Asher on formula I needed to try and find some that was soy-based. On the first visit, I looked on my own but couldn’t find it and was too tired to try and traverse the language barrier. After a few days of screaming baby, I was chock full of new resolve to find something to silence soothe my child. I went back to Emart and decided to use the ever faithful, Google Translate. I typed up “soy” on my phone and translated it to Korean, found a lady to help me, and then said baby in my {not} flawless Korean while pointing at my phone. After a moment the lady nodded in recognition I thought, “Well look at that; it worked!”. Off we went down an aisle, but I realized she was leading my away from the baby formula section, so I said again in my obviously effective Korean, “BABY”. She seemed to understand, nodded again, and then took me back in the direction I had come in. I thought we had finally communicated clearly. Straight she took me to…wait for it…baby soy sauce. Yep, it’s a thing.
I had a little moment to myself of amusement and defeat, thanked the lady for her help, and took my sad little self back to the formula section to continue the search solo. Spoiler alert: Asher did not perish, it may have been touch and go there for a minute with Isaac and I; I eventually found soy formula on the next trip and life has been much quieter since.
Some days when we go to Emart, we try to knock out dinner in the food court. While they do have Burger King, the rest of the offerings may be less familiar. I believe they have a Korean, Chinese, and noodle restaurant.
Isaac’s is the top, which is a Korean dish call Bee-bim-bop, and mine is some Chinese something, descriptive, I know.
I would go on, but I have to save something for the next post, right? Just kidding…next on the docket is a little tale of a quiet weekend away ending in being stranded in the airport with two kids and 40,000 of our closest friends. Sending love from the future.
Our Southern Seoul 