The Most Expensive Place/제일 비싼 곳

[tompkinsxx]

People often ask me how the cost of living in Korea compares with Canada, but I don't feel like I'm really qualified to answer that. Not yet, anyways. I grew up in Canada, so I know where to go for good deals on clothes, food, appliances, etc. I'm starting to acquire that knowledge for Korea but it's a work in progress.

Here's today's haul from Home Plus Express (popular Korean supermarket chain owned by Tesco):


At 68,280₩ (just over $60 CAD), it's more than I usually spend in Korea, but I splurged on a couple *coughHOTDRINKScough* things...

Here's the rundown, back to front, left to right. 1,000₩ is slightly less than $1CAD, so just move the decimal 3 spots to the left.

• kimchi (haha) - 7,900₩
• 100 coffee tubes - 10,000₩
• 1L milk - 2,300₩
• mandu (dumplings) with bonus mandu - 7,450₩
• 4x grape yogurt -1,920₩
• 20pk lemon herb tea - 5,800₩ (Holy crap expensive! They had lots of cheaper tea, but this was the only lemon one I could find, and I have a cold...)
• 1+1 vitamin C - 2,250₩
• 200g green tea powder (matcha) - 8,700₩ (Score!)
• walnut bread - 2,950₩
• 2x butter tubs - 5,400₩
• mini tomatoes - 3,280₩
• cheapo seed/nut mix -2,580₩
• tofu - 1,350₩
• (hiding behind matcha) dwenjang tub - 6,400₩ (Awww yiss time to learn how to make dwenjangjjigae ^___^)

I didn't really grab any imported goodies this time (e.g. Nutella, pesto, proper cheese, cereal), but naturally those tend to be more pricey than in Canada. As for alcohol, it's cheaper to get drunk in Korea because HELLO 1200₩ for a bottle of soju and I'm set, but beer and wine are no cheaper than in Canada.

That's just groceries. Clothing, shoes, accessories, etc are all available at comparative prices to Canada, depending where you go. My school pays my rent, so I can't really comment on that. Coffeeshops are quite interesting though. In Vancouver I paid pretty much the same price for a latte no matter where I went, but in Korea there is quite a gap between expensive chain cafes and family-owned stores.