Show Me the Cheddar!
One of the things about being an expat that can really get you down is not being able to easily acquire the things you take for granted in your native land. For expats in Korea, if you have access to one of the many US military installations, or know someone who does, that goes a long way toward eliminating any cravings you may have. For those who don't, all is not totally hopeless if you're in Seoul. Some things may be readily available, others you may have to search for, and some things you won't find at all. Outside of Seoul, who knows what you can and can't find.
There are a number of black market shops around Seoul and other cities or towns that host a US military base. Items have a way of making it out of the commissary or PX/BX on base and finding their way to these shelves. Many still have the price tags. There are also shops that import food items from North America and Europe. You can often find certain things in one of the local superstore chains, like Emart or LotteMart (usually cheeses, fruits, and a random selection of canned goods). Of course, Costco has several locations in Korea and you can find a wide variety of goodies there. I always make sure I pick up a couple of jugs of V8 when I make it to Costco (elsewhere in Korea you can usually only find the little cans). Imported wines and other alcohol are everywhere, so you'll have no problem in that department.
If you live within a comfortable distance of Hannam dong or Oksu, both areas have a small import supermarket (I use the prefix "super" here in the Korean sense -- neither store is very big, though the one in Oksu is slightly bigger). You can find a nice variety of food items from North America, Europe and Japan. Pudding, Jello, cookies, chips, candy, canned vegetables and other goods... all sorts of stuff. You can find some of these items in some mid-size Korean supermarkets in many neighborhoods, some even may be imported, but these are brands you won't find elsewhere. When I get a craving for Chef Boyardee or root beer, I hit one of these places.
The store in Hannam dong is the one I go to most often, since it's closer. There's also a little imported meat & cheese shop inside, something you won't find in Oksu, as well as a small black market store. It's this latter place where I spend the most money. Most, though not all, of what they sell cannot be found outside. Listerine can be found in some of the larger Korean chains, but it is made exclusively for Korea (perhaps even bottled here) and doesn't seem to me to have quite the kick as the American version. So I pay a little extra for the American bottles from this black market shop. I used to buy blocks of Kirkland cheddar there as well, until a local market just around the corner from my house started selling smaller Land O'Lakes cheddar blocks for half the price.
This store has a little corner of imported items, rather unusual for a store of its size. Black and green olives, maraschino cherries, dill & sweet pickles, Ragu spaghetti sauce, and more. I even saw some jars of green tomatoes stuffed with Tuna (from Italy) and squeeze bottles of Hellmann's mayonaise (I've really been away from the US too long -- when did Hellmann's ditch the jars?). Some of the stuff is consistently available, others not so much. They started stocking the Land O'Lakes cheese only recently.
Being that a number of foreigners live in my neighborhood, the store can't seem to keep the cheddar in stock. Although the other shop with the Kirkland's isn't too far away, it's still incovnenient to get there. So when the cheddar is sold out, I'll go for the Monterey Jack instead. Today, I happened to pick up the last block of Jack. Hence this post.
Korean food is great. I love a lot of the things they serve here. And there are a number of western restaurant chains here these days to satisfy most cravings. But sometims it's nice to be able to perpare thins at home that you really miss. Like a grilled cheddar sandwhich! So if you're in Seoul for an extended period, get to know where the black market and imported food shops are in your area. You'll start jones for something eventually. Most of the time, you'll be able to find what you want. Some times you may be stuck without. I still haven't found any place to consistently get my hands on a box of Fruity Pebbles!