corner store lifestyle

Koreans are busy people. I officially feel like a lazy slob… always. They’re busy everywhere, all the time… on their phones and ipads on the subway, not bothering to stop for red lights when driving and the so-called ‘holiday’ was the busiest day I’ve seen so far! I was beginning to wonder if these people ever rest; then I discovered the convenience stores.

The convenience stores are just that – convenient. They have everything you need and they are everywhere. And I mean everywhere. I literally have two GS25s, two 7/11s and four Family Marts within a 4-minute radius of my house. For this reason, and the fact that they have anything I might want to buy, I rarely go to the grocery store anymore.

This is a concept I’m still getting used to, as I was a loyal 2-3 times a week grocery store shopper in Canada. Now I’m going to the convenience store every other day to pick up milk, fruits and veg, face wash, tampons, chocolate, batteries, laundry detergent, chopsticks, beer, soju or whatever the occasion calls for. I’ll even go there for dinner sometimes, as they have pre-made meals (kimbab, my fav) that they will heat up for you.

The biggest difference between Korean and Canadian convenience stores is that people go there to hang out. There’s plastic lawn furniture outside the stores where one can often find locals sitting down for a drink or kids snacking on chocolate bars.

Typical hang-out spot (pic from google images)

Since nobody really has a yard or an apartment big enough to have company over, if you want to hang out with friends, you have to get out of the house. So, if you just want to grab a drink or sit and chat for a bit, what’s a more convenient (for lack of a better word) meeting place than the closest convenience store? Koreans take full advantage of these breaks in their busy schedules and chill out in the most efficient way.

These plastic chairs with tacky umbrellas are also the closest I have seen to patios in Canada. Just today, we were looking for a place to sit outside in the sun. The two places with tables outside are beer and chicken places, and convenience stores, so we opted for the 7/11.

Did I mention that these stores sell beer? I couldn’t possibly write about these stores without mentioning alcohol. I can’t say Korea has the cheapest beer I’ve seen, but it’s just so darn easy to get a hold of! You can get alcohol at stores every 20 feet and at any time of day. I’m not sure if this is an effect or a cause of Koreans being such big drinkers, but it sure is handy.

So the next time you get to the beer store at 9:01, or you wait 20 minutes in line at the LCBO, think of how awesome life would be in Korea ;)!!

Cheers to Seoul mates ^^! A between-bar cheers that was made possible thanks to the nearest Family Mart.