I will often hear someone complain about a lack of services in Korea. When Americans complain that there are no groceries on Mondays, there's no clothing for 2 year olds, or there are no pediatric dentists, it sounds ridiculous to me. There are four million people living in this city, and somehow they eat, get dental care, and clothe their children even when they don't have access to our on-post services. They don't live in huts and use witch doctors; this is a civilized country with top notch services. I know trying to communicate with sign language and a Korean dictionary can get tiring, but come on. Quit being so xenophobic, I think, and go off base once and awhile! So when Bobby's recliner broke and we were not happy with the single recliner they were selling at the PX, we went down to furniture alley to see what Korea had to offer. Furniture alley, as is typical in Korea, consists of several different furniture stores selling the same chairs and sofas. We discovered very quickly that Korean furniture is not for us. The chairs and sofas are rather hard. They are the kind of furniture you find in a doctor's waiting room, and not at all something I can stretch out on with a book. I guess I shouldn't be surprised, since we knew that about Korean beds. Koreans have been sitting on the floor for centuries, so I guess they like their furniture to be hard. There are also absolutely no recliners.
So, ironically, we are finally financially able to replace our beat up, stained old furniture and there are almost no options for us. Bobby got out the electric drill and some coat hangers and patched his chair back together. We will now wait for the PX to bring in a new recliner, one that we will hopefully like. At least we have access to the PX!
1 comment:
I am in a similar boat, and have had trouble find a recliner in Korea (unlike you, I don't have access to the PX). To my surprise, I was able to find some. I also visited Ahyeon (the furniture "alley") with almost no luck. At the very end of the visit, I finally got directions to a single recliner store nearby - just a little off the main furniture street. They sold only one brand of European (Italian?) imported chairs, all at or slightly over $1000. I wasn't quite ready to buy the, so I kept looking.
I have found several online at G-Market and Auction that sell for $300 to $500, and frankly I think I'm going to get one of these.
I also caught wind of a La-Z-Boy distributor here, down near Bundang. I almost drove down there yesterday, but at the last minute discovered they sold their chairs at a number of stores in Seoul. Several Hyundai and Lotte Department Stores, and Yongsan I-Park have them for sale (a call to Bundang confirmed that there is "one" price, you won't get any cheaper by going to the distributor in Bundang, if you can believe him). The La-Z-Boys at the nearest Hyundai Department store to me were between $1600 and $2000, which seemed a bit steep (although I really don't know, since I haven't bought a recliner in the USA for many many years).
If you want to email me for more comments, I am rclott at hiwaay dot net.
I'm curious if you ever found a good source?
-Chris
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