Hugo,
Do you speak Korean?
The reason I ask is because Koreans do not speak English.
Even the younger generations don't speak English. If you really slow down when you speak, or write down what you want to say, AND you happen to find students whose Enligh is good enough, then they might be able to communicate with you at certain proficiency, but you can see how frustrating this can be. lol
With that said, I would assume orchid business owners in general won't speak English, either, since they will be in their 40s or above usually. They might have kids who speak English, but again, this is not that common in Korea.
Emailing them in languages other than Korean may therefore won't yield much response, if any at all.
Well, unless you place a huge order, then they might find translator to deal with it. lol
Now how long will you stay in Korea? and how flexible is your schedule?
The reason I ask is because both cities you mentioned, the capital and Busan, do not have any orchid nurseries. Think NYC. Land is expensive as these are both metropolitan areas.
I do know there are at least one well known nursery near each of the two cities you mentioned.
You will have to rent a car to get to these places.
Most large orchid nurseries are in the southwestern provinces. The whole country is small and you can easily drive around, but...
I'm not sure if they will let individual visitors or even sell in small scales.
Most orchid businesses in South Korea are of very large scales, and their focus is whole sales only both within and out side Korea. They do not deal with export of their plants but rather rely on other agency who does it for them.
Last, if you are looking to buy just a few and somehow hide them in your suitcase, then the best route will be buying orchids online.
Even this, unless you speak Korean, you will have to rely on others who do. The website are all in Korean, and the names of the plants are all in Korean as well.
Not huge, but quite a few varieties of neos and "Aisan" cymbidiums are readily available on local websites.
I just did a quick search and I'm surprised to see how common and cheap orchids are these days in Korea, and the varieties available to people!
Especially, noes are so cheap!!!
Heck, next time I go, I should get myself a few of these cheap neos. hahaha
Last edited by NYCorchidman; 10-18-2015 at 12:28 PM..
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