Korean Job Discussion Forums

Hyalucent · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America

Okay, this is starting to bug me a lot.

Bear in mind that I NEVER give out my phone number to people I have just met, with the exception of a handful of foreigners and of course, my friends. I prefer to deal primarily through email.

Yet I am getting several wrong numbers (by the same people in many cases) every single day. My Korean friends can't explain it since they don't get near as many as I do. I am curious if other foreigners here also get an unusually high number of wrong numbers. I wanted to start a quick poll for comparison.

I've already received two in the last hour. The first seemed innocent enough but the second was a familiar-sounding ajumah who tried to start up a conversation in English. She was familiar in that she's called before (but I have obviously never met her).

Anyone else?

Swiss James · Joined: 26 Nov 2003 Location: Shanghai

sounds to me like someone's dialled an innocent wrong number, but then thought "Hmm, free english speakee".
Or did you buy the phone and it's number second hand?

anyway I've had quite a few wrong numbers, but they normally hang up after the third or fourth "여보세요" gets a "Hello?" in response.

phaedrus · Joined: 13 Nov 2003 Location: I'm comin' to get ya.

I get wrong numbers quite often. Often I think they are shocked and presume they dialed America by mistake; they quickly hang up.
What I really hate though is when they assume I am the wrong person to answer the phone. It phuckin' pisses me off when I hear "Yoboseyo, uh, um, who is this? Nugu...." I tell them my name. Then I get something like "phaedrus, who?" I hang up. Then they call back. Later that week again.
Just because they are a dumb bunny doesn't mean they get an English lesson, the right to assume I am in the wrong, or the right to talk to me even. GO AWAY!!!!!!!!!

Butterfly · Joined: 02 Mar 2003 Location: Kuwait

It's annoying isn't it, I mean, you get them back home too, but in Korea it's annoying how you get people who don't recognize your voice, but expect you to explain to them who you are. yoboseyo, youboseyo?

What do you want man?

Hyalucent · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America

Derrek · Joined: 15 Jan 2003

Maybe your phone # used to belong to a Russian Bar Girl?

lush72 · Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Location: I am Penalty Kick!

helly · Joined: 01 Apr 2003 Location: WORLDWIDE

Play the yoboseyo game. Keep repeating yoboseyo for as long as you can. Count and see how high you can go.

I have one friend who got up to 17.

I usually do the hello/yoboseyo game, goes like this:

Me: Hello
Caller: Yoboseyo
Me: Hello
Caller: Yoboseyo!
Me: Hello
Caller: (mutters under his breath.....)
Me: Hello
Caller: Yoboseyo!!
Me: Hello
Caller: (ai, chincha, moiya!)
Me: Hello
Caller: Yoboseyo!!!!
Me: Hello
Caller: Yoboseyo
Me: Hello
Caller: Yoboseyo

Finally, Me: Yoboseyo
Caller: (rapid Korean speach.....don't know.....what is he saying....)
Me: Hello?

Stunted Wookie · Joined: 06 Feb 2003 Location: Sound Studio

Son Deureo! · Joined: 30 Apr 2003

Yeah, this has been bugging me for a while, too. I keep getting wrong numbers at my home phone which I never give out to anyone. Last year it was also owned by the Aussie who taught at my school before me, and since I knew her, and she didn't speak a lick of Korean I know she wasn't giving it out to random Koreans who don't speak a lick of English.

BTW, with the exception of some little kids who were harassing me for about two weeks with "Nice to meeeeeeeet youuuuuuuuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!" calls, none of them speak English either, so I know they aren't looking for free English lessons.

Saying "Wrong number" (�� ɾ��ϴ�) in Korean usually ends the conversation, but that doesn't explain why I keep getting new wrong numbers.

Oddly enough, this never happens to me on my cellphone number, which I give out fairly indiscriminately, and I bought used.

Hyalucent · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: British North America

Mr. Pink · Joined: 21 Oct 2003 Location: China

dogbert · Joined: 29 Jan 2003 Location: Killbox 90210

I changed my cell number a couple of years back and started getting "wrong" numbers immediately. Seems that the previous number holder had run up a number of debts and left the next guy to get the collections calls. Funny thing was that, despite the fact that it was me on the line, (a) many refused to believe that I was not the Korean debtor, and (b) most of the the rest refused to believe that I didn't know the debtor's whereabouts. Worthless trying to explain the concept of recyclable phone numbers to them.

mishlert · Joined: 13 Mar 2003 Location: On the 3rd rock from the sun

I always get the following:

Me: Hello?

Korean: Yoboseyo

Me: Hagumal, obsoyo

Korean: Obsoyo?

Me: Yeah

Korean: Oh.(Pause) Rambling in Korean.

Me: Hangumal Obsoyo. Bye, bye. (Hang up)

Once or twice the phone has rung again, and when I answered the person hung up.

helly · Joined: 01 Apr 2003 Location: WORLDWIDE

I've got a little contraption on my home/landline phone that tells me the number of the caller.

It can't read overseas numbers so if I see that, I'm pretty sure its my parents.

If its my in-laws, we can decided if we're too busy to answer or not.

If we don't recognize the number, we usually don't answer.

If we're out, we can scan back through the numbers of missed calls.

About 35,000 won, but don't remember where we got it. Probably a department store electronics section.