Korean Job Discussion Forums

[tall_dave]

Being in a new place for the first time, or a novice to the Korean Culture, I'm sure there are many things you may have done here that you wish you could take back. These are the moments when you either said the wrong words, stuck your foot in your mouth, had a total misunderstanding or something along that nature that may have caused you or someone you know a lot of embarassment.. This thread is here so you can tell your tale. For you story tellers here, this is your place. Does anyone have something to share??

[jiberish]

Bored and looking for a good read eh?

[tall_dave]

[redaxe]

You first, tall_dave. You gotta give some to get some.

[bluelake]

Unfortunately, living in Korea for many years gives one many chances to do bone-headed things and I've done my share. However, I would have to think about it a bit as to what I don't mind sharing...

[tall_dave]

[redaxe]

[The Gipkik]

Here's a simple one. I didn't think I was being a bonehead, but the Koreans apparently did. A couple of weeks ago I went to pick up a pizza at Pizza Maru. The pizza was only 6000 Won, but I wanted to get a 5000 Won bill back, so I offered the lady 11,000 Won. It's a bad habit that I have to break I know. Well, she didn't like this and kept pointing to the register and saying it was 6,000 as she tried to give me back my money. I heard her call me an idiot under breath.

Then today, I did it again at Mcdonald's. The bill was 7,600 Won and I offered the girl 12,600 Won. Well, she also didn't like that one bit and said in Korean, "can't you count?" She gave me back my money and flashed the receipt in front of me. I sheepishly just gave her 10,600 Won and told her "I know, I know." Silly, but it happens all the time here. I've got to break the habit.

[Lionman]

Okay here goes.

Years ago when I was living in Cheonan I went to Greece for summer vacation. After a month in Greece I came back to Korea and had the worst jet lag. Anyone who's gone west to east knows what I'm talking about.

I couldn't sleep.

It was maybe 3 or 4 am and I was wide awake. I thought maybe a jog around the neighborhood would make me tired enough to sleep.

I decided to jog around 1-2 miles around Cheonan and headed out to the bus terminal.

I decided to jog home as the crow flies and figured I could cut across this dark, unlit patch of about 4 football fields.

It turns out it was a patch of farmland of sorts and I soon found my brand new running shoes plunging into knee high mud.

It was now the middle of the field and ahead of me was a hill of sorts.

I was lost.

I figured if I kept going straight my neighborhood would appear so I hiked up the hill and came down the other side and saw some buildings, townhouses and the like.

After wandering through this neighborhood I finally found the street that led me home.

Moral of the story:

People do the weirdest things when they live alone.

[oskinny1]

[The Gipkik]

[Kurtz]

I was pumped for nights drinking in an unfamiliar city. I was crashing the night in a friend of a friend's apartment as they were abroad, it was a hot summer night and all was good.

The night was a rather big one and I ended up splitting from my drinking buddies due to a Russian bar girl (OK, I was pretty damn drunk).

Could I find the bloody apartment? hell no! There I was staggering around Okpo for 2 hours trying to drunkenly find my humble home for the evening.

Friend didn't answer the phone (well it was 4am or there abouts) so I had to end up staying in a hotel for 50,000 won.

Damn streets all look the same, especially when I've had a few.

[Forever]

During December I went to a company Christmas dinner+party in Gangnam.

Kept drinking with co-workers until 3am.

Around 3am, the party is almost over, people are leaving and I decide to leave and caught a taxi.

I told the taxi driver "Songpa Gu-chong" (Songpa-Gu Office) as my apartment is next to the main office.

Woke up at around 3:40am with the taxi in front of a police station, and two police officers dragging me out of the taxi and into the police station.

Apparently, I had fallen asleep in the taxi and the taxi driver had arrived at the Songpa-Gu office and was unable to awake me.

So, not knowing what to do, the taxi driver drove to the nearest police station and told the police, that some foreigner had fallen asleep in his taxi and wouldn't wake up.

Embarrassing, but anyway, the police were kind and understood that I had only fallen asleep, and I paid the taxi driver, who smiled and left and somehow I got home (still can't remember how I got from the police station to my apartment) - but I did wake up in my own bed the next day.

[korian]

don't wanna hijack the thread and have nothing really to offer on topic. sorry. but for the life of me i don't get why koreans don't seem to get the whole change thing mentioned above.

i lived in korea 2.5 years and went through the whole shemozzle time and again. in japan, everyone does the same as the poster mentioned here. and every shopkeeper, from small shop to ginat supermarket, gets it. they give you the change you want. so in the case above, 5,000 won in one note. but in korea they seem to think you're mentally challenged for trying it.

well actually, that is my contribution, because time and time and time again i would hold up lines and queues and enrage people behind me by counting out all my change in coins in order to get an even amount back. never worked. i always said what i wanted back and they looked at me like i was a donut, and i returned the gaze.

[Old Gil]

1 word: trannies!!!11!!!