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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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 Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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It depends on the restaurant, I suppose. I've had mostly good dining experiences back home. Here, while often it's good, I get a lot of "hurry up hurry up" and nervous laughter, even when I'm ordering in Korean.
I've got a nice handful of restaurants and kimbap shops that consider me a regular, though, and the proprietors are always welcoming, and know my substitutions already.
When it comes down to it, though NYC trumps Seoul on customer service. The waitstaff may get nasty when you don't tip, but that's for how long? Your walk out of the door? Let them get nasty. Next time they'll do a good job and earn it. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| itaewonguy wrote: |
| Steelrails wrote: |
As for health care, we should remember that the reason all these other countries have subsidized health care is that the U.S. subsidizes their national defense. |
RELAX! no one asks the Americans to play world police! they do that all on their own! and the military and sub contractors make BILLIONS from the local economies! unfortunately it's all private businesses which profit from it.. not the American people!
American military are bullies! all the money is spent to feed the bullies and their toys! and nothing is left for the average Americans and the sick and needy!
if you are sick in America! god help you! you had better mortgage your house! unless you are in jail then its free! hahahahaah
most Americans hate the current healthcare system! most Americans want the military to leave the countries they are in and return to the States! and stop spending BILLIONS a day on supporting them overseas! |
I don't disagree, just pointing out how things, unfortunately, are.
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| I think that the majority of the "unable to pay" teachers are fresh out of uni, though, so it's understandable. |
There was a tipping thread a while back in which most people on here expressed their stinginess.
Waygook stinginess is just, ewww. NETs here whine if the price of beer goes up by 500 won. NETs whine about having to pay 50 won for plastic bags at E-mart. NETs whine because 2 Tacos cost 6000 won. NETs whine because they have to leave a 20% gratuity rather than having a higher base menu price. NETs here can't even manage to pay a proper share come dinner time. NETs whine when the won falls 2% against the dollar. NETs whine when you do anything financially nice to a stranger. NETs whine when you give up your seat for some lady- "Dude why are you doing that? It's your seat, you paid for it!" the answer of "Because its the right thing to do." just draws the most befuddled look.
I think next time I'm at a fountain I'm going to bring a bunch of O-Baek Wons and throw them in and see how many NETs dive after them. (vent over- Not all NETs are like this, and Koreans are just as stingy, if not more)
And its not just the out of college types, who if anything seem to be OK about paying. It's all ages. |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:23 pm Post subject: |
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| It's kind of sad that beer going up 50 cents or having to pay for a plastic bag (I was all for this legislation back home) makes people so upset. It's change, people. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:35 pm Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
| Next time they'll do a good job and earn it. |
Next time they'll tamper with my food and infect me with whatever disgusting bodily infection they happen to be afflicted by! These people are food terrorists.
Last edited by Fox on Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:38 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:36 pm Post subject: |
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| Next time means next customer. Not you. Once the service is bad, you don't tip and don't go back. I stated that earlier. |
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Patrick Bateman
Joined: 21 Apr 2009
Location: Lost in Translation
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:41 pm Post subject: |
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| itaewonguy wrote: |
most Americans hate the current healthcare system! most Americans want the military to leave the countries they are in and return to the States! and stop spending BILLIONS a day on supporting them overseas! |
You're originally from New Zealand, currently living in South Korea, and you're speaking for/about the people of the USA? Brilliant.
| Fox wrote: |
That's not my experience. Overall, I've been happier with customer service here than I have been in America. |
I agree 100% with this. I love Korean customer service at restaurants. I am always amazed at how much they try to cater to me and my tastes. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:45 pm Post subject: |
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| jmuns wrote: |
| wiganer wrote: |
Not as high as you think it is. I have american cousins who pay ridiculous amounts for health insurance - as high as 500 dollars a month! I would rather pay the slightly higher tax than cough up 500 dollars a month from my pay packet! |
your cousins are idiots to pay that much. no one i know pays 500 a month for health insurance. are they expecting to have a major surgery every year? do they have a terminal illness? are they planning on getting one? that would be the only reason to pay so much.
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My health insurance is a little over 400 a month. I pitch in 100 bucks. My employer, the US gov't, covers the rest.
If i were self-employed, I'd be fucked. Well until Obama's health care reform. Why? I have a pre-condition (cancer survivor). No health insurance carrier would choose to cover me.
Oh, and thankfully I did have insurance when I got treated for that cancer. Out of pocket WITH insurance- over $10K. If I had not had insurance, I'd now be $250K in debt. Woo hoo.
Anyone who thinks the US health care system is great really is ignorant or delusional. |
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bucheon bum
Joined: 16 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:50 pm Post subject: |
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| And 100% agree with you Fox. Tipping is the worst part of American "culture" and service in Korea is no worse (and sometimes better). |
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NYC_Gal
Joined: 08 Dec 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:51 pm Post subject: |
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It's not just restaurants, though. Back home, if I wanted something they didn't have in stock at a store, they'd order it.
Here, I asked for a pair of sandals in a certain color and size (225 is not big) and the salesguy said that they didn't have it. I took a look for myself and--lo and behold--there was a box with the sandals I wanted. He didn't even LOOK. This was my first month in Korea, and mycoteacher had asked him in Korean and he had said no. It's just poor customer service. |
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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 9:54 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| jmuns wrote: |
| i'll take my military over 'free' health care 10 out of 10 times |
Indeed. Why invest in projects which make the average citizens life better in some tangible way when you can use it building high-tech killing machines and go around the world destabilizing nations and killing civilians? Hundreds of billions of dollars well spent! |
Ugh. I don't know which post I disagree with more. Why can't this board have a remotely compelling discussion of national defense issues?
Oh, right, a bunch of ex-pats. |
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Patrick Bateman
Joined: 21 Apr 2009
Location: Lost in Translation
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
It's not just restaurants, though. Back home, if I wanted something they didn't have in stock at a store, they'd order it.
Here, I asked for a pair of sandals in a certain color and size (225 is not big) and the salesguy said that they didn't have it. I took a look for myself and--lo and behold--there was a box with the sandals I wanted. He didn't even LOOK. This was my first month in Korea, and mycoteacher had asked him in Korean and he had said no. It's just poor customer service. |
My school once took me shopping for household goods. The week before I'd gone to Emart to write down what exactly I wanted and how much it cost. One thing I wanted was new pillow cases. When the day came to actually buy the stuff, they didn't have the color I wanted. All they had was this awful color and pattern. My co-teacher asked the salesperson if/when they may get the other color in and they said next week. To just make everything easier I got the ugly cases. Not exaggerating, I went back to the store for food about 8 hours later and there were the pillowcases I wanted. Not a huge deal but still. Now my bedroom looks like a hotel in the Arizona desert, but I've grown to like it.
On the flip-side I was in the same Emart the first week I came to Korea. I was shopping for food. Probably looking rather pathetic and holding a box of noodles, I stared hopelessly at the canned foods. This sweet Emart worker came over and stood next to me. We both smiled sheepishly at each other. She pointed to the spaghetti sauce thinking I was looking for it. When I kindly let her know that's not what I was looking for, she smiled again, pointed to my noodles (indicating she thought I was looking for something to go with it) and we both had that laugh that can only be shared by people who cannot otherwise communicate. It's little things like that that make my time in Korea enjoyable. |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:07 pm Post subject: |
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| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| jmuns wrote: |
| i'll take my military over 'free' health care 10 out of 10 times |
Indeed. Why invest in projects which make the average citizens life better in some tangible way when you can use it building high-tech killing machines and go around the world destabilizing nations and killing civilians? Hundreds of billions of dollars well spent! |
Ugh. I don't know which post I disagree with more. Why can't this board have a remotely compelling discussion of national defense issues? |
Because American spending on national defense is so far beyond what it should be given our situation that there's no room for the kind of sober subtlety you'd prefer, and as such, you aren't happy with honest assessments.
American spending on defense and warfare needs to go down, and not by a small amount. The fact that we so grossly misuse what we have (and yes, things like using drone technology to gun down people in foreign countries at a 30% civilian death rate is a misuse; yes, arbitrarily and foolishly invading other nations is a misuse), just shows the lack of need at the present for more. We can slow it down, and we should slow it down. We need to make choices.
| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
| Oh, right, a bunch of ex-pats |
Doesn't being so cynical, snide, and grumpy ever get boring? |
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The Happy Warrior
Joined: 10 Feb 2010
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Fox wrote: |
| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
| Fox wrote: |
| jmuns wrote: |
| i'll take my military over 'free' health care 10 out of 10 times |
Indeed. Why invest in projects which make the average citizens life better in some tangible way when you can use it building high-tech killing machines and go around the world destabilizing nations and killing civilians? Hundreds of billions of dollars well spent! |
Ugh. I don't know which post I disagree with more. Why can't this board have a remotely compelling discussion of national defense issues? |
Because American spending on national defense is so far beyond what it should be given our situation that there's no room for the kind of sober subtlety you'd prefer, and as such, you aren't happy with honest assessments.
American spending on defense and warfare needs to go down, and not by a small amount. The fact that we so grossly misuse what we have (and yes, things like using drone technology to gun down people in foreign countries at a 30% civilian death rate is a misuse), just shows the lack of need at the present for more. We can slow it down, and we should slow it down. |
I agree that American defense spending needs to go down. But your characterization of American defense activities are horribly one-sided. It fits the board, overall, though.
| Quote: |
| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
| Oh, right, a bunch of ex-pats |
Doesn't being so cynical, snide, and grumpy ever get boring? |
[/quote]
I am an ex-pat, as well. But, its rich to accuse me of being snide after I just responded to your snide comment. I mean, you set the tone on this one, Fox. |
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Steelrails
Joined: 12 Mar 2009
Location: Earth, Solar System
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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| NYC_Gal wrote: |
It's not just restaurants, though. Back home, if I wanted something they didn't have in stock at a store, they'd order it.
Here, I asked for a pair of sandals in a certain color and size (225 is not big) and the salesguy said that they didn't have it. I took a look for myself and--lo and behold--there was a box with the sandals I wanted. He didn't even LOOK. This was my first month in Korea, and mycoteacher had asked him in Korean and he had said no. It's just poor customer service. |
Seriously. The Koreans at Foot Locker bear a remarkable resemblance to their American counterparts in the way they go about their job.
The kids working at one of the local chicken shops are as slacker as any restaurant crew I've ever seen, minus the weed.
When you first come in its all hustle and bustle. Then its off to their cell phone, having their friends drop by, chatting to girls, etc.
Actually its kinda relieving. Shows people are still people.
EDIT- The no tipping crowd reminds me of the people who would come into the pizza shack and believe that they should be able to get an X-Large pizza with 5 toppings, Wings, Salad, Bread, and a 2-Liter for 20 dollars, delivered free to their door in 20 minutes with a mountain of paper plates, cups, dipping sauces, and Parmesan packets, all made from top quality ingredients. That and all the employees should be paid 12 bucks an hour and get health care and vacation time.
Their thinking was- well the pizza should cost this much. The superficial cost breakdowns were funny. Even funnier was the utter frustration they endured when actually challenged to really break down the math and take all costs into consideration.
Last edited by Steelrails on Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:57 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Fox
Joined: 04 Mar 2009
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| Posted: Thu Jul 22, 2010 10:48 pm Post subject: |
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| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
I agree that American defense spending needs to go down. But your characterization of American defense activities are horribly one-sided.
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I dislike that term. One-sided. I dislike it almost as much as I dislike the way the media uses the term balanced. Each implies there must be two genuinely valid sides to the discussion, and the only way to arrive at the truth is to give both sides reasonable representation.
No one is suggesting zeroing our defense budget (as much as I'd like a military free world, even I've admitted to them being necessary). I don't think anyone most people are even seriously suggesting bringing our spending down in line with other nations. The issue comes down to whether America should spend enough to be a military power, or whether America should spend enough to be a global bully. I don't think there's two valid sides to this issue; one is good for both the average American citizen and the world, the other isn't. If you call that one-sided extremism and have contempt for it, okay.
| The Happy Warrior wrote: |
I am an ex-pat, as well. But, its rich to accuse me of being snide after I just responded to your snide comment. I mean, you set the tone on this one, Fox. |
And in my case, the answer is yes, it gets old. I try to go easy, but verbal hostility is part of the way I was raised. It's not an easy habit to shake. |
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