Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Trip]

Captain Corea could school 99% of fellow expats about Korean culture and customs.

[asdfghjkl]

[cj1976]

I hate to go all Urban Myth on you, but where are the stats or any hard evidence that this is a consensus view? My wife is Korean and her family are all Korean, last time I checked, I don't think they would like it if someone stole their umbrella - especially when it is raining outside. Nor would they knowingly take someone else's as if it was a communal right. However, they might accidentally take one in a moment of soju-induced confusion - as I have in the past.

[TheUrbanMyth]

[Zyzyfer]

Haha alphabet soup is in rare form today!

[jvalmer]

Just a little historical tidbit.

In the past, there would umbrellas at subway stations that people could use freely, on the condition they returned the umbrella at another subway station anywhere in the network. So you might find your umbrella at another business in a few months.

So it could be some oldie taking your umbrella, or then again, some *beep* just stole it...

[b-class rambler]

Anyone who's also lived in Japan will know that the same phenomenon exists there too. There, it's fairly well known that whilst theft is relatively rare generally, bicycles and umbrellas are kinda seen as fair game to some extent, at least.

People will say that they didn't "steal" it, just simply "used" it when it was necessary and that it's one of those situations that evens itself out overall in the end. In other words, I forgot mine so I'll take yours, but you'll take someone else's and so will they and there'll probably be a least a couple of umbrellas there which are now ownerless as they were forgotten ages ago.

As a far as I can see, it's pretty much exactly the same in Korea.

So I think there is a little bit of a cultural aspect to this. Not that that is an adequate justification for me and it is something I don't like. However, it's not that difficult an issue to deal with. Just try and keep it with you or take a crappy one that no-one would want.

To be honest, even though I'd much prefer never to have anyone pinch my umbrella here, it's an increased risk compared to my home country that I can live with, as I also know that the relative theft risk to my car, my wallet, my phone, my sat nav and lots of other things I would be really pissed off about having stolen is very small.

[asdfghjkl]

[Yaya]

I will refrain from commenting on the loser poster who said it's OK to steal umbrellas, but I've lost more umbrellas than I can count. I've had one umbrella taken but it was a crappy one anyway.

[asdfghjkl]

[Scott in Incheon]

[The Cosmic Hum]

[Wangddaddy]

I've had my umbrella stolen maybe once or twice (and "swapped" once) during my roughly 10 years here. None of those times were when I put it in the bin at a store. I, too, feel that I can trust Koreans to not steal my stuff.

A few weeks ago, I left my umbrella outside a convenience store near Cheonho Station, in Seoul. It was still there the following Monday evening when I went to get it.

I wonder if style might have something to do with it. My umbrellas tend to be neither cheap nor expensive, but they are usually black or dark blue stick umbrellas with straight handles. They're not the most convenient things.

[asdfghjkl]

[The Cosmic Hum]