Korean Job Discussion Forums

[kprrok]

I haven't gotten the telephone down yet, but all I do is walk into my pizza place and they know just what to give me. Pepparoni with cheese crust for 9.000 won! 20 minutes later I leave with a great pizza!

KPRROK

[rNS]

[Real Reality]

However, is not Korea the Hub of Asia?

[iiicalypso]

I found that the perfect solution was just to teach the staff at the local pizza store English. I would just stop in every day and say hello, and before too long they understood English well enough to give me what I asked for. My students should learn so well...

[djsmnc]

[Zyzyfer]

[Gregarious Monk]

[casey's moon]

This thread is almost as good as the Donut one. Almost....

Buy an oven, make it at home.

I did.

[Hollywoodaction]

[mog]

The one in Cheonan Zyf?

Ate there tonight. I like the pizza they make. Much better prices for same quality pizza than in the US.

[JongnoGuru]

LISTEN, BUSTER -- YOU'LL EAT THIS CORN IF WE HAVE TO SHOVE....

I guess most Koreans really like sweet corn on their pizza. Call me bizarre, but I'm not a huge fan. It's not outright offensive, as I quite like sweet corn. It's just a bit off-putting and out of place on a pizza, AFAIC.

By the same token, I don't like pineapple on pizza either, or anything that even leans in the direction of sweet. And that most definitely goes for sliced red & green maraschino cherries. (Yes, I've even gotten pizzas in Korea with those on them.)

So my problem was with a local pizza delivery place and their bewildering inability NOT to put corn on my pizza (unless I order something really humdrum, like "plain old cheese" or "pepperoni and that's all").

I'd call in the order and choose from their various combination-style pizzas, all of which contain this, that & the other ingredient, AND CORN.

Me: "Hi, I'm that weird foreigner -- the one who doesn't like corn on the pizza. Remember me?"
Them: "Yes, hello! Yeah, we know. 'No corn'... Do you still live at [and they read off my address]?"
Me: "Yes, I do. Tonight we'd like one large Combination #3, and make sure that's without corn. Oh, and some garlic bread."
Them: "One large Combination #3, no corn, and one order of garlic bread."
Me: "Right. Last time you put corn on the pizza. I asked you not to, but you did."
Them: "Sorry, sorry...."
Me: "So I want you to repeat my order again."
Them: "Large Combination #3, no corn, one garlic bread."

The pizza arrives. I snatch it out of the delivery boy's hands even before I pay him, open the lid, and we all look down at these clumps of coagulated stringy cheese and sweet corn.

Happened every time, and there was no other place around that delivered. One time I thought I had succeeded, but then found the corn under a layer of extra cheese (which I hadn't ordered). Eventually, I only ordered pepperoni and then paid for extra toppings. Waste of money. Once I made the fatal mistake of ordering their "calzone" and got back this near-inedible thing (well, our dog liked it) with a crust that had this shiny thin coating of sugar glazing on it. (where's the emoticon of me on all fours retching like a dog?).

When Pizza Hut (never a big favourite of mine) opened a branch nearby, our entire neighbourhood wept tears of joy.

The Guru

[JongnoGuru]

FOREIGNER WANTS HIS STICKERS, AND HE WANTS 'EM NOW!!

(Okay, this is and isn't a pizza story.)

Many years ago, the office where I worked (all Korean staff except me) would order pizza occasionally, particularly when we were racing to meet a deadline and time was tight.

We'd always order from the same place, and they'd give us these little stickers with each order to get a free pizza. The more stickers collected, the bigger free pizza you get. They would include 1 sticker with a regular-size pizza, 2 stickers with large, and 3 stickers with family-size.

One time when they delivered the pizza, and we couldn't find any stickers. We discovered this after paying them and after they'd left. The stickers were always taped to the box, so it's unlikely that they fell off along the way. We were especially disappointed, because those missing stickers would have given us enough for a free family-size pizza next time.

One of the Korean staff, Mr. Chun, rang the place to explain & complain. My Korean ability then wasn't what it is now, but I did manage to pick up a few bits & pieces from his side of the conversation ("...something-something, waygook-in.... yadda, yadda waygook-in! ...") which I found puzzling and slightly disturbing.

Mr. Chun: Oh, no problem. Everything okay. They bring more stickers now.
Me: Now? Well, good job. Pity they have to come all the way back just for that. You seemed to be on the phone with them quite a long time... And what was all the talk about foreigners?
Mr. Chun: No problem, no problem. Everything okay.

But that wasn't good enough for me. I was determined to understand what he'd said to the pizza place. And it didn't help, either, that my pursuing the matter was causing a lot of back & forth glances between the Korean staff. After a few minutes of dodging and weaving, Mr. Chun finally fessed up. No, he hadn't really told them they forgot the stickers.

Me: Why not?
Mr. Chun: (a bit flustered and snappish by then) Because of course they'd say we were lying! No Korean ever believe that. (The Korean staff nods in unanimous agreement with this assumption.)
Me: Really? Huh... Well, then how did you manage to persuade them to give us more stickers? And what was all the "waygook-in" discussion?
Mr. Chun: Oh, I told them you good customer.
Me: ME??!! Why did you even mentioned me?
Mr. Chun: I told them you best customer, they better make foreigner happy customer. So they bringing stickers now.
Me: ME!!?? Oh shiite, Mr. Chun! You said that about me?! You badgered them to send that poor kid all the way back in the rain just to give us stickers because of me? Not because they screwed up with the tickets before (yeah, best not even mention that old canard, right?), but because the "high & mighty foreigner" demands special treatment and free stickers?!
Well for fu....s sake! We'll be lucky if they don't spit in our pizzas from now on. (*Shakes head, walks out to have a smoke*)

What a lovely way to breed contempt toward foreigners, huh?

Like at the restaurant two nights ago. A very loud, drunken, but fun-loving group of office workers start whooping it up in the room beside where me & my girlfriend are eating. Another customer, a woman who's been staring at us since we got there, notices that we're having some trouble talking above the rising din. This woman gets up, walks past our table without saying a word, sticks her head inside the room with the noisy party, and shouts at them all to pipe down so the foreigner can enjoy his meal in peace!

Some guys from the loud party then march toward us, all red-faced, smiling and apologising (with soju glasses in their hands). The expressions of others from their group, though, looked irked and disgruntled. And who couldn't blame them?

Dying of embarrassment, yet incensed because I hadn't done anything wrong, I immediately ordered a few more bottles of baeksae-ju for the party group. My girlfriend, looking to set the score straight with everyone who's now staring at me, tells the woman to stop making trouble and mind her own business.

Fun stuff.

[Ya-ta Boy]

Yes, I feel the pain of all of you who have suffered at pizza places and you have my sympathy. Cherries and corn do not belong on a pizza but pepperoni does when it has been ordered. But you have not truly suffered in spite of what you think.

Back in my newbie days, I went mountain climbing with two of my also newbie co-workers. We spent a good day out in the fresh air and were ready to eat when we came down. Not being into bon-daegi, we decided to catch the bus home and eat at the brand spanking new pizza parlor that had just opened down the street from our apartments.

We walk in the door to find ourselves the only customers. The staff all rush over big grins and bows and three people take us to our table. We point to our order and also ask for 3 bottles of beer ( in the only actual Korean we could speak at the time).

Twenty minutes later two waitresses and the male manager bring over a beautiful pizza, set it on the table and bow several times. My friends and I dig in. First bite. We stare at each other. A second tentative bite. More looks. We start pulling the darn thing apart trying to figure out what is on it that tastes so bad. We find nothing that shouldn't be there except corn. Then I spy a big can of ketchup on the counter by the oven.

No tomato sauce. Just ketchup.

Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!

Now we knew why the place was empty.

It closed in a couple of months.

(We settled for Lotteria hamburgers.)

[just because]

I am the opposite of most people here.

I love sweet stuff on my pizzas
Give me sweet potato and pineapple and I would be happy as larry.

My fav pizza is the aptly named Sweetie Pizza from Mr. Pizza.

[Zyzyfer]