Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Marcilla]

So I have a korean textbook I brought with me from the US called "You Speak Korean!" which is sort of okay, except it's clearly designed to be used by college freshmen to pass korean tests and maybe say a few words to korean visitors to the states, and it's proven absolutely worthless when living here

It doesn't have phrases like "How much does this cost?" or "trash bags" or "Is this food, or is it all alchohol?", any one of which could have saved me a lot of trouble here

Anyway, I'm almost at the end of it now, and I'm thinkign I should try and take some classes on Korean or at least find a more advanced textbook to help continue my studies, any of you have any suggestions?

and yeah, I'll probably try to find a korean girlfriend while I'm here, but I still need some structure to my education or I won't learn nearly as much

[SPINOZA]

Stephen Revere - Survival Korean.

how much is this? - ee go, ol ma ye yoh? (�̰�,�󸶿���?)

Dunno about trash bags. I just use my Emart ones.

[Hyeon Een]

[SPINOZA]

oh bollox I hate all that. I put my plastic bottles in a big black bag and the rest in my emart bags. I hate those crappy trash bags - Emart bags are easy to tie. Thanks for telling me about the fine though.

[kermo]

WTB=What The Book?
PST= Pacific Standard Time?

I had Major Dramas this week getting trash bags. I just moved to a new city, and hadn't seen them around, so I had 2 weeks worth of garbage looming in my cupboard. I looked "traash bag" up in the dictionary, forgot it, but thought I could get away with ga-bae-ji while holding a trash-can and miming throwing out a banana peel. I knew I needed a gabang (bag), but not a pongji or pongtu (shopping bags)...
I grabbed a plastic trash bin and asked an ajumma who worked at the local Super-Lotte-Mart, and she said "opsuyo," just to get me off her back.
The next ajumma was much more enthusiastic, and was pulling out every English phrase she knew, like "Let's go!" She recruited a young man, and they were both fetching bags from around the store: ziploc bags, shopping bags, produce bags... finally they gave up and one of them called a friend/co-worker.
They put me on the phone with someone, who solemnly intoned "Go to the information desk."
I thought it was game over, since I didn't even realize Lotte Mart had an information desk, but the young man led me to a desk, behind which was a cupboard-- a young woman opened it up, and behold! Trash bags galore! I like how a little trip to the grocery store can make me feel like Indiana Jones.

The next day, I visited the convenience store right outside my door for a bottle of Coke, and there in a little basket by the door was a plethora of trash bags. Well, at least next time I won't have to approach the Holy Garbage Bag Altar and beg for what's behind Door #1.

[Lizara]

Marcilla... what server do you play on?

Survival Korean is great. I've recommended it in other threads. He explains things really well.

and garbage bags are impossible to find where I live, too. I've been living here for eight months and have yet to find a store that consistently sells them. They're always hidden behind counters and stuff, and it takes forever to communicate what I want (which, I'm pretty sure, is "sseuraegi bongtu". That's a long o sound. At least that's what's written on all my trash bags. And I'm sorry I can't type hangul on this computer.)

[kermo]

[zappadelta]

[Ya-ta Boy]

Ms kermo,

I have tried and tried to think of a phrase to express to friends and family back home why I like living here. The best I could ever do was that shopping for groceries was an adventure. Will you demand royalties if I rip off your sentence, "I like how a little trip to the grocery store can make me feel like Indiana Jones"? If really, really pressed I will admit that I stole it from a girl/pig. (Forgive me, but that cracked me up.)

[Lizara]

[Demophobe]

The purchase of the garbage bags funds the removal, storage and recycling of the garbage inside.

Funny how some people complain about how dirty Korea is, then don't even do the minimum to help.

[peppermint]

Does that mean I can skip buying trash bags if I'm willing to pitch the trash over the wall to the landfill theyve been putting in a block away from my house?

Oh, and while we're on the topic, what's the word for the bags you're supposed to use for food scraps?

[seattlespew]

*.*

[Demophobe]

[JongnoGuru]

(District-issued) garbage bags? That's what's got everyone in a quandary here?? Those things everyone by law uses?? You people make me want to cry!! The sort of things we need from time to time -- fittings, finishes, solvents, adhesives, materials, attachment parts & components for tools & machines -- most of you wouldn't know what they do, what they look like, or what they're called... even in English. I'll typically just order them from abroad and pay through the nose, because that takes minutes as opposed to the hours to days of rummaging around Korea, only to find it doesn't exist in any quantity. I'll visit manufacturer's websites and check out their global sales networks, and you can be DAMN SURE that Japan and China have distributors -- as do Belize and Botswana and Bolivia. Korea? Ain't on the friggin' list. Hubcap of Asia is right.