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Korean Job Discussion Forums
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charlieDD
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
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 Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 1:26 am Post subject: "Can waegooks get the discount too?" - addition |
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On my recent trip to Hong Kong, I bought some items at a store that totalled over HK$500, which, unbeknownst to me, qualified me for a discount coupon of HK$50 on my next purchase there. The cashier, who didn't speak English, directed me through gestures to a customer service counter, where I was given the coupon.
Contrast this with: At the Shilla Bakery in Samsung Plaza at SeoHyeon Station, there was a sort of random-picking / luck card you got if you spent over 10,000 won. You picked a card, scratched off the cover to reveal how much discount you got, all the way up to 100%. I saw the Korean customer ahead of me get it and I read and basically understood the sign announcing the discount gift. So, I make my purchase, which totalled 12,300 won. I expect the cashier to direct me to take a card, but no, she asks for the 12,300 won. I ask her about the card. She hesitates, looks over to a fellow cashier and asks "Can foreigners get the discount card too?" ! ! !
Like, how the heck does it make any difference if a foreign or a Korean customer buys over 10,000 won? Is the discount funded by tax money? Of course not (but even it it were, I'm paying taxes just like the Koreans).
The second cashier seems reluctant to answer; they have a low-tone discussion and then decide they should let me have the card. I pick one that gives me 15% discount, I get my discount and move on, chuckling inside, but once more reminded that I am an outsider, a foreigner, an alien.
Why does it have to be this way?
Last edited by charlieDD on Sun Dec 17, 2006 4:20 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 3:17 am Post subject: |
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I haven't had that problem yet. I get the little scratch cards at Face Shop. The fruit-selling ajummas also give me extra fruit all the time. I don't know why, I just go with it.
A few days ago I walked into a bookstore (no English foreign selection) and asked if they had anything on taekwondo. The guy handed me both parts of the Kukkiwon textbook and asked if they were for me.
I said yes, he asked if I had a black belt, I said no, that I was working on pal jang form. He asked where I was from, I said America. He asked if I studied taekwondo in America, I said yes. He asked if I liked taekwondo, I said yes, he turned around and gave me a 20% discount.
"You like taekwondo! You come to Korea for taekwondo! Discount!"
Kwanjangnim was amused when I told him, even more so when I said it was held in Korean. Said I was very Korean.
Good for you for sticking up for yourself, though. Sorry they were being stupid. |
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The King of Kwangju
Joined: 10 Feb 2003
Location: New York City
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 7:23 am Post subject: |
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Let me tell you my story:
Here in Toronto, there was a big Korean festival which included a raffle, the 1st prize of which was a free plane ticket to Korea.
I went there with my buddy, who studied Korean at UofT and speaks very well. We bought raffle tickets, and he won!
They were a little shocked, as there weren't many waygooks there, maybe 10 out of the 1000 Koreans. But my buddy got up on stage and gave an eloquent speech in Korean and made the front page of the Korean newspaper in Toronto.
The next year? "Waygooks" - that is, people without a Korean face - were not allowed to enter the raffle. |
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SuperHero
Joined: 10 Dec 2003
Location: Superhero Hideout
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 2:53 pm Post subject: |
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| The King of Kwangju wrote: |
| The next year? "Waygooks" - that is, people without a Korean face - were not allowed to enter the raffle. |
wouldn't that be discriminatory and illegal in Canada? |
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Newbie
Joined: 07 Feb 2003
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 4:31 pm Post subject: |
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| The King of Kwangju wrote: |
Let me tell you my story:
Here in Toronto, there was a big Korean festival which included a raffle, the 1st prize of which was a free plane ticket to Korea.
I went there with my buddy, who studied Korean at UofT and speaks very well. We bought raffle tickets, and he won!
They were a little shocked, as there weren't many waygooks there, maybe 10 out of the 1000 Koreans. But my buddy got up on stage and gave an eloquent speech in Korean and made the front page of the Korean newspaper in Toronto.
The next year? "Waygooks" - that is, people without a Korean face - were not allowed to enter the raffle. |
If 10 of you weren't Korean, and this happened in Canada, doesn't that mean 950 of the people were waygooks? |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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| Newbie wrote: |
| The King of Kwangju wrote: |
Let me tell you my story:
Here in Toronto, there was a big Korean festival which included a raffle, the 1st prize of which was a free plane ticket to Korea.
I went there with my buddy, who studied Korean at UofT and speaks very well. We bought raffle tickets, and he won!
They were a little shocked, as there weren't many waygooks there, maybe 10 out of the 1000 Koreans. But my buddy got up on stage and gave an eloquent speech in Korean and made the front page of the Korean newspaper in Toronto.
The next year? "Waygooks" - that is, people without a Korean face - were not allowed to enter the raffle. |
If 10 of you weren't Korean, and this happened in Canada, doesn't that mean 950 of the people were waygooks? |
No. In Korean, "waygookin" means person who is not Korean, and Koreans use it as such when they are abroad. If he had said "foreigner" you would be correct. |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:05 pm Post subject: |
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OP- happens here, all of the time.  |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:14 pm Post subject: |
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I haven't had anything like that happen to me so far. I did get a coupon for a free drink at Starbucks the other day, though.  |
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Son Deureo!
Joined: 30 Apr 2003
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:20 pm Post subject: Re: "Can waegooks get the discount too?" |
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| charlieDD wrote: |
| Why does it have to be this way? |
Because this is a country with very little immigration. Most Koreans do not see or deal with people from other countries ever. Although meeting foreigners may have been a common occurence where you're from and where I'm from, for most of the people you meet here in Korea it is a brand new experience, and it confuses the bejeezus out many of them.
I notice that in your anecdote you weren't told you couldn't get the discount, just your waygook presence and asking for something slightly more complicated than a doughnut was enough to throw a little wrench into their daily routine. In the end, however, you were not discriminated against, you got your discount just like any other human being who shops at that bakery, and those minimum wageslave shopclerks just saw their world get a little bit bigger.
All's well that ends well, right? |
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wylies99
Joined: 13 May 2006
Location: I'm one cool cat!
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:28 pm Post subject: |
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Some of you live in Seoul- and you are surrounded by foreigners.
Those of us in other parts of Korea are surrounded by Koreans who seem baffled/mystified/shocked that there are OUTLANDERS here. |
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Qinella
Joined: 25 Feb 2005
Location: the crib
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| Your avatar is obnoxiously large, wylies99. Can't you size it down some? It's not like it has intricate detail that we all need to appreciate or something. |
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tzechuk
Joined: 20 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 6:46 pm Post subject: |
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You will actually probably find that the $50 you got from Hong Kong was ONLY for visitors, not for local residents.
The Hong Kong tourist board do these promotions. |
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charlieDD
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:40 pm Post subject: |
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| tzechuk wrote: |
You will actually probably find that the $50 you got from Hong Kong was ONLY for visitors, not for local residents.
The Hong Kong tourist board do these promotions. |
Yes, I know about these, but they are with large department stores and usually somehow tied to the tourism industry - - like duty free shops and places that tour buses pull up to.
This was a supermarket. I like to do my own cooking when I'm going to be somewhere more than a few days (restaurant food just doesn't match my tastes) , microwave though it be, and I was buying some basic food supplies, plastic microwaveable bowls, and cheap tableware. The supermarket was just a typical, small local supermarket; grocery store might be a better description.
This discount was obviously for everyone who shopped there. There were no signs in English announcing it. |
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Natalia
Joined: 10 Mar 2006
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:42 pm Post subject: Re: "Can waegooks get the discount too?" |
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I was at Namdaemun the other day, was quoted a price at a stall by the regular woman. I took my stuff over to pay (to a different woman), and suddenly the price was doubled.
| Son Deureo! wrote: |
| charlieDD wrote: |
| Why does it have to be this way? |
Because this is a country with very little immigration. Most Koreans do not see or deal with people from other countries ever. Although meeting foreigners may have been a common occurence where you're from and where I'm from, for most of the people you meet here in Korea it is a brand new experience, and it confuses the bejeezus out many of them.
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Tell me, how does that excuse things like this?:
| Quote: |
Here in Toronto, there was a big Korean festival which included a raffle, the 1st prize of which was a free plane ticket to Korea.
I went there with my buddy, who studied Korean at UofT and speaks very well. We bought raffle tickets, and he won!
The next year? "Waygooks" - that is, people without a Korean face - were not allowed to enter the raffle. |
And how much discrimination are we supposed to let go because 'they just don't understand'?
There are plenty of foreigners around in Seoul, and this is where heaps of this stuff happens.
This is a country that has hosted both the World Cup and the Olympics, and strives to be the 'Hub of Asia'. There are plenty of countries that have had even less access to foreigners, and you don't hear so many stories like this. |
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charlieDD
Joined: 16 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 8:46 pm Post subject: Re: "Can waegooks get the discount too?" |
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| Son Deureo! wrote: |
| charlieDD wrote: |
| Why does it have to be this way? |
Because this is a country with very little immigration. Most Koreans do not see or deal with people from other countries ever. Although meeting foreigners may have been a common occurence where you're from and where I'm from, for most of the people you meet here in Korea it is a brand new experience, and it confuses the bejeezus out many of them.
I notice that in your anecdote you weren't told you couldn't get the discount, just your waygook presence and asking for something slightly more complicated than a doughnut was enough to throw a little wrench into their daily routine. In the end, however, you were not discriminated against, you got your discount just like any other human being who shops at that bakery, and those minimum wageslave shopclerks just saw their world get a little bit bigger.
All's well that ends well, right? |
I have been shopping there two or three times a week for nearly three years. The cashiers at the bakery haven't changed in the last 18 months or so. I buy fresh bread and this and that and you have to pay for it there at that cashier's counter. I've never engaged them in conversation or done anything more than presented my items and paid for them, granted; but seeing me was no new experience for them. The only thing new was that I was asking for the same discount that the Korean customers were getting.
Besides, Samsung Plaza in SeoHyeon station attracts many foreigners, white, black and brown (some Indian family shops there fairly regularly) because they do carry some, limited they be, nice imported foods, such as cheeses, sauces, oils; and the bakery has quite a good variety of pretty well done breads and such. |
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