Korean Job Discussion Forums

Missihippi · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Location: Gwangmyeong

Well, a few co-teachers and I went out for dinner and drinks after school last week. They decided it'd be best to pool W20,000 from everyone to pay for the whole night. That's great, except that i only have W19,000. I offered to go to the atm real quick to get a proper bill, but my co-teacher(whom i'd consider a friend) agreed to cover it and i "owe her one". For an amount that small, most times you don't bring it up right? Well, she mentioned it friday(i didn't have any cash on me friday) and again today..to which i forked over a crisp W1000 bill. Is it normal for koreans to be a stickler over W1000? Not that i'm not appreciative, or wasn't planning on paying her back, i was just going to let it come up naturally...like the next time we went out or the next time i happen to have my wallet out and had singles in it...

Panda · Joined: 25 Oct 2008

That is unusual...

Dont take it as a Korean thing.

I know some people cant sleep without putting their shoes in order.

dean_burrito · Joined: 12 Jun 2007

Most Kroeans that I've worked with wouldn't even had let me use the 19,000 won. So yeah, that is a little odd.

Ilsanman · Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Bucheon, Korea

I am a little surprised about this, but everyone's different.

Little Laura · Joined: 11 Feb 2004 Location: On the trails with my dog

I've borrowed much more than that from Korean friends and never had it brought up to me until I paid it back. I think your situation is unusual.

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I think it's a personal quirk and not very common. Bring your co-workers some apples or bananas tomorrow. It's amazing how much good will a little bit of fruit can buy here.

Missihippi · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Location: Gwangmyeong

I am still getting used to this cash culture, i never carried cash back home. Swiped plastic everywhere.. Meh..

Ya-ta Boy · Joined: 16 Jan 2003 Location: Established in 1994

I think it's a personal quirk and not very common. Bring your co-workers some apples or bananas tomorrow. It's amazing how much good will a little bit of fruit can buy here.

Rusty Shackleford · Joined: 08 May 2008

IIILALALAIII · Joined: 31 Oct 2008

[quote="whatever"]K's are fixated on dumb shit about 110% of the time. Not surprising, your scenario...[/quote]

Hey, i think you are starting to be racist here.

do you understand?

You thought will get you back just as it is.

Good luck boy.

Darkray16 · Joined: 09 Nov 2008

Yea that K's are fixated on dumbshit does seem a bit racist, being that it's the opposite of most people's experiences here.

But I would mention more than 5000KRW(maybe not 1K) but I'm American and the Koreans I've met wouldn't care about that small of an amount so that's definitely a unique case.

And actually Korea seems to be less of a cash culture than the USA. They use their credit cards for almost everything except small restaurants. And many small restaurants have a credit card machine too.

Missihippi · Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Location: Gwangmyeong

Straphanger · Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Chilgok, Korea

I think it's a personal quirk and not very common. Bring your co-workers some apples or bananas tomorrow. It's amazing how much good will a little bit of fruit can buy here.

Papa Smurf · Joined: 18 Jul 2006 Location: Seoul

very very unusual.

certainly koreans are not as tight as us westerners. almost always try to pay first.

Goku · Joined: 10 Dec 2008

Like everyone says, it's real bizarre,

I think either she's cheap, or she's trying to joke around with you.

If it is a joke, it's a poor one... but a joke nevertheless...

Yeah I basically paid for everything here, I haven't had to pay for a meal yet... I love it.