Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Spike]

Hi. I've only been in Korea for a month and am new to the board so please bear with me if this has been dealt with before.

I've already been invited to a couple weddings of co-workers and students and I'm wondering what appropriate gifts are. Back home I'd usually give $100 to acquaintances cover the cost of the meal plus some, but I'm not sure if there is a Korean tradition.

I'm also concerned because of the levels of respect here. Should I give my co-worker more than my student? Frankly, I wouldn't usually give a rat's ass what people think about what I gave them but I just don't want to culturally step on someone's toes. Plus, the student also knows the co-worker well, so if they were to compare what I gave them - slim chance I know, but I'm just thinking worst case scenerio here - would there be issues? would my co-worker be insulted if I gave the same to the student?

This might be a dumb question to some of you and normally I wouldn't care what they thought of my gift, but I also don't want to make my life at work more difficult than it has to be over such a inane issue.

So what is an approriate gift?

[peppermint]

Generally the costs of weddings are much lower here- 30-50,000 is appropriate depending on how close you are, and always tuck it into a white envelope with your name on it.

There's a a real sense of give and take with respect to gifts here, so if you're over generous, the reciever will probably feel like they owe you something.

As for the student and the co worker- I'd give them the same amount.