Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Ya-ta Boy]

Shops and businesses hand out all sorts of freebies. Lots of them are kinda trashy. Fans. I have an assortment of towels in god-awful colors that different places have handed out. Last year I got a kind of nifty gift set of scented soaps--Lavender-Vanilla, Raspberry Lychee and Bergamot-Lime. Another place handed out Olive Nature Soap--so I smelled like a Greek athlete for a few weeks. (I'm not really into flavored soaps, but I never turn down a freebie.)

But my Number One favorite gift is a pencil stand. I think I got it from 농협은행. It's black leather on two steel legs that unfolds into a box to hold your pens and pencils on your desk. But the neat part is that it has a digital clock on the front that tells me the time, 9:05; the date, 8/26; the day of the week, SAT; and......AND...the temperature, 27.0C. It's really a pretty handy-dandy little thing. Thank you, 정호컴넷!

[poet13]

'twas five years ago I think, but SHE paid for everything. Food, drink, room...

[captain kirk]

Those fridge magnets with a bottle opener are as handy as little elves....

[sillywilly]

I got a bunch of eggs. The lady at the corner store just handed them to me one day.

[krats1976]

Free cat food & toys from the online stored I get my feline supplies from & dog food samples from my vet.

Saves me some money on treats for my 'kids'.

[JongnoGuru]

[Qinella]

I went to a pojang macha one time in Daejeon with another poster from this board. We were there for several hours, and met up with three girls there. Lots of drinks and food. All free. That must've been expensive.

My landlady used to drop off deliveries of fruit and other snacks, which can get pretty expensive.

[OiGirl]

[pegpig]

Landlady used to give me tons of kimchi. It wasn't my favorite kind, so unfortunately I wasn't able to eat most of it.

The best was a few weeks into my first year during the heavy rains. It was pouring like hell and I was trying to get some cover in front of a building. I had never used an umbrella, so obviously I didn't have one. This guy walks by carrying a large closed umbrella. He stops about 10 feet past me, hesitates, then turns around and hands it to me. He didn't want any money. He just turned around and kept on walking. Very strange considering how heavily the rain was coming down.

[ella]

You had never used an umbrella?

[JongnoGuru]

One of my banks gave me a very handsome umbrella. Not one of those dainty collapsible ones the metrosexuals all use (which as it happens, another of my banks once gave out to customers) but a proper big, manly, sturdy, walking-stick model that's ideal for gouging out strangers' eyes in crowded Asian city streets. It had the bank's logo on it, and it was very clear they had tall god-like Western men in mind when they ordered them made. For in their unfurled state, the handles reached all the way up to the nipples on most customers. I understand that was also part of the criticism of Carrefour & Walmart, that lack of attention to local stature.

[quilter]

Some Korean friends of ours gave us a nice computer with 17 inch flat screen monitor and speakers, pressure cooker, electric kettle, organic vegetables, and have fed us at least a dozen times. Great hospitality in the 7 months we have been here.

[wylies99]

Someone was handing out free CD's a few weeks ago, outside of Lottemart. I have no idea what the songs were- but it was free.

[pegpig]

[Ya-ta Boy]

A few years back, Mr. Pizza gave out yellow plastic chicken coffee mugs with a lid. I use mine to hold yeast. It's quite decorative. Not as spiffy as the pencil holder, but nice.