Foreigner Wine Party and Korean Service

Wine Party
About a week ago, Dave organized a little wine party for anyone who was interested. He was able to gather about 12 of us and naturally it ended up being mostly foreign teachers.

So, this wasn't the kind of wine and cheese party where everyone brings something and all share, or the kind of party where Dave is kind enough to supply several bottles of wine for the enjoyment of others. Though Dave may be a generous guy, he's a bit smarter than that. If you're going to have a wine party, how about you find out a way to make the wine free for everyone? Dave found an add for a wine distributor that puts on wine tastings for large groups. He spread the word, gathered enough of us, called the guy, and had him supply 8 bottles of free wine for our "tasting" enjoyment. Most of us were there for the free pre-game wine.

However, after an hour or so of sipping on different wines and being schooled on their origins, tastes, and other useless information, most of us went ahead and bought a couple bottles from the guy. He was very professional, taught us a little about the wines, and had reasonable prices on the wines he was supplying. The wines originated from South Africa, Australia, Germany, France, and Italy.

After the wine tasting at Mary's most of us headed to Sunae to eat and drink at a place called "I Love Barbecue." We were the only people in there and the owner seemed pretty chill. Actually, apparently a couple nights later, Dave, Miguel and a couple others went back to "I Love Barbecue" and were there from 11 pm to 5:30 am. Apparently the owner got tired and told them around 4 am that he was going to sleep, but that they could help themselves to the beer as long as they left at 5:30. Yes, so around 4 in the morning Dave, Miguel and the others start pounding free pitchers, and at 5:30 left, just like the owner asked. They call that "service" in Korea.

Korean 'Service'

I have experienced "service" several times in Korea so far and I have only been here about a month and a half. Down a dark alley in Seoul one weekend, Warren stopped at a vendor that was packing up for the night and bought a pack of 12 rice cake balls (Korean candy). The package was maybe $1. Then the lady grabs another bag and starts stuffing rice cake balls in this bag. She piled maybe about 40 or 50 in this bag and then just smiled and handed the bag to Warren. Warren smiled, thanked her in Korean, and bowed respectfully as we left. I asked him if he bought all those for just a dollar, because I was pretty sure that he hadn't. He said "no, she's just giving us service." Why would she give some foreigner a huge bag full of candy on the house? I was perplexed. He explained that the old lady was so happy that he was a foreigner who had taken the time to learn the language that out of respect she wanted to give him extra, and this is what Warren calls "service."

Another time, I stopped by the bakery near my apartment building one night on the way home. It was probably close to midnight and I wanted to get some bread for lunch the next day. It's a small place and when you walk in the workers usually greet you with "anyunghaseyo". So I responded "anyunghaseyo" and bowed slightly on my way to the loaf section. I bought a loaf of bread for about $1.50 and then the lady behind the counter piles a couple other pastries in a bag and hands it to me. I tried to tell her that I didn't buy those, that I just wanted the loaf of bread. But she insisted that I take the bag of pastries. Warren and Jin Ju happened to be with me and Jin Ju said "she wants you to have them for free." I didn't understand but the lady opened the bag in my hand and stuffed in the extra pastries, then smiled and bowed to me. I thanked her in Korean, bowed, smiled and left. Outside of the bakery, Warren said two words... "that's service."

There are several other examples of this. It is becoming a common occurrence. I am really happy with the generosity of Koreans that I have experienced. Overall, they seem to be very friendly, excepting, helpful, respectful people. Now, of course, I'm sure Korea has its fair share of rotten apples. And I'm even more sure that I will now be more likely to have a bad experience soon. But, nonetheless, what I have experienced from strangers so far has been nothing but positive.

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