Service

Whenever you travel there are several things people just don't tell you that turn out to be pretty important. For Korea that would be a little phenomenon we like to call service. When you order food at a restaurant, you are paying for whatever it is that you ordered, but not the plates of steamed egg, gimchi, popcorn, fruit, etc that the owner of the restaurant sends over to you at what seems like arbitrary times throughout your meal under friendly smiles and a word recognized in both languages: Service. One time, after ordering only a pitcher of beer, we were sent over a platter of chicken wings. At another it was a big (and around 40,000 won) piece of edible ginseng. Today, while picking up groceries at my local market, I was rewarded with a few washclothes for buying eggs and tofu. The overeager sales lady just put them straight in my purse and when I tried to see how much they cost she brushed my handaway and insisted it was service. It is such a great method. They know I am buying something from them and to thank me, they give me something in return. It gives a whole new meaning to the word "service." I've never traveled to another country where we are expected to tip waiters and waitresses and-usually- you receive far superior service than anything you get in the States. Here, in Korea, it extends beyond the walls of restaurants to your corner stores and department stores! I spent a year as a waitress. I really want to support all the struggling actors and actresses who earn their living replenishing my never ending basekts oftortilla chipa but now that I've been to Korea...the bar has been risen.