When Push Comes to Shove

Annyong! Cindy here.

During our travels over the last few days, we've come across some unique Korean behaviour.

We ventured to Costco on Sunday. We knew we would see some odd behaviour there. We had plenty of warnings....there are even websites dedicated to it. But nothing could prepare us for the war that was Costco free tasting day. As soon as we stepped onto the floor, we regretted it. We thought about running for our lives, but it took way too much effort to get there to be defeated at the start. So, we took a deep breath and in we went.

Free samples means something different to Koreans. To Canadians it means that you may have a taste of something, thank the employee for the sample, politely dispose of your garbage, consider buying the produnct, and be on your way. For Koreans, free sample day means FIGHT for your dinner. I am not exaggerating here. Around every sample stand was a crowd of loud pushy people, all waiting for the brave employee to put out the next tray of food. When the food went out, the people closest would grab as much as possible. I watched one man grab three truffles, shove one in his mouth, pocket two, and then push some children out of the way so he would be first to get to the next tray when it came out. I considered jumping in there. I am sure you are all aware of my huge chocolate addiction. Oh I just wanted one truffle so badly! But the chaos that errupted when the next tray came out just left me standing there with my mouth hanging open. Clearly I would have to have better martial arts skills to win that fight. The wide array of samples available was mighty impressive. There was soup, noodles, cereal, candy, meat, and wine....all of which we could not even get close to. It took us hours to get around the big crowds and the even bigger attitudes. We made sure to buy a large bottle of whisky while we were there.

Another odd Korean behaviour came to light in Costco's foodcourt. Costco has a dispensing machine for the onion that customers may put on the hotdogs they buy. However, this machine is viewed differently by Koreans. To be fair, we don't really know what it says in Korean on the front of the machine. Perhaps it says "free dinner" because Koreans will load a plate with the free onion, top it with the free mustard and ketchup, and think of if it as a meal. Free bad breath too.

Today we went to a tourist bureau. These are extremely difficult to find here. We were hoping to find postcards...but no luck. So any of you still waiting to get a postcard from us may have to give up...they simply do not make them here. Anyway, I did manage to find a couple of things I wanted to buy. The cashier was already helping a couple with their purchases, so I lined up behind them. Then...you will not believe this.....a Korean man came over to the line and simply stood infront of me. I laughed right out loud, said "NO WAY!", and looked at Brett to see his reaction. He was standing over to the side, his eyes wide with surprise. This man had butted me in line and there was not a thing I could do about it. We just laughed and shook our heads.