A.I. (Asian Intelligence)

And so with this week, my third month in Korea came to a close and I begin my fourth, leaving only nine months to experience all that I hoped to from this extremely different culture. It occurred to me this week that it has definitely gotten to the point that I would say I am comfortable in Seoul. Perhaps frighteningly so. The smell of fish at 9am is no longer nauseating, just familiar. Street side vendors pandering fish- split open with all their insides hanging out, no longer shocking. The stench of snail larvae - okay, that's still really gross. The smell of soju (Korean potato vodka) surrounding me as I ride the subway to school has simply become apart of my day. I've stopped noticing people staring at me- or at least, for the most part. I've learned a sufficient amount of Korean words to get by- being able to make out the characters being a huge advantage here. After three months of mocking Korean dependence on cell phones- I realized I've become just as bad. I caught myself taking my cell phone from my gym locker and leaving it on a table in the middle of the gym so I'd hear it. This is very Korean, and I was shocked and disgusted with myself. I take my shoes off a hundred times a day, and think nothing of it anymore. I don't beckon cabs with an upward palm, as this is considered rude. I give money with two hands, and take my change back with my right hand, my left hand supporting my right wrist. This is a polite give and receive exchange. I wait for the oldest person at the table to pour my beer- and hesitate when they don't as it's impolite to pour your own. When I try to explain myself to store clerks, even though I know the Korean word for no, I've started doing like the kids and making an X with my arms and saying "No". I don't know why, but they all do it- and it seems I've picked it up. I think matters would be made much easier if I just said "Annio."

This week at school was short- and difficult. After some disagreement with my boss as to whether or not I needed health insurance (it's in my contract, but he was trying to cheap out and convince me that I didn't need) - the other teachers proved him wrong for me. Three of our teachers missed at least a day of school this week, after my boss insisted that no one ever gets sick here. Apparently he takes me for a complete idiot. In any case, I got my way and now have my insurance and all this fighting and procrastination was over 100$ Canadian. Is it just me, or does it seem completely ridiculous to anyone else to risk potentially huge health care bills to save yourself 100$? My boss has proved himself both cheap and illogical, just the way I like 'em. It is interesting to note that my boss has also informed me that I don't need air conditioning for the apartment... which is exactly what he told the teacher I replaced who had the unfortunate experience of spending the entire summer in his underwear cursing our cheap ass boss. Apparently he's not familiar with the climate of Montreal, as he informed me that humidity doesn't make that much of a difference in temperature and I should be okay because I'm only on the second floor. And so ends my battle for health insurance, and so begins my battle for air conditioning.

I should perhaps take this opportunity to clarify. My job is alright- I love the kids, the hours are a little long- but being in Korea, I can't really complain since many people work six days a week and stay at work until 10 or 11pm. In comparison, I've got it pretty good. I get paid what I'm owed and my boss has been good with providing me with advances if I so need. However, it appears that a big part of Korean business is testing to see what you can get away with. When I asked for a new apartment, it was provided. When I asked for health insurance- after a brief argument, it was provided. And here's hoping that I can push this a little further and find myself in a coolly conditioned apartment this summer. Yet my boss makes these lame attempts at saving himself money in the hopes that this silly, single white girl from Canada will be too shy to call him on it. And oh, was he wrong. I think for the remainder of my time in Korea, I will insist on being called "The Princess", since that's how I'm feeling after making all these demands...

On that note, I came to the startling realization this week that my boss, with his enormous football head and tiny 'Chula man' (stick man) body- is the spitting image of Stewie Griffin (Family Guy) when he pictures himself as an adult. Unfortunately every time I see him now, this is the image that comes to mind, and I just can't keep from laughing... Interesting side note- Chula man (Stick man) is a Korean superhero from a video games- a character based, maybe- just maybe, on my tiny boss?

And lastly- one thought/observation that I've had this week. We see stereotypes all around us - and in Canada we've been exposed to as many stereotypes as we have cultures. In recent years, stereotypes have come to be acknowledged as racist, and obviously, to some extent, I agree. But at the same time, these stereotypes came about for a reason- they came about because for better or for worse, these are the characteristics, the oddities- that most stuck out to those outside these communities. We create our own realities. In communities with negative stereotypes, they grow out of impossible situations. If you grow up in an environment where there are no expectations for even the possibility of success, is it so difficult to see how people take a wrong turn? The stereotype of the Jewish people with money dates back hundreds of years to actual events. The European economies suddenly required a system of borrowing and lending money, but in those days, the Church forbade Christians from profiting from the lending of money. But there was nothing in the Jewish faith preventing them from lending money, and so Jewish people were encouraged to loan money and profit from the interest. And so was born the stereotype of the Jewish people and their money. Coming from an Irish/English/Scottish/French/Albertan/Quebecois background, I guess I'm just a drunken Catholic (Irish), uptight (English), red haired haggis-eating (Scottish), snotty baguette chomping (French), red necked (Albertan) Canada-hating separatist (Quebec). Perhaps some of this is true- I'll give you baguette chomping, but take back the redneck and Canada hating- and my hair is far, far from red... And I try very hard to suppress the uptight Brit, I hope I've been successful. I don't call myself Catholic, but there was a certain event involving oil on my forehead when I was eleven years old, and the Church claims they've got dibs on me for life. In any event, there has long been talk of how smart those Asians are. Back when I dated a certain half-Japanese boy who will go unnamed for no particular reason but to protect his poor identity (and to keep those who remember this particular relationship from firing up with the rumors and such, from oh so long ago) I was amazed with how many people responded to the news of my new multi-cultural relationship saying "Wow, he's Japanese- he must be so smart." (Pause for the laughter from the IMAX crowd) And then, three and a half years ago, I had a similar experience when I started dating Fred. How many people have said "Wow, your boyfriend's Indian? Is he an engineer?" I look at the kids I teach- as they rush out the door of my class to catch the school bus that will whisk them off to their next school- and I wonder- in the end, as adults- are they all that different from Canadians? As I talk to my Korean co-workers, I'm not struck with a feeling of intellectual inferiority, I don't feel that they've been better educated. I lost two of my kids from my kindergarten classes this week- one to another school, and the second because he's become too tired to attend class. At five years old, I have kids dropping out because of burn-out. This is something that is not seen in Canada. I have vague memories of spending my kindergarten days playing in sand boxes and swimming in the school's pool. Not being forced to practice my ABC's and perform lame science experiments. My Korean co-workers admit that grade school in Korea is tough- the days and weeks are long, and high school finishes at the age of 20, so even the years drag on. But University, they claim unanimously, is a joke. For three months, I've sat back and observed the culture and the people and the truth of it is - there are just as many smart kids in Korean schools as there are in Canada, and just as many kids who have trouble in school as in Canada. The difference, perhaps- in the success and failures- is perhaps in our views. We create our reality. In Canada, we quickly label any student who doesn't want to listen as ADD. Not bored, not uninterested, but ADD. He has a condition, he needs to be medicated. A child who fails a class is called any number of names. Are labels getting in the way of success in school? Koreans have never heard of ADD. They push the kids who have trouble just as hard as the kids who don't. They acknowledge intelligence, but refuse to acknowledge stupidity. Crazy is a swear word in Korean. In any case, the Asian stereotype of intelligence has been on my mind lately- and the only thing that stands out to me as an incredible show of intelligence is how easily an entire race of people (or rather several races- we have this same stereotype for Chinese, Japanese, Koreans and Indians) managed to create their own stereotype by refusing to acknowledge that there exists a weak link within their communities. They've tricked us all simply by refusing to acknowledge that there are some kids who have trouble learning. Their education is dragged out, almost for show, it seems. I'd like to think that my experience here is proving that Canadians are just as smart as Koreans and that the intelligence stereotype is just that- a stereotype. But I have to admit that it is an incredible show of intelligence, to convince the world that you are the smartest people on earth, and have the world believe it. Why didn't we think of that first???

Korea by The Numbers

• • Annyon Haseyo!

  • Alright, so another week here in Seoul, and it suddenly occured to me that I have not ranted about the thing that strikes me the most about Korea. The thing that stands out the most and makes me wonder how well I will deal with being back in Canada, when the time comes to pack up my newly acquired gadgets and board that dreaded (no doubt) Air Canada, fifteen hour flight back to Trudeau Airport. Here it goes- Korea, by the numbers. The thing that makes this teaching English thing such a great deal is not just the salary- in truth, I could be making the same at home- or close to. But the truth of the matter is that Seoul is an insanely cheap city to live in. My co-workers are sick to death of my look of shock over the cost of things here- particularly the things that they find so expensive. So here we go. If you're feeling in any way upset about living in Canada at this moment, pissed about where your tax dollars go or what you have to show for it, I encourage you to close this now and wait till next week to skip ahead to that posting.

  • Approximate cost of my two bedroom apartment, large kitchen and dining room, wrap around balcony, hardwood floors, in floor heating, marble staircases in the entrance way, - 500$/month (I don't pay for this, my boss does)

  • Bill for land line - 5$/month

  • Cable (75 channels) - 4$/month

  • Cell phone service - 10$/month

  • One hour of internet - 1$

  • Video rental - 1$

  • 2Liters of bottled water - 80 cents

  • Drunken cab ride home from Ewha Women's University (about 20 minutes away)- 10$

  • Cab ride from school to home (about distance from Loyola to downtown Montreal) - 3$

  • 6 months gym pass with personal trainer - 280$

  • Cut, highlights & style - 35$

  • Amount deducted from last month's pay check for taxes - 77$

  • Dinner at a Korean BBQ restaurant, complete with a table full of appetizers- 7$

  • Cost of mailing a box, 2 feet by 2 feet and weighing 7lbs to Canada- 55$ (to mail this same box Canada to Korea- 200$)

  • Custom made suit- made to measure - 250$

  Forgive me for being unpatriotic for a moment, but we're not American (well, most of us aren't, so I'm sure you'll forgive me). Now- why is it that everything is so damn expensive in Canada? And why are we paying these astronomical prices? Why are there not riots in the streets? Why are people not boycotting these services en masse? Why do accept to pay 30% tax off our paychecks, then 15% tax on everything we buy- and on top of that paying unbelievably high prices even before the taxes? And for what? It just doesn't add up!! Doesn't make any sense!! Where does our money go? After spending three months, in what is said to be one of the world's most expensive cities to live in (God only knows why)- I dread the return to the reality (or rather our reality) of the Canadian economy. I wonder- is everything so expensive sheerly because of the size of our country? Because I'll tell you right now- if the provinces forming an alliance similar to the E.U. would cut my taxes by 26% and reduce the cost of living to the Korean version of expensive, I'd proudly declare myself Quebecoise. Why is cable in Canada almost 50$ a month? The technology is older than I am!!! Why is that a price that keeps going up? Same with the telephone. How long has the telephone been around? Why is this service 50$ a month? And rising? On my cell phone- I don't pay for calls received or for calls made from a calling card - text messages are about one cent to send. Koreans are appalled when they hear about our system at home- and don't understand why we tolerate it. And quite frankly, neither do I.

  Despite having spent much of my working life in the restaurant industry, I have to admit that tipping will be very, very hard to re-adjust to. We went for Korean BBQ last night (you grill the food on the bbq at your table) - the staff came by to change the grill three or four times over the course of our meal, kept bringing extra side dishes when we were running low on egg soup, kimchee, clams, tofu, fish cakes, potato kimchee (anyway, you get the idea)- the meal cost us 7$ each, and as we left the restaurant they helped us put our shoes on and went out of their way to hold the door open for us. The extra step for service- with no tip wanted or expected. In fact, they find it insulting if you try to tip. As I walked home contemplating how they go out of their way to help you and expect nothing from it, I stopped at the market to buy some beer and ice cream- (this is what every Friday night should consist of in my mind)- and the woman at the dep reorganized my bags for me to make them easier to carry (moving things from one bag to another). Standard here, but has that ever happened to anyone in Canada? Thank them all you want, there is no Korean word for "your welcome", so their response is more like a confused noise that I can only imagine translates to "why are you thanking me, silly white girl?" This is the best part- when you order delivery in Seoul, the food is delivered to your door on real plates, with real chopsticks and spoons. No throw away stuff. When you're finished your food, you leave the trays outside and the delivery people pass by on their vespas to pick up the dishes. If the whole point of eating in is to save yourself the labor of cooking, why should you have to wash the dishes?

  I'd like to admit that after three months here, I can't help but to feel like a child. I've learnt the Korean characters and can read a menu in a restaurant (although alot of Korean food has the same words reappearing alot, so it may not be much of an accomplishment- if you can read kimchee and rice- you should be able to figure it out). But I still need more practice, and oddly enough for a country with so many English teachers, the Korean language classes are not designed around our schedules... I don't know who else would be registering for beginner Korean classes, but they're definetely not for us.

  Anyway- a short, but surely amusing list- of things I can't do by myself:

  • Use a bank machine that is not my bank, KB Star- since they're the only ones with English speaking machines.

  • Check my mail (I have to bring it to work to be sorted- bills, junk mail, old tenants)

  • Set up a Korean blog (much better than North American based ones, but I need help)

  • Ask if the movie at the video store is dubbed or subtitled (I often end up returning unwatched movies)

  • Order dinner for delivery (I might be able to order, but I still don't know my address)

  • Take a cab all the way home (again- don't know my address, and can't give directions)

  • Read ingredients labels on food (and just because it's labelled HAM, does not make it ham)

  • Speak to my landlord (she's called a couple times and we have some trouble communicating... usually goes something like this: Anyonn Haseyo!!! Hello? Annyon Haseyo!! Hello? Annyon Haseyo!!.... until someone hangs up)

  • Request my sandwiches at Subway without onions and olives- so wouldn't you know- after twenty five years of hating onions and olives- now I like them...

  Anyway- that's all for this week- I'm off to rent another (hopefully English) video.

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Korean Contradictions

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  Allo, Allo les amis! Well, here we are again. It's Sunday- I'm tired and hoping that my week-end will not end as quickly as it seems that it will. Time to negociate a three day week-end, I think...
  This week was rough. Not a bad week, not a hard week- just one that I wanted to spend hanging around the house instead of going to work and dealing with screaming kids. Yes, I do love those screaming kids- but I'm just in the mood for some quiet!! January is a month off for those kids who go to public schools, so to compensate for the month that they have off their regular schools, Korean parents like to shove their kids into extra classes at their private schools. So my Tuesday/Thursday heavenly days of leaving the school at 4:30pm have been lost, and now I teach a phonics class from 4:30 to 6:00. These poor kids, I'm tellling you. I've been instructed to finish the book before the end of the month- and I'm both whipping through the material and milking it because the kids in the class are all different ages and at different levels. Then my boss told me to make phonics fun. How do you do that exactly??? In any case, I've been starting the class with fifteen minutes of vocal warm-up (only something a theatre grad would think is important), which to the kids is pretty fun cause they're not reading...
  Since I've been here, I've been closely observing the oddities of Korean culture. They seem so apparent to me, but of course the Koreans fail to see the humor in their contradictions. When you see those shots on the news of people in Asian walking around with those masks on their mouths- I always assumed that it was a lame attempt at blocking pollution. But in fact these masks are worn by people when they're sick to prevent passing their germs to all around them. Pretty considerate I thought. But then they get to their school or place of work- the mask comes off and they are promptly coughing all over you. Koreans don't cover their mouths when they cough, but go to great lengths to ensure that they don't make strangers sick... It is considered extremely impolite - extremely rude to burp in public- and not the way it is in Canada, where you're likely to get a disgusted look by those around you, and then everyone's forgotten about it... it's pretty shocking behavior here. Yet you see people- mostly men- hoarking on the street, in restaurants, in the malls - to the extent that it's not just spit, but you hear it travelling up from the depths of their mucus- producing bodies. And this, is perfectly acceptable. Short skirts- perfectly acceptable- revealing your stomach or even the slightest bit of back- scandalous. Tank tops are unnaceptable for women in the summer- despite the scorching heat and humidity... Yet Koreans find bums very funny and I hear my kids say 'doku' (asshole)- at least a few times every day. And they think nothing of repeatedly touching and hitting each others and the teachers 'dokus' - all the while believing that revealing the slightest bit of belly is the most unnatural thing in the world. The women at the gym don't want to be seen sweating in front of men, so they only walk on the treadmill. And they wear more clothing at the gym than good sense allows. The trainers love hula hoops for some reason - I guess it's good for you or something- but Korean women seem so embarrased that they're moving their hips and making 'provocative' movements, that they compensate for this by making sour faces and keeping their arms crossed over their chest, so that no one in their right mind could accuse her of being 'in her body'.
  Everything here is about image, as I've said before- so this in mind- I went shopping yesterday with my friend Michelle- who is experiencing some frustration- and has been over the past year that she has been in Korea, in finding pants that fit her. Michelle has been labelled 'fat' by the clothing manufacturers in Korea. She wears a size 30 jean. And I didn't believe it possible, but yesterday I witnessed her taking off the rack, what the clerk assured us was the LARGEST pair of pants in the store- and I, being new to the adventures of shopping in Korea, was sure they would fit, after all, they were the largest... Poor Michelle came out of the dressing room minutes later- head down and feeling particularly fat- as the largest pair of Korean pants failed to fit her apparently extra large body. Needless to say, I fear that moment when I need to go shopping for pants and I experience the same shock- and doubtlessly begin to look forward to returning to Canada where I am a normal Canadian girl. I hope this insight into Korean culture doesn't discourage any of you who are a 30+ from visiting Korea- I'm told that white people of this size are not considered fat to Koreans- but a Korean of size 30 'needs to lose a few pounds'. Perhaps this is why my co-workers- all women, (who in many ways, do not to subscribe to the madness of the expectations placed on women here) eat so little. Maybe this sort of 'skinny is in' mentality affects all Korean women, and not just the ones that are obsessed with their appearance. Many of the girls that I work with have spent time in Canada or the US to improve their English- and as a result, are in many (positive) ways- westernized. Women are viewed as being extremely weak in Korea. In fact, my boss was afraid to hire me, as he told the other teachers that no Korean woman would be capable of spending a year away from her friends and family in a foreign country (despite the fact that many of his Korean teachers have done just that). The other teachers informed my boss that Canadian women were not weak, so he had nothing to worry about. In any case, it is still a culture that believes that a woman is to be subservient to her husband- that her husband (or father if she is unmarried) is to be respected as her superior and so on and so forth. So when my co-worker, Sylvia told her parents that she wanted to travel alone - her father forbade her from doing so. He said it was too dangerous, and she was forbidden from going (Sylvia is 27, and according to Korean custom, is still living at home because she is not married). Sylvia, being a little westernized after having spent some time in the US, decided to take matters into her own hands. So 27 year old Sylvia told her parents that she was staying at a friends house for the week-end, took the subway to the airport and got on a plane to Thailand. She called her parents from there and told them not to worry. I felt very proud of her as she recounted this story- especially when she told me that her father threatened to disown her if she ever did that again, and smiling, she told me she'd have to be more creative next time so he didn't find out. But then I thought how sad it was that Canadian teenagers set out in this way to assert their independance over the parents (usually not with trips to other countries, but with sneaking out to go to parties and so on), but Koreans didn't have time for independance until they hit their late 20's. Another co-worker, Jenny had a similar independant streak over Christmas, as she scored a super cheap trip (300$ everything included) to an island just south of Hong Kong. Her boyfriend told her he couldn't get the time off work, and expected Jenny not to go as a result. But Jenny, being more Canadianized than I am in some ways- boarded the plane and had a fabulous week by herself.
  And finally- the confusion of the week with the kids: My smartest kid (and my favorite), Ryan - asked me the other day why I had blue eyes. I told him that my mom painted them when I was little. Ryan was annoyed with my stupid answer and loudly said "NOOOOOO!!!" and walked away- clearly frustrated that I have no explanations for the questions they constantly ask me about why I look different. The best I seem to be able to give is- "People from Canada sometimes have blue eyes/round eyes/small heads/'gold' hair...". After that class, I ran to the post office to mail some packages- the kids caught me sneaking back into the school, and I heard them all discussing how I'd been to Canada on my break. Too smart to believe implausible explanations for blue eyes- but still unable to grasp the fact that Canada is a twelve hour flight away. All they can see is that Canada is two feet to the left of Korea on the classroom wall.
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I'm Just A Girl

Hello & Happy New Year Everyone!

I hope everyone had a good drunken New Year's- wherever you are in the world. Mine was pretty quiet- and despite my best efforts to get smashed- I didn't come anywhere near it. I think I've learned that Korean beer is far weaker than Canadian beer, so I'll be switching back to the Vodka. And I learned that Newfoundland's proud reputation of having the country's biggest drinkers- is nothing more than a rumor more than likely started by a Newfoundlander smashed after one shot of Screech. I think a Montrealer with a weak stomach could drink a Newfoundlander under the table any day...

In any case, we made plans to head down to the Canadian bar for New Year's in Itaewon (or Little America)- but then as we were getting ready to go out, we came to the realization that in Little America we would be met by the entire Seoul chapter of the American Military... so we just went to an out of the way pub- about as far as we could get from where we knew the Americans would be. The sign outside indicated it was a Western Bar- which in Korea does not mean cowboy bar, but means they play English music. And as promised we walked in and the walls were plastered with posters of Brit bands. The bar was nearly empty. At five minutes to midnight- the three of us looked around, wondering why there wasn't a TV on or something- no count down to be heard. At midnight the bartendar came over- said Happy New Year and Last Call. So we ordered every drink in the menu with the word 'sexy' in it- (love, sexy and happy seem to be the most used English words here, but no one really knows how to use them... the other day I purchased sexy hand cream from a dollar store- that also carried sexy shampoo and conditioner...) and then went home, continuing to drink there. Now as far as drinking laws go- I know Montrealers are very proud that we can buy beer and wine at the deps or at grocery stores- and you can always find those places to sell them to you after hours... if you're willing to pay twice the price. Well Montreal's got nothing on Korea. Scotch, whiskey and soju (Korean sweet potato vodka) is sold at deps and grocery stores. Grocery stores not only carry hard alcohol, but will pass out 'samples' (or shots as we call them in Canada) to shoppers as they pass by- presumably to make their shopping experience more pleasant, but more than likely to impair your judgement so you spend more money. And we walked right into the dep at 4am (when we ran out of beer at home), picked up some more, and kept right on drinking. Take that, Montreal! I got home- sober- at 5am, leaving the Newfoundlanders behind, completely trashed.

We've started planning for the year end show at school... which I assumed was a play, since my boss asked me to direct it after discovering my degree was in theatre. As it turns out, it's a song and dance show- and he, like so many others- lumps this all into one category and says it's all the same. In any case, I am directing two classes of kids (one of four year olds, and the other five year olds) in separate song and dance routines (my requests to do a play were dismissed... god forbid the kids actually use the English they were taught...). The deadline to have our song choices was Friday. And I stressed and stressed. I didn't want to do some boring ass- "If you're happy and you know it" song, or Row, row, row your boat. And so I went home and listened to my cds determined to find something. For a moment I was tempted to be subversive and choose Last Dance with Mary Jane, but decided it was too complicated for the kids. And I seriously thought about doing I'm Just A Girl - the lyrics of which would be dangerously provocative in a country where women 'know their place'... but I decided again, this would be too hard for the kids. Finally I settled on Bjork's It's Oh So Quiet- this way the parents are happy cause the kids get to dress up and look all pretty and act all sweet, and the kids are happy cause they get to act all sweet, and then go crazy... and I'm happy cause I don't have to listen to Wheels On The Bus again....

Apart from New Year's this week was pretty uneventful... I got back into the gym, which was good. My trainer Lee (who calls me Uma Thurman- I'm not sure if he's trying to say all blonds look the same, or he's trying to say that I'm getting stronger- in any case...), is happy to report that my arms are actually getting some definition and he insists that I've lost five pounds... although he was a little frustrated that I refused to weigh myself, as I think that women are too obsessed with the number they see on the scale. I am proud to say I have not weighed myself in over seven years- I'm not about to start now.

To make up for a very quiet New Year's, my friends Glen, Michelle and I headed to the Canadian bar. We quickly made friends with a girl from New Zealand, who was ditched by her friends who were in search of American Military boys... In true Canadian style, we were soon joined by three other Canadian boys. Glen and Michelle - my Newfoundland friends with no alcohol tolerance left early because they were drunk, but I was having fun, so I stayed for awhile. And here is where I had my first real scare in Korea- I left the bar with the New Zealander and she walked with me to the bank machine across the street so I could get money out for a cab home. And the guichet just refused to spit any money out at me- finally the girl tells me that bank machines in Korea close at 10pm. The machine is there- I can touch it, I can put my card in- but I cannot get any money out after 10pm. Knowing full well it's a 20$ cab ride home- and I wouldn't even begin to know what direction to start walking... just as I started freaking out, the girl handed me 20$ and gave me her phone number so we can hang out/I can pay her back. I guess that'll teach me to try and budget myself when I'm going out... And I had my first travel experience where I was really screwed and someone bailed me out.

Along the same lines of Korean oddities - despite all their technology, and their obsession with it, interac does not exist here. And many stores will take only Samsung credit cards. Talk about a monopoly that controls the people. Samsung not only makes Tvs, dvd players, cell phones and other technological gadgets- they also make cars, weights and barbells, yoga mats, they own apartment buildings and malls. They run insurance companies and also have their own credit card company- and of course, their stores take only their credit cards. Despite my experience working for Samsung US, I'm told that in Korea- Samsung in known for their customer service. I've even been told tales of the service reps fixing other appliances (not Samsung) in the house while on service calls. And the service reps carry bags of fresh, clean socks in their cars, so they don't track dirt from one apartment floor to another. This however, doesn't change the fact that Samsung is evil. But the reality is that the entire country of Korea is run by four massive companies- and they're all just as bad; there's LG and Hyundai (Hyundai owns Daewoo and has a chain of gas stations) and Lotte which makes all the processed foods and cleaning products in the country, has a fast food chain and an amusement park. I suppose Canada and the US are probably just as bad- but here people know about it- I guess that's the difference.