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DontAskKant posted:Also, remember me talking about how awesome the Sadang-Suwon bus was? Well there are some other night buses coming out apparently. http://fabseoul.com/2013/04/10/seoul-to-begin-two-night-bus-routes/ This is great. Never using a taxi again come August.
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Apr 15, 2013 22:40
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ladron posted:Be aware, though, that all Korean credit cards are basically charge cards - they expect you to pay the full balance at the end of the month. DontAskKant posted:Most of the Koreans I work with don't have a credit card I'm confused. I thought the South Korean economy was based on a massive bubble of consumer debt. How are they paying for their stuff if not with credit cards. Either way, I guess I'll just have a go at KEB some time during the week, they have a good English help line at least. Really a debit card I can use online is all I need, I'm not looking to make a down payment on a car or anything.
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Apr 15, 2013 22:53
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When you get married, the man puts the apartment on a credit card and the woman puts the furniture on a credit card because that is the way it must be done and that's how life works and if you don't you're a failure and your family will disown you.
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Apr 15, 2013 22:56
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Cameron posted:When you get married, the man puts the apartment on a credit card and the woman puts the furniture on a credit card because that is the way it must be done and that's how life works and if you don't you're a failure and your family will disown you.
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Apr 16, 2013 04:59
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joedevola posted:I'm confused. I thought the South Korean economy was based on a massive bubble of consumer debt. How are they paying for their stuff if not with credit cards. Most websites allow mobile payments. This just sends a bill to your smart phone. Seems to have a 300k monthly cap though
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Apr 16, 2013 05:52
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So what's the difference between a Korean credit card and a check card with a visa logo? Just paying it off at the end of the month versus at the time you use it? Is that why I can't buy things online with my check card?
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Apr 16, 2013 07:07
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You can totally buy things online with a check card, I do it all the time with my Nonghyup one. You just need to get the electronic certificate first.
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Apr 16, 2013 07:49
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I got a Lotte Card my first year here and has been incredibly useful. Credit limit is my monthly salary and you can put some things on installments with very low interest.
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Apr 16, 2013 08:34
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Andro posted:I got a Lotte Card my first year here and has been incredibly useful. Credit limit is my monthly salary and you can put some things on installments with very low interest. Can you use it with foreign websites?
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Apr 16, 2013 08:58
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Whizbang posted:You can totally buy things online with a check card, I do it all the time with my Nonghyup one. You just need to get the electronic certificate first. Ok, so how do I do this?
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Apr 16, 2013 09:09
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Consumer debt - the problem is the installment plan system. I buy something and have three months to pay it back. I max out my credit otherwise. The next month, I buy something else with three months to pay it back. It just snowballs until I can't make the payments anymore. Also, there has been a history of predatory lending, not just by gangster types but by banks. It's not just a married person thing. A lot of the college-aged prostitutes in this country are working off debt from too many Louis Vuitton purses or such. There was some story recently about a kid who sold one of his kidneys to buy his girlfriend an expensive purse. I was discussing this with a financial auditor who is based in the States when he was here for a few months. He said looking at the paperwork was terrifying - everything's built on lines of credit from the on-paper value of land - nothing has any real concrete value. That BMW you see some guy driving? He got a loan for that by putting up his apartment's value, which is based off pretty much smoke and mirrors without any intrinsic worth. He said the real estate market here is long long overdue for a collapse, and when it happens it won't be pretty. There's also the problem of everyone here passive-aggressively competing with their neighbors over who has the most expensive newest stuff. There's an old saying in Korean - When your cousin buys land, you feel sick. Check card with Visa logo - you specifically have to tell your bank that you want to use your credit/check card online for them to authorize it. Phone payments - yeah, it's a newish thing. This is how I pay for stuff on Gmarket these days. Super convenient. The cash tax card - yeah, I have no idea about this. I tried to get one years ago but the website froze my computer and stopped all my usb ports from working. I just pay for everything with my credit card now.
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Apr 16, 2013 09:13
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BrainDance posted:Ok, so how do I do this? Use the certificate that came with your online banking at your bank, or if you don't have online banking you can pay to get just the certificate from some government agency. Ask your coteacher/girlfriend/random Korean you met in a bar about it, my coteacher helped me get mine.
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Apr 16, 2013 09:19
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BrainDance posted:Ok, so how do I do this? I think you just need to call your bank and tell them to authorize it.
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Apr 16, 2013 09:21
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joedevola posted:Can you use it with foreign websites? Yes. I use it regularly with iherb, ebay, amazon, and itunes. ladron posted:Consumer debt - the problem is the installment plan system. I buy something and have three months to pay it back. I max out my credit otherwise. The next month, I buy something else with three months to pay it back. It just snowballs until I can't make the payments anymore. Yeah, rule number one with credit cards is: don't be a dumbass. I only really use installments to pay for plane tickets when I know I'm going to be reimbursed for it later. It's definitely not a good habit to get into, but sometimes it's a lot more convenient than dipping into emergency funds. Like I said, the interest rate for my card is REALLY low.
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Apr 16, 2013 10:38
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I would be 100% happy with a card that drew directly from my account, as long as I could buy poo poo on Amazon with it. Thanks to attending university in the UK before Blair could completely gently caress it up and having NHS health care all my life I'm relatively debt free. The custom of incurring gigantic credit card debt is bizarre to me.
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Apr 16, 2013 13:27
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You don't need to use a Korean, it's possible to do it all yourself. Just go to the bank and say you want to use your card for online purchases, reference gmarket to help them get the idea.
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Apr 16, 2013 13:47
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Just get a Citibank check card. You can use it for Gmarket as well as Amazon, eBay, whatever. It even works back home just like a normal check card there.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:10
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Why even bother with a Korean Card? What's wrong with a Visa or MC from a foreign bank? I never ONCE had my TD Canada Trust visa denied, even in little mom and pop samgyapsal shops.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:43
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MA-Horus posted:Why even bother with a Korean Card? What's wrong with a Visa or MC from a foreign bank? I never ONCE had my TD Canada Trust visa denied, even in little mom and pop samgyapsal shops. I get 10% off public transit and Lotte-E.mart/Homeplus. Also deals on movies, restaurants and poo poo. That costs me 20k a year.
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Apr 16, 2013 14:49
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MA-Horus posted:Why even bother with a Korean Card? What's wrong with a Visa or MC from a foreign bank? I never ONCE had my TD Canada Trust visa denied, even in little mom and pop samgyapsal shops. You have to transfer money home to pay it.
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Apr 16, 2013 15:12
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Toussaint Louverture posted:I get 10% off public transit and Lotte-E.mart/Homeplus. Also deals on movies, restaurants and poo poo. That costs me 20k a year. How much would you say that saves you in a month? If its decent this might be a good idea. I spend a lot at homeplus and you know, if it adds up the way my change does, well,  As long as I could remember not to take it out with me when I go drinking... What kind of limits are we looking at? It'd be nice to get one with a tiny limit for groceries so I cant gently caress myself with it. Edit: a long time ago someone talked about a good Korean site for flight tickets I think, what was that? A friends trying to take a vacation back home. BrainDance fucked around with this message at 16:01 on Apr 16, 2013 |
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Apr 16, 2013 15:54
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No Korean credit card will ever match the deals which have come from US credit card companies, especially not the Hyatt Visa I got from Chase. I signed up 2 years ago when it offered a no purchase necessary, 2 free nights stay at any Hyatt Hotel in the world. I just got around to using it 2 weeks ago on a trip to Tokyo where I stayed at the Park Hyatt in Shinjuku. That's the hotel seen in Lost in Translation. 125,000 JPY 1,400,000 KRW 1,300 USD Complimentary. Sure, there's a $75 annual fee, but I spend that much in various fees on my other cards. I believe the deal is still available, but I believe there's a minimum of $1000 which must be spent in the first few months. I won't get another free night unless I spend 20k/year, but considering my plane ticket was less than $200 on Air Asia, I'd say I won the credit card game.
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Apr 16, 2013 16:31
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Another reason to get a Korean credit card. If you bank with the bank of the US military and they can handle thousands of overseas military and dependents, but can't successfully send a drat card to you over 6 tries in 9 months!  Am I the only one with the tax card? (Besides our long missing friend MomonariKun.) Those of you with the credit card, did you have to actively do anything for taxes? Oh, also, if you are with Shinhan almost all of them get you 50% off at amusement parks. Shinhan even has some of their cards benefits in English. I think my card gets me VIP access at Incheon airport if I get a certain version of it. I'm never there early enough to take advantage of it and it's not open for overnight stuff so... Whatevs. Get me VIP at Chinese airports and now we are talking.
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Apr 16, 2013 16:43
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I signed up for a tax card but they apparently aren't going to send it to me, given how long it's been.
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Apr 16, 2013 16:49
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Totally forgot about the bar thing I mentioned before; it's nearby the main street intersection where Sangsangmadang is in Hongdae. It's basically behind the Hyundai dealership on the main road leading to Hapjeong (the one where cars actually SHOULD be on) and it's called Joon's Bar. He's at the park on weekends anyway selling drinks. Super nice guy living the dream of having a personal bar and playing video games and beer pong. If anyone would like (since I know mostly all people here are Itaewon/Hongdae only), I'm doing an event at Dojo nearby Noksapyeong station in Itaewon this Friday and I'll DJ around 1AM or so too (has to be late since I have another event at Answer that I have to be at as well). Should be fun and girls drink 2-for-1. I did the poster edit as well. 
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Apr 16, 2013 19:27
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Poster owns. Also my Canadian card gives me money on Expedia. Got a free flight to Thailand from Korea with my points.
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Apr 16, 2013 19:44
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Wonderful scene today at St. Mary's Hospital (my first exposure to Korean hospitals has been great) when I saw a bunch of women approach the statue of Mary (BVM) in the first floor lobby and stand at attention before bowing. It kind of made me wish I was still Catholic.
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Apr 17, 2013 14:02
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Odradek posted:Wonderful scene today at St. Mary's Hospital (my first exposure to Korean hospitals has been great) when I saw a bunch of women approach the statue of Mary (BVM) in the first floor lobby and stand at attention before bowing. It kind of made me wish I was still Catholic. That's where I was born too. I also got hospitalised there when I was five (Korean age) for some procedures too. There is a picture of me praying to the Holy Mother Maria. St. Mary's hospital is great. I also love Severance hospital too. 
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Apr 17, 2013 23:52
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God no. Another coworker: will you come with me to my sister's wedding Saturday? Me: ok ok  Why am I so dumb? I have never met her sister or literally anyone she knows besides our other coworkers  Whatever, gonna be even cooler when I crash the wedding pictures. Maybe I can get some cool hagwon gossip.
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Apr 18, 2013 10:30
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I don't know, I've always had fun at weddings here, even if you're only there as like the "HEY check out my ~*foreigner friend*~" Stand around as they bolt through the 20-minute ceremony, then eat a bunch of free food and drink a bunch of free beer. Sometimes, depending on the venue, some of the food is even pretty good!
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Apr 18, 2013 11:46
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I must not be cool, I've never been invited to a wedding. Never even knew any Koreans getting married.
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Apr 18, 2013 12:16
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Honestly I'd rather sit on my rear end and play Sim City 4 than get free food and free beer. The time investment to get food and beer (which are cheap anyways) isn't worth it.
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Apr 18, 2013 12:19
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There's some nerd logic. Korean weddings are fun.
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Apr 18, 2013 12:30
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Korean weddings also last like 45 minutess
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Apr 18, 2013 13:19
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Not always, I went to a wedding with no alcohol at all, and they spent 20 minutes reading the Bible in Korean. The buffet after cost 100k won for poo poo food too.
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Apr 18, 2013 13:35
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Christians ruin everything.
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Apr 18, 2013 13:55
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All my coworkers are super religious. I will not be drinking this Saturday. If I could yeah it would be awesome, free booze. It'd also be the last weeding I was ever invited to so that'd be cool. And you know, 1pm is like my 8am. 1pm on a Saturday... And I'm expected to make a gift, 30k is apparently the polite minimum. I'm just gonna gorge myself on salmon to make up for it.
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Apr 18, 2013 13:55
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Better to have nerd logic than 'token whitey who doesn't understand or know anyone and is only here to pay 30k won for poo poo(?) food' logic, I think. Also, gently caress you, Sim City 4 owns and just owns.
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Apr 18, 2013 14:09
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Welp, I'm headed home...I don't know the exact date, but basically I'm being forced out: I went to a professional networking event in Seoul (purely out of curiosity), asked a few foreigners what they were doing, and asked a few head hunters about my prospects: Foreigners: -I'm teaching English, but I'm totally writing a screen play -I'm teaching English, but I'm totally starting a bar/importing business -I'm in some random profession that doesn't pay any better than teaching, is only very mildly interesting, and I'm the only foreigner doing it Head hunters: -Yes, your field is the most in demand, but that fact that you have less than 10 years of experience at a single company (wtf? why does it have to be one company?) and don't speak Korean fluently means I'm not interested in you (I can't get you a job/make money from you)...now go away while I try to find someone who I can make money from - x3 On top of that, I hate the idea of living in Seoul permanently or living there during the week and going home on the weekend to somewhere else so that I can never see my wife/kids/family. On top of that, there is far more opportunity in America for an American (better pay, better quality of living, lower expenses if you live in certain places). And I miss Ameri-food and a little thing I call "space"...it's the thing between you and other people around you. I lived my whole life in Texas and not in any big cities...I can't help it - I miss it a lot. The above aren't the only reasons I'm headed home, but they're really good reasons on their own. You know, when I arrived here in Korea, the foreigner community was bitter and hated Korea and we liked it like that. These days everyone's talking about saving money and setting up accounts and settling down and having koreababies. I am saddened by this trend toward happiness.
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Apr 19, 2013 00:49
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I'm happy to live just enjoying life but most people hate doing that.
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Apr 19, 2013 02:14
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