Korea likes free stuff

a free black coffee attached to my lattes

It's getting more difficult to remember what things were surprising about Korean daily life the longer I'm here, so it's getting to be more of a challenge for me to think of things to note here for you back in the states... 

Here's a difference. Korea likes free stuff! Back in EPIK orientation, we were told that sometimes if you're a good customer to a store or a restaurant, you might start getting stuff for free or "service" as it's called in Konglish. My friends and I have been given food for free with the servers explaining that it's service when we don't understand where it came from. When I bought my electronic dictionary back in the fall, the store associates gave me tupperware as an extra gift. This may have been a fluke, but once when I went shopping in a department store, one of the shirts I got was actually just given to me instead of being rung up. 

the travel cup

Roketship has a cartoon that summarizes what I'm about to say perfectly: Stores like E-mart and Homeplus actually tape stuff to their products. Lately, if you're looking to buy a giant box of instant coffee packets, you could choose between some floral pattern ceramic dishes, a bento box, or a mug as your free thing. From buying cereal, I've gotten a bowl, a fork, and a travel cereal bottle. Awesome. Also something that's common in these stores is seeing freebies strapped to what you're buying so you get more for your money. Take yogurt for example. You might find a 4 pack of yogurt with an extra 2 cups stuck to it. The pictures are some semi-recent purchases that came with the free things. Forget coupons, just look for you're favorite products covered in tape!