Comments on: More on Foreigners and Banking

By: The Iceberg » Blog Archive » Damn, someone’s tp’d my blog again (wa wa wa waaaahhh…)

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 21:32:36 +0000

[...] the issue a little further. As luck would have it, there was a post at The Marmot’s Hole here (do a search, lazy ass*) where, if you filter through the *sigh* petty bickering in the comments [...]

By: articulate_ink

articulate_ink — Sat, 01 Mar 2008 09:00:32 +0000

Wow, I should check out the Hole more often. There are a couple of red flags waving here. Idealism check: There’s no cohesive expat community for a number of reasons. What do a lot of non-Koreans have in common apart from not being Korean? Very little. Hence, there’s only minimal incentive to band together for the greater good, even if good things could potentially result. There’s no nucleus. There’s also a great deal of geographical isolation in being an expat here, as well as a lot of transience (especially lately). This makes it difficult to form and maintain friendships, to cultivate networks, and so on.

This ATM card issue was my last straw. Granted, I’ve gotten an international ATM card from Standard Chartered, and I’ve set up an account in Singapore as further insulation from this bullshit. So there are work-arounds. Why not spend some time trying to publicize these in addition to agitating for activism? I think the heavy lifting is going to fall on the shoulders of those who are invested in long-term tenure here. Not everyone’s in Korea for the long haul (myself, I can’t wait to GTFO; I’m below the 4-month mark now) and I hate to see people put at financial risk because of this clusterfuck of collusion, incompetence, and discrimination.

By: Sonagi

Sonagi — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 22:20:29 +0000

in lieu of any pictures of the ladies, it’s amusing to see this kind of banter in the fishbowl.

Making fun of silicone boobie Barbies with rearranged faces and the near-sighted men who ogle them is more fun than spectating as the King spars against a circle of opponents while the Marmot watches from the sidelines.

By: judge judy

judge judy — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 16:16:27 +0000

On a side note, I just placed a significant order for import books at Yes24. I DID comparison shop, and I could have supported the littler guy (usually I would) and actually saved about 5-10k…

i’ve found yes24 to be the best way to buy books in korea hands down. fast, decent selection, online and cheaper than any walk-in bookstore i’ve used in korea.

By the way, any idea why debit cards don’t work around 11PM or midnight in bars??

this is due to a scheduled systems change at that time. from my understanding, everything is “frozen” for a short time while the computers run some processing. it’s usually over in thirty minutes and then cards work again.

The guy makes a complete ass of himself with that first comment, and then you give him more airtime?

in lieu of any pictures of the ladies, it’s amusing to see this kind of banter in the fishbowl.

By: mjw

mjw — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 15:40:06 +0000

Robert,

WTF, man? Why did you open this space to this kind of drivel. The guy makes a complete ass of himself with that first comment, and then you give him more airtime? On the one hand, I say your sense of fairness knows no bounds. On the other, I say the only thing you succeeded in doing is allow the guy to clog up your bandwith with crap.

By: slim

slim — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 12:29:03 +0000

If any good can come of this thread, I hope that homeless Nazis will no longer have to suffer in silence as the world becomes aware of their plight.

By: Matthew

Matthew — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 11:32:32 +0000

I kind of wished i had read the comments to this piece before linking to it on my site. At the time I thought this was an informative/helpful bit of information that was simply swept under the rug because lots of people, expats and pats alike, simply don’t take the time to read that much. Instead I find a pissing contest.

Anyways, since I’m mildly amused by all of this, I’ve decided to fan the flames.

Everybody here sucks and you all came to Korea to pick up easy Korean chicks and smuggle in opium through your ass cheeks.

Discuss amongst yourselves.

By: komtengi

komtengi — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 08:31:07 +0000

“Finally, this is Korea, the normal language of business here is Korean so your snide comments about my publisher’s punctuation or paragraph formatting in English is the really height of arrogance.”

Guess you didn’t read one of the more recent articles that would state otherwise…
Most of the Expat CEO’s I know do all their major business in English

By: Weekly Blog Roundup « Your Daily Shot of Soju

Weekly Blog Roundup « Your Daily Shot of Soju — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 05:23:42 +0000

[...] Here’s the full article written in English. You may want to get the Korean version also to bring to your bank if you try to get an international banking card. My opinion; since most tellers speak little to no English it’s probably easier to just brush us off, illegally, than it is to accommodate us. (via the Marmot’s Hole) [...]

By: King Baeksu

King Baeksu — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 01:22:20 +0000

#64: No, The Marmot’s Hole is not my medium.

Glad you understood what I was trying to say in #60 so well. I must say, however, that I have never been compared to Nixon before and it is somehow a strange thrill!