Mailing something from the post office here is a real treat. The people who work there have been invariably friendly any time I have been in. And they speak English too, which surprised me and is obviously a big help. It is, all in all, very pleasant, which is not the case back in the US in most cases (except for the good people at Norview station, of course).
The only drag is perhaps the paying-for-it part, since mailing stuff to the US is very expensive. But the boxes are weirdly cheap, 45 cents for a good size box. Maybe you haven't spent much time thinking about the cost of boxes, but back home they ain't cheap. They also provide a worktable with free tape and markers and whatnot.
Today I noticed that they even supply free eyeglasses in case you need them to fill in a form:
People don't always like to wait in line in Korea, and if someone happens to be older than you they have no problem just cutting in front of you. It is kind of amusing. People try to jostle in front of me but I use my size and pretend to be oblivious and just don't let it happen. It is very common to see people submit to it, of course, out of Confucian respect for age.
Today there was a very long line that was entirely young people, and an old man cut the whole line and just stepped in front of the person at the front in the middle of her transaction, and asked for a stamp. The clerk (a young man) pointed to the line and indicated its length and so on but the old man looked back and said something dismissive in Korean (at least it looked dismissive from his gestures and facial expressions). The gist of it was, I would gather, was that none of these people mattered. The clerk wasn't going to budge, but neither was the old timer. Another clerk came over and helped the man. Face was saved and placid calm returned to the post office.
The only drag is perhaps the paying-for-it part, since mailing stuff to the US is very expensive. But the boxes are weirdly cheap, 45 cents for a good size box. Maybe you haven't spent much time thinking about the cost of boxes, but back home they ain't cheap. They also provide a worktable with free tape and markers and whatnot.
Today I noticed that they even supply free eyeglasses in case you need them to fill in a form:
People don't always like to wait in line in Korea, and if someone happens to be older than you they have no problem just cutting in front of you. It is kind of amusing. People try to jostle in front of me but I use my size and pretend to be oblivious and just don't let it happen. It is very common to see people submit to it, of course, out of Confucian respect for age.
Today there was a very long line that was entirely young people, and an old man cut the whole line and just stepped in front of the person at the front in the middle of her transaction, and asked for a stamp. The clerk (a young man) pointed to the line and indicated its length and so on but the old man looked back and said something dismissive in Korean (at least it looked dismissive from his gestures and facial expressions). The gist of it was, I would gather, was that none of these people mattered. The clerk wasn't going to budge, but neither was the old timer. Another clerk came over and helped the man. Face was saved and placid calm returned to the post office.
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