GarretCP#5

THursday, October 8th, I met with TaiYen, a CIES student from South Korea. Tai Yen and I met a few weeks prior to the 8th and we came to find that we enjoy many similar things - golf, yoga, art, etc. Tai Yen, being new to the US, wanted to become more familiar with the social scene in Tallahassee. This being the case, I invited him to join our TEFL group out at Proof. Many of the TEFL students went to Proof for a celebratory drink to conclude the end of our session together. While conversing with Tai Yen I discovered that one thing in particular that differs here in the US from in South Korea is the way that a group divides a bill. For instance, if a group of friends are out for dinner, upon receiving the check, the group of friends divide the bill up in accordance to what each individual ordered. This is a "normal" thing here in the States. However, Tai Yen explained to me that the norm in South Korea is to divide the bill up evenly regardless of who ordered more or less. He said that if the bill is $200 dollars, and there are 4 people, then each person will pay $50, even if one person is responsible for ordering $80 dollars of food/drinks. I thought this to be very interesting. I wondered if this was a "modesty" related thing because the way he explained it was that if one person forces the bill to be split up evenly then it is causes more work to be done. If I am out with a group of friends having dinner, and I only order $15 dollars of food, and the bill ends up being $200, then I pay for my $15 part + my tip. This is the way all of my friends operate as well. He also talked about the way that he and his friends order drinks at a bar is different there in S. Korea and more similar to the way they divide up the bill for a meal. It is very interesting to learn about the culture in S. Korea.