Want your burger without onions? Sure! Want the chef to leave the nuts or cucumbers off your salad? No problem! Want to substitute veggies for French fries? Why not?
And for the lactose intolerants among us, want your pizza or burrito without cheese? Of course!
Restaurants and coffee shops are built for personalization: Think Chipotle or Chop’t. Or Starbucks.
Especially Starbucks! In the U.S., ask for a venti extra-foam nonfat 1-pump sugar-free vanilla half-caf latte, and the barista will only smile, nod and ring you up. No question.
Western culture is often emulated in Korea, and many western chains have crossed the great big pond, but the ‘have it your way’ mentality didn’t make the journey. It just doesn’t fit quite right here.
Don’t get me wrong, there is some excellent customer service here in Seoul—like the four-story dentist office I visited that looked more like a luxury health spa; I was escorted to each floor I visited by a polite, English-speaking woman in a skirt suit. Like the parking garages at malls; attendants bow to drivers as they direct traffic.
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| Patbingsu! |
But try to order a bubble tea without milk, or try to substitute flavored syrup for heavy cream in patbingsu—my favorite shaved ice, mochi and red bean dessert—and oh, man. You are in for a hassle. Substitutions and exceptions are not built into the customer service mentality at most cafés and restaurants.
But, boy, do I try anyway.
Once at a bubble tea shop in the Coex Mall, I noticed the girl pouring ingredients in one by one. Flavoring, milk, ice, tapioca balls. It wasn’t pre-mixed. Excellent, I thought, just change milk for water, and I can drink it!
Wrong.
There’s no asking a manager; there’s no apology. Just: No. Can’t do it.
Sometimes I do get away with these substitutions, I think since I’m a foreigner speaking (a tiny bit of) Korean. Probably because they (accurately) assume I can’t say much more in Korean than I already said, they don’t want to argue with me.
And, are you ready for the real shocker? The hassle even happens at Starbucks in Korea.
Starbucks! The coffee shop known for interchangeable ingredients!
But I’m stubborn.
When I saw the sign for peppermint mochas, I was thrilled. There is nothing so comforting as a sweet, warm, soy-milky, caffeinated beverage on an ice-cold day.
The first time I asked for a grande single-shot soy peppermint white mocha, the barista had to repeat back to me: “Whah-ee-tuh?” Since this is the pronunciation when spelled in Korean.
“Ney, whah-ee-tuh,” I affirmed.
She looked doubtful. She thought. I re-explained my drink. She thought again, then nodded and took my payment. Not bad.
The second time I ordered my drink was on the military base, where the baristas speak English.
“I’m sorry, we don’t have that menu item,” she said.
“Oh, it’s the same as a peppermint mocha, but when you pump the chocolate in, you just pump white chocolate instead,” I explained.
“But we don’t have that menu item,” she repeated. “We can’t do it.”
I stood my ground, longing for that sweet warmth. “I order this all the time in the States, and I already ordered it at another Starbucks in Korea with no problem,” I explained, as respectfully as I could. “I know it’s possible; you just pump in white chocolate instead of chocolate.”
She stalled. She looked around the store—perhaps for the other barista who had stepped away—and back at me, bundled against the cold, pushing my stroller.
And she agreed.
If I’d tried that business at a Café Bene or Tom & Tom’s, I’m sure I would have walked out the door empty handed.
Now, I mean no disrespect. I understand that Korean culture is collective while American culture is individualist. Korea is homogonous while America is a salad bowl, or melting pot, or whatever. Critical thinking is not a priority here the way it is in the United States.
At Korean businesses—from what I hear—employees are expected to tow the line and follow the boss without question or creativity.
In the U.S., teachers complain about having to teach to standardized tests, but in Korea, education is—again, from what I hear—completely focused on preparing students to pass one, entire-life-deciding college entrance exam the November of their senior year. This test is such a big deal that companies tell workers to come in an hour late so students won’t face traffic; airplanes are not allowed to take off or land during the exam, for fear the noise will distract; the energy company puts extra crews on standby in case of power outages. A few years ago, according to the Wall Street Journal, a police officer even used his siren to rush to a student’s house to retrieve the test admission ticket she left behind and bring it to her at school.
The same WSJ article explains that Koreans believe the test is far more fair and objective than hiring admissions officers to look at essays and consider additional criteria, as American institutions looking for well-rounded students do.
It makes sense that this black-and-white attitude trickles down even to the bubble tea shop girl. She did as she was instructed by her boss, with no wiggle room. Why cause ripples? Why make a change? Why do something out of the ordinary to keep a customer?
I feel bad, sometimes, for asking employees to go against the norm since I understand it is a cultural difference.
…But not quite bad enough to stop. Starbucks run, anyone?
* * *
And, just for fun, here are some other things that didn't translate well...
(windows on a cell phone shop, and the checkout counter at a toy store selling Gunpla, a Japanese fighter toy.)
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| I miss you happy together ha!ha!ha! talk to her don't worry you are my sunshine |
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| Apparently C.O.U.N.T.E.R stands for Come With Empty Hands, Gone With Full of Gunpla Bags |
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