No One Ever Has Change!

This seems like a random and small thing that you would not notice or complain about, but it is very evident once you live here for a while that no one ever has any exact change for financial transactions!

Change is essential to every day life, but apparently not in Colombia. In the U.S., when you purchase something you usually get exact change back for large bills. This usually never seems to be a problem since stores stock up on change at the beginning of the day. However, this concpet of ¨preparing for something inevitable¨ is not common sense here.

Do you have change for a $20,000 bill?

Instead, every day Colombians constantly complain about how they don´t have enough change. Whenever you buy something and pass over a large bill, you will immediatly hear, ¨¡¿No tienes mas suelto?!¨. This means, ¨Don´t you have any smaller change to pay with?!¨. I always say ¨No!¨ - even if I do have change. Since when is it the customer´s responsibility to have exact change! It has always been the store clerk´s responsibility to prepare enough change to last through a day of transactions - at least in the United States.

Not only is is an inconvience that sometimes can take up to an extra 15 minutes for someone to locate change, but most of the time the clerk (or taxi drivers especially) are just lying. They have change, they just don´t want to give it to you!

Another thing is that if you don´t have change they get all pissy and just hand you over whatever they have. This means that sometime you end up losing money just because the clerk does not have enough chance. If they are going to do this, shouldn´t it be the other way around? As in, the loss should go to the clerk, not the client. I really do not understand this logic nor why people don{t prepare their businesses for this ahead of time.

Korean Food and Restaurant in Bogota, Colombia

Horean food has been popular in the United States and internationally for a logn time, however I was surporsed to find Korean food in Bogota. IEver since I have started visiting Colombia over 10 years ago, I never noticed an influence of Asian culture. Long ago, you would never see Asians walking around. I mean, there were few Chinese restaurants, but not much and it was not popular at the time. Now it is a lot different!

I am glad there is a larger Asian influence now. As an American, I grew up with the food, culture, and people on a regular basis. I missed it when I moved here, so it is great that I have found at least a good Korean restaurant to visit when I get cravings for Korean food. For this reason, I recommend the Biwon Korean Restaurant in Bogota. It is located near Parque 93 (cr 16 with calle 93).

Just the other day I went there with a large group of foreigners. It has become popular with the expat crowd probably because they miss Korean frood from their original lands too! The restaurant is very tradicional compared to the Korean restaurants I have been to in America. It is a large house that is divided up into several rooms and one main dining area. There is a large back yard perfect for sitting outside to eat of smoke a cigarrette. You know Koreans and Colombians like to smoke!

The food is also very good and there is a large menu. The last time I went we ordered Bulgogi beef and pork. It comes with a free apatizer, lettuce, and spices. Here is a picture of our meal!
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Learn How To Beg and Apologize

At first it just seems like simple manners, but Colombians have very specific social rules that are not just for people who want to be polite - they are perpetual habits learned by everyone. They become so habitual that people are shocked when you don´t return the typical social responce to certain situations. Should you shoose not to participate in these social rules, you will be chastized or ignored. In these situations, the habit is to beg and apologize.

Coming from U.S., there is no need to say ¨I am sorry¨ or beg for forgiveness unless you sincerely mean in it is grave situations. However, in Colombia it is normal to beg for forgiveness, a better proce, better customer service, or anything that is already expected as normal. Also, you are expected to apologize for even the smallest issues such as: standing in the way or asking for customer service. For me, most of these items are expected and should not require begging or apologizing for special treatment.

For the most part, it passes as politeness, but in the following situations it is just plain annoying that you have to make special request to demand something that is already expected as a foreigner.

• When to Apologize - Getting People To Move Out of The Way:
  I don´t know why Colombians are famous for this, but apparently they do not h¿know how to walk or have any awareness of when they are standing in the middle of a walkway. Hello, you are standing in the middle of the door and nooone can get through! It is not just me. I have talked to several people who agree that there is no concept of spacial reasoning in terms of traffic, walking on the sidewalk, or standing in line. In these situations, it is expected for someone to say ¨perdon¨ in order to move around the person who is obviously blocking everything. For me it seems odd that I should be the one to apologize for going around someone when they should apologize for being in the way in the first place!
• When to Beg - Requesting Customer Service
  Going to the bank or most restaurant is an lesson in humility. There is no reason why you should expect to be treated with any time of attention or special recognition. For these reasons, you have to beg and plead in order to recieve that same service anyone would get in the United States. For example, if you are at a restaurant, you should apologize to the waiter inorder to ask for extra napkins: ¨¿Hay que pena, me puedes regalar cervilletas?¨. This literally translates into: ¨I am so ashamed to ask you this, but can I have some napkin.¨ If your request does not sound somewhat apologetting, you probably won´t be served as fast.