freebies

Korea is great for getting things for free. I remember my first year here, I bought a pair of jeans and got a towel set as a gift. "Service" is what they call it. If you buy nail polish, you often get cotton pads as a service gift. If you buy make-up, you get little sample bottles of skin creams and serums. If you buy a box of cereal, often times there are things taped to the box, such as little bowls, spoons, mini boxes of cereal, toys, Korea "Fighting" banners for the World Cup, and any number of other things. I have bought frozen mandu (dumplings) with big plastic spoons or a second bag stuck to the bag. I have a little kitchen magnet towel and an oven mitt that were attached to a bottle of lotion.
Tonight I had a free facial. Every Tuesday in the parking lot of the apartments, in front of my kindy school, there is a bit of a market set up. This past Tuesday, some ladies were handing out flyers and had surveys to fill out. My co-worker, Kelly and I filled out the surveys and signed up for the free facials. Yes, it was a full facial. I guess Kelly does that fairly often... finds cosmetics companies that are advertising, and get free facials. Of course, you can't keep going back to the same one. Then we went for some pizza a Pizza Hut. We had a potato pizza, with a sweet potato cheese bite crust (around the outside of the crust). Not bad.
Then I bought a pair of earrings and got a hair clip as a service gift. And I got a pair of football/soccer ball earrings for half-off because I am a foreigner. Yay.
Yet another person asked if I am Russian. I had actually just been telling Kelly about people thinking I am Russian in Korea. She didn't quite believe me, I think. And then she heard it for herself. Why do people here think I am Russian???