In Gangnam I went shopping a lot, and found out that in the Korean survival class we never learn the phrase "do you need a bag?". That is the first thing the cashier ask as we went up to the counter and try to purchase the items we bought. I do not think I look like Korean, however I am Asian, therefore I suppose they would assume that I am Korean. Until I said "I'm sorry?" in English trying to indicate that I do not understand the question they just asked. I find it interesting how they decided to charge their merchandise bag because if I remember it correctly, I think it was 500 krw for a paper bag and 1000 krw for a plastic bag. Some cashier were even nice enough to ask me if that amount was ok, well they use the word "ok", but they probably were trying to process if I was willing to pay for the shopping bag or not. I wonder if paying for shopping bag is a way in which they are trying to manage waste? Or maybe more like a production profit for the manufacture company itself? And in the US, I'm thinking they probably do charge us for the shopping bag, we're just not aware of it because American do not really care about such a trivial thing and this is just my opinion of it.
