Anthony in Korea, Day 6, Monday, April 27, 2009

Today was great…I tutored Sunae and Dahee, two students referred to me by a Korean friend in the States. We met at the Bangbae subway station and went to Dahee’s apartment. I’m fortunate enough to have the opportunity to experience the “real” Seoul, meaning that I have gotten to spend a lot of time in actual apartments here in Seoul. Naturally, the students I am tutoring have enough money to pay for a private tutor, so their apartments are very nice. Dahee’s apartment is much like Olivia’s, only smaller. I’m still amazed that of the Korean apartments I’ve seen, all have an “electronic toilet,” complete with a warmed seat and a bunch of buttons attached to the seat that do god knows what (and what could they possibly do? How complicated is it to, well, you know?). All of them also have what I like to call a Kimchi Machine, which isn’t a machine at all, but a refrigerator independent from the main one where kimchi and other fermented vegetables are kept cool throughout the year. These refrigerators are actually almost as big as main refrigerators, and they need to be as Koreans eat kimchi every day, all year long, and it needs to be maintained at a certain temperature in order to stay fresh and still be able to ferment.

Anyway, after an hour of tutoring Dahee insisted we take a break. Her friend Sunae peeled some fruit, apples and Korean melon, while Dahee prepared some Korean coffee (which, despite being “instant,” was the best coffee I’ve ever tasted!). I got to experience more of the “real Korea” when Dahee’s father came home after a long day at work. “Pang a wuh yo, (nice to meet you),” I said to him. He mumbled something in Korean and did not seem too happy to see me. Then, after he retired to his bedroom, Dahee explained that he was a little drunk. Her mom remained quiet. Ah, yes, once again, the “real Korea”: two young intelligent girls being tutored and a rich drunk Korean father returning home from work. I have a feeling this scene is being repeated all over Seoul tonight.

I was about to go to Starbucks to take advantage of the free internet service when Dahee and Sunae invited me to a real Korean bar—a jumac. This was unlike any bar in the States, and the differences were intriguing and humbling. First of all, like every other eatery or bar in Seoul, as soon as you sit down the waiter places a variety of banchan (side dishes) on the table. In New York city the side dishes alone would be $15.00, but here in Seoul they are expected the moment you sit down and they are free. One of the side dishes were hard-boiled quail eggs….yes, you read that right—they were quail eggs! [Please see the photos of the quail eggs and the jumac, as well as Dahee and Sunae, and me outside the jumac]. I suddenly felt like Anthony Bourdain in the TV show No Reservations…there I was holding an small egg, trying my best to peel it (I couldn’t do it; Dahee had to help). And you know what? Quail eggs taste just like chicken eggs…the exact same. Apparently, all bird eggs taste pretty much the same! For dinner Dahee ordered kimchibuchimgae, otherwise known as Korean Pizza. This delicious red-colored pancake, a combination of rice flower and chopped kimchi fried in oil, is so delicious. One of my favorite former students, Minyoung, had made it for me in America back in March, and I loved it then and I still love it. The best part of the meal was the rice wine, known as doodooju. It is served in a wooden bowl and a wooden ladle is used to pour it into small bowls, and then you drink from the bowls. You may think that rice wine sounds strange. But this is what I love about traveling to another country and experiencing the food…Rice wine is just rice fermented in water, and it tastes delicious—sweet, starchy, and alcoholic. It may sound strange but of course who am I to say that fermenting rise is a bad thing—Italians ferment grapes, and that isn’t any more or less strange than rice wine. Koreans, like Italians (and Americans, and Spaniards, etc.) are simply taking a local staple and making alcohol with it. Western wine is relatively uncommon here in Korea, but who needs it? Doodooju is just as good and trust me, the alcoholic content does the trick.

What struck me most while eating with Sunae and Dahee were three things: First, Koreans, unlike Americans, rarely drink without eating. In other words, you’d be hard-pressed to find a Korean in a bar just sipping a cocktail or beer. Alcohol is but one part of the overall meal, and it is consumed along with many side dishes of delicious food all over this country on a nightly basis. Second, once again I was amazed at the convivial nature of my dinner with my students; Koreans simply love to get together with frinds, new and old, and drink and eat and talk. It’s sort of their national pastime, and it puts the American tradition of “getting drunk” to shame. Finally, and this is most important…In Korea the drinking age is 20. But there is not an underage drinking problem here at all. That’s because, much like in Europe, alcohol is not treated as a taboo, unavailable to minors and then binged on by those above 21. Actually, it is considered part of the overall food and drink culture, and people below 20 just eat and when they get to 20 they start to include alcohol…it’s that simple. It goes to show you that allowing ‘young people’ wide access to alcohol is not the problem; the problem, actually, is the American culture, which sends a message to people that alcohol under 21 is evil but alcohol over 21 is perfectly acceptable. This sort of perverse message is what leads to a nation of alcoholics and underage drinkers. It has less to d with law than it does with American society’s sick zealous faith in law. I remember going into a bar on Tate Street in Greensboro, and ordering a beer. The bartender demanded that I show her my ID. I protested; “why are you being so strict?” I asked. “You should be thankful that I am trying to obey the law,” she replied. Uh, no lady…it is people like you, enforcing strict and ridiculous laws that are the problem….the problem is in the way one handles and treats alcohol, not in the precise age one consumes it. A 19 year old casually drinking a beer with friends is of less danger to society than a 40 year old getting wasted alone. So the law doesn’t make responsible drinkers…it’s the way the society treats the alcohol that makes the difference.

I returned back to Sangdo station and sat in a bar writing in my novel and this blog, and watching parts of the Yankees game (they lost) because the bar, like most places in Seoul, has free internet access. I ordered a pitcher of beer for about $10 but could hardly finish a third of it. Rather than let it go to waste, I gave it to some Korean patrons at the table next to me. When I said “ma she lay,” they looked confused. Only now do I realize why they looked confused…I told them “have some food,” when I should have said “have some drink” (mo goo lay). Oh well, I hope they enjoyed the beer just the same.