Monday, October 19, 2009

Hocktober Fest

Last night was a very nice night for sleeping. Yes, because of the soothing sounds of the falling rain, but more so because the rainstorm successfully kept the disgusting Korean men indoors. Now that the hot and humid weather is gone, we can leave our window open for some fresh air while we sleep. But with that fresh air comes the noises of the city. Most annoying of these noises is the constant sound of Korean men who clear their throats as loudly and disgustingly as possible and then spit. Although this topic will more than certainly seal the deal as far as my mom not coming to visit me (she hates spitters), the subject still seems blogworthy.

We live near a very nice park which is inhabited by people at all hours of the night and day (imo, Seoul is second only to Vegas when it comes to cities that truly don't sleep). When the window is open, I typically get woken up by noises a few times every night, but nothing is as disturbing as the loogy hockers. It truly is an epidemic in Korea. For a country that seems so germophobic (i.e. masks on their faces, hand sanitizer every ten feet, quarantining people who travel) they certainly don't share the western world's negative viewpoint towards spitting.

Every Korean seems guilty of spitting. I've even seen well dressed women spitting in the subway. But the main culprits are definitely Korean men. They do it everywhere and as loudly as they feel necessary. It's repulsive. My morning walk to the train station is often spent dodging the loogies from the previous night. Sometimes I make the same noise out my window because it is so gross, but I doubt my mocking them from a third story window is going to change the disgusting countrywide habit. Anyway, I digress.

Kelly and I went to a bar in Itaewon (Sam Ryan's) to watch the taped Badger game yesterday. They lost :( but we had a good breakfast and met some nice people. The Canadian woman who works part-time at my school was there with some friends... random.

We both went to restaurants today with our respective co-workers. It is always interesting to hear what inappropriate question or comment they will make next. But the food was great. I had traditional Korean. Lots of different dishes and some very good fish (although I'm still not good at removing little bones with chopsticks, not sure how they do it!). It is also not easy for me to sit on a one square foot pillow on the ground for over an hour. I don't know how these old ajummas do it! I could barely walk out when we all said our goodbyes. Kelly and her co-workers went to a shabu-shabu restaurant, which is one of her favs! I think of Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation" when he says, "what kind of restaurant makes you cook your own food?" But I do really like it too.

2 comments:

  1. I may still visit... but I'll wear boots.

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  2. Wait, you lived with Giz twice! The constant belching must be more disgusting than spitting, right?

    ReplyDelete