tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post122286965314711222..comments2024-03-26T03:31:06.199-04:00Comments on Ask a Korean!: Taxonomy of Korean Drinking PlacesT.K. (Ask a Korean!)http://www.blogger.com/profile/07663422474464557214noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-67527844876978231312015-04-14T04:13:15.407-04:002015-04-14T04:13:15.407-04:00While hiking around Seoul on a weekend I have hike...While hiking around Seoul on a weekend I have hiked to the top of the hill and saw old women selling soju and snacks (it was not later than 09:30 in the morning by then) and actually lots of people were purchasing these items and sit and rest under the trees looking at the view. My utter surprise at this caused me to stop and stare and I guess the rudeness was forgiven due to my being an obvious tourist since one of these ajumma and ajusshi groups started talking to me and as soon as they realised they have actually been to my home country they very nicely invited me in and we conversed without understanding eachother and them consuming soju like it was vitamin water or something. I have provided their entertainment that morning and we parted amiably but I keep thinking how these old couples wearing hi tech and probably expensive hiking gear (poles and all) were all sitting there enjoying soju and snacks on a hike in the MORNING! And no one else saw anything weird in that. Korea rocks! eliza bennethttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01997101330508195099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-36405856.post-55812723238743298672015-04-13T16:56:30.442-04:002015-04-13T16:56:30.442-04:00Aren't room salons primarily for Koreans only?...Aren't room salons primarily for Koreans only? I've been told this is not the type of entertainment typically available for foreign guests unless it's a special circumstance, or your with the right people and you went to the right place. I know in some room salons they even have a different price structure for the escalated level of entertainment for Koreans (700,000 won) vs. non-Koreans (900,000 won). To me room salons have always been one of those things Koreans in general prefer not to talk about with non-Koreans, sort of like eating dog meat. We all know it's prevalent and its nothing unusual to Korean men, but we just prefer to keep that one to ourselves. Also, by calling it a "straight-up, dirty-old-men" establishment, isn't that casting judgement? Plenty of young men (is late 20s / early 30s considered old?) frequent these places for "work reasons". And don't feel bad for them working girls either. One told me she clears about $150,000 USD net annually! I'm sure she's on the far extreme but $150K in a country where the avg income is about $35K is nothing to sneeze at, especially if you don't have any dependents. <br /><br />I'm trying hard not to view the world as a right or wrong world, but rather a same or different world.Peter the Eagles Fanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06992502970689519100noreply@blogger.com