This was the second
time that I have been abroad for the Fourth of July, the first time was four
years ago when I was in Greece. My family has never really had a tradition when
it comes to Independence Day; usually I just go with the flow and end up
watching the sky catch on fire from a random hill in the east bay. So I am not
one to get particularly homesick over missing the Fourth. But since we were in
a foreign country we were all feeling about as patriotic as a group of
Political Science enthusiasts could feel, so we figured we should do something
special to celebrate. Professor McCuan decided to take us to a restaurant that
he had gone to the week prior with the president and the dean of Jeju National
University. Professor McCuan also
invited Ko and insisted that he had to join us for dinner because it was the
Fourth of July. Ko had no idea of the significance of the date and was probably
wondering why the insane American professor kept raving about a random day in
July. Unfortunately Ko could not attend the dinner because is infant daughter
had developed a fever, we were sad that he could not attend but of course
understood.
We took a pair of taxis down to the restaurant, as we drove
into Jeju City it was apparent that we were not going to the main downtown
area. Rather we were in a less dense and obviously more traditional area of the
city filled with Korean restaurants and traditional Korean bars. There area was clear of the usual droves of
high school students that convene around downtown.
Like the area around it the restaurant itself was also quiet
and traditional. It was decorated with traditional Korean calligraphy which
hung above the clean wooden floors. In the corner was entrance to the kitchen
which framed by photos of the cuts of raw meat that the restaurant had to
offer. When you don’t speak the local language menus with photos on them are
your best friend. The owner with her popeye-like forearms sat down at our
table, since we had made reservations the side dishes were already set up for us
and the coals were already heating up the barbeque on the table in front of us.
To the right of our table there was a long dining room filled with Korean
businessmen but hidden from view by opaque screens.
Again we ate barbequed pork but this time we switched up the
second course to include mouthwateringly savory beef. After each bite I was engulfed
in carnivorous ecstasy, sending me into a Dionysian-like intoxication driven by
my palate being overwhelmed with the taste of the supple flesh of young bovine.
Okay I am exaggerating, slightly. Saying the food was delicious over and over again
is dull. During the meal I began to noticed something; the owner was giving 85%
of her attention to one side of the table, the side table that happened to be
all male. She waited on us hand and foot;
getting us forks, replenishing our drinks, replacing side dishes and helping us
build our lettuce wraps. Erica and Holly received decent service but anywhere
near the same amount of service we received. Our hostess actually took beef
from Holly and Erica’s barbeque and gave it to us, I felt bad for this beef thievery
by proxy.
When we finished up our meal the hostess thanked us in order
of our hierarchical seniority, first Professor McCuan then Ethan then me and
then a brief nod to Holly and Erica. It was an interesting cultural experience,
it was the first time that I really noticed the hierarchy that I had read about
prior to visiting Korea. I think that it
is more relaxed in the youth culture or perhaps just not as obvious to
foreigners. I think in America we still have a similar hierarchy which is much
more passively “enforced” than the Koreans. This is a completely anecdotal
account though so I don’t really want to make sweeping generalizations about
the culture of Korea based on a single dining experience. I do think it will be
interesting for me to compare the role of women in Korea and Sweden. They seem
to be polar opposites, Korean culture encourages gender roles whereas Sweden
actively tries to destroy any accidental socialization of gender stereo types
and has gone as far as creating a gender neutral pronoun for a person.
Maybe after a year in Sweden I will be ready to make sweeping generalizations
about gender based solely on observations.
Very interesting!
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