This weekend I finally spent my first night away from my little safe haven of a town, where I now know pretty much every shop on every street, and headed for the bright lights of the big city. I went to visit an ex-student of mine from Guatemala, who has been awarded a scholarship to study for his masters here. This was a friend who I thought I may never see again, so it was nice to be reunited after just a few months. Such a reunion, combined with a couple of birthdays, inevitably led to drink being taken, and led me to today's topic.
On Sunday morning, around 5am, I woke up fully clothed on top of my bed in a "love-motel" in Suwon. This perhaps is not as bad as it sounds. I had chosen to stay there, as they are cheaper than normal hotels, and this one was less seedy and more smart. There was even a guy staying there with his kids; at least I sincerely, sincerely hope they were his kids. Anyway, the reason for my unbecoming state is named soju (소주).
Soju is almost the only Korean spirit. At least it is all I see drunk out here in the country. Just as almost every meal that you eat is served with kimchi in some form or another, so no group of Koreans in a bar or restaurant is without a, or more usually several, bottles of soju. It is a strong rice wine, usually about 20% alcohol by volume and sold by the half litre.
The price is the first indicator that what you're getting into may not be the best for you. A half litre bottle in a grocery store retails for just less than a dollar, which means you're buying more or less a bottle of wine in terms of units for around 60 pence. Go to your nearest store and try to buy a bottle of wine for that. You can't, of course, so buy the cheapest one you can find. Taste it and you'll begin to see what we're dealing with here, and you're drinking wine which costs about four times the price.
In terms of taste, soju is not really too bad. The closest thing I can relate it to is when in one of my much, much younger days I mixed vodka with water. It's not unpleasant, but it is entirely unremarkable. Where it really kicks, or at least it really kicks me, is the following morning. I have hardly drunk the stuff since I have been here, but each time I have it has left me with a disproportionately large hangover. The Sunday morning in question was no different. It left with me with a bastard behind the eyes and a general sense of confusion. Almost exactly what you don't want faced with a four hour bus journey in a country where you lack the ability to construct all but the most basic sentences. I blame soju for the fact that I read my seat number as the platform number at Suwon bus station, thus missing my bus and adding another hour on to an already near unbearable journey.
So, as you may have guessed, I am not the biggest soju fan. I am definitely in the minority here. Soju is everywhere you go. There is even a bottle in the fridge in the teachers' room at my school. Korean socialising simply would not happen without soju. Koreans can be a little awkward (hence the reason I feel fairly at home here) and so it seems to help them a lot if they get drunk. Binge drinking is definitely acceptable here. At the beginning of work dinners that I have been to a huge amount of bottles will be placed on the table and the men start furiously gulping down shots. People are drunk within half an hour, but seemingly having a wonderful time. I get more English spoken to me at teacher dinners than I ever do at the school, so I guess in this way it's a positive thing that everyone's hammered. Anyway, it's quite an interesting cultural difference between here and the UK. Most of the professional events I have been to at least try to seem as if it's not just an excuse for everyone to get shitfaced.
At a personal level I haven't really done that much drinking in Korea. Being out in a quiet town and surrounded by people who don't drink has mostly killed my desire to drink anything. Hence there's been a bottle of wine in my cupboard for almost a month and a bottle of soju in the door of the fridge for just about the whole time I have been here. Previously, this would have been unheard of in one of my residences. Still, I think it does me good - once again weight seems to be dropping off me quite nicely and I feel pretty energetic all week for not boozing the whole time. Could it be I'm growing up? Not if last Saturday is anything to go by.
I think that's about it from me for now. I'll leave you with a few photos courtesy of Quique's Facebook, as my camera is out of action. Until next time...
A
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