In a true representation of how rubbish I have been at blogging over the last few weeks this post goes back to something that happened almost three weeks ago.

After meeting the other ‘foreigners’ in my area and going out drinking with them one Saturday night Rob unexpectedly turned up at my door the following Monday (25/09/06 to be exact) asking if I fancied a beer. As he was stood in my doorway it was difficult to say no so I accepted and we headed toward the fried chicken place, which I have discovered, is where they normally drink.

As we walked down the road Rob bumped into a Korean friend of his whom I shall refer to as Mr Kim. If the truth be told I can’t actually remember the guys name but I’m sure Mr Kim is fairly accurate! He invited us to join them and I suddenly found myself sat at a table drinking with Rob and four Koreans (all owners of staff of the various restaurants around the area). Normally having a few beers wouldn’t be such a daunting experience but drinking with Koreans is an art form!

The Koreans drink a lot but have many customs associated with drinking. Before I arrived in Korea a book I was reading called ‘Culture Shock’ offered me this advice:

Drinking is difficult to avoid in Korea and learning the drinking customs is not easy… The expatriate may be baffled the first time he goes drinking with a Korean. There are several well kept rules.”

The book also gave me this information on Korean drinking customs.

* The person of the lower status, or the host of the event will offer a glass to the most honored person.
* If the status or age difference is very great, he will offer a glass with two hands, or support the right hand with the left.
* The person receiving the glass, depending on his status, will also receive it with two hands, or with the right supported by the left.
* Using only one hand when pouring or passing is considered disrespectful.
* The giver then pours the alcohol into the glass held by the receiver.
* One should not add alcohol to a glass that is partially filled or fill ones own glass.
* When filling the glass, it should be done in one pour and should be about 4/5 filled.

As if this alone wasn’t confusing enough the Koreans we were drinking with also said that as you poured alcohol or received alcohol both the poorer and the receiver of the alcohol should place their hand on their stomach!!! And if you are younger than the giver of the alcohol you should turn you head 20 degrees away from them when you drink! The other thing about drinking with Koreans is that as soon as your glass is empty they will top it up again. This makes it very, very easy to drink more than intended!

As if getting used to the drinking customs wasn’t enough neither Rob or myself really speak any Korean and Mr Kim and the other Koreans didn’t speak much English. The conversation was conducted very slowly with lots of rewording sentences and miming what was being said. Luckily Rob and Mr Kim have been friends for a while and despite the language barrier have a pretty good understanding of each other. I however spent most of the night feeling nervous and very confused!

But despite my nerves and confusion it was a fun night. I managed to communicate (on some level) with the other Koreans and I certainly learnt a lot about Korean drinking customs. I must have made a fairly good impression because as we left Mr Kim invited Rob and myself to his wives parents farm to pick vegetables for his restaurant that weekend.

The farm is located on Ganghwa island, this is one of the small islands just off the coast of Korea. There are a number of islands joined to the mainland by bridges (the airport is on an island). This seemed like an amazing opportunity to see some of Korea you could never see as a tourist. So after speaking with Emily we decided it was an offer too good to turn down.

Look out for a future post about the day we went to the Ganghwa island with Mr Kim and his wife.

* Posted by j150vsc on 08/10/2006.