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(This is not my fridge, Mom, I swear!)

If you didn’t know, Koreans are considered the Asian Irish.  It wasn’t until I went to Ireland in 2000 then to Korea in 2001 that I realized how much this statement is true.

Sure, we like to drink like the Irish.  But after careful examination, (and reading an article from londonkoreanlinks.net—who knew?), I realize there are even more similarities.  Koreans, like the Irish, are:

1. Among the most religious populations in their part of the world with a comparatively high rate of regular church goers.
2. Very family oriented and take sides along clans quite readily.
3. Frequently extended families gather regardless of members’ ages to share being together, often taking turns entertaining each other by singing songs.
4. Compared to their neighbors, they wear their hearts on their sleeves.
5. Quick to fight and quick to forgive.
6. Famous (or infamous) for their drinking habits.
7. Less regarded for planning and better known for forming successful if chaotic teams at the last minute.
8. Have a healthy disregard for authority, but will at least superficially show and demand honor and respect as tradition dictates.
9. Often ask strangers about their hometowns due to regional stereotyping.
10. Quick to laugh and quick to cry — as well as to break out into song and verse.
11. Known and respected beyond their borders for their music and ability to entertain beyond the language barriers.
12. The nation is divided as a result of foreign powers intervention.
13. Well regarded for their sense of humor and playing of pranks while have little use for the person who cannot laugh at him or herself.
14. Nation was colonized by its island neighbor and forced to speak the language of its oppressor.
15. People were traumatized by the colonial experience and it has taken decades to psychologically recover — with a collective behavior of being a bit edgy, nervous and inhibited at times compared to that of their neighbors.
16. In recent times their Diaspora has somewhat reversed for the first time due to the nation’s rapidly developing economy.

(Direct excerpt from the article, “Are Koreans Really The Irish of the Orient?”)

My favorites on the list are number 7 and number 10…I love how we Koreans procrastinate but then pull it together at the last minute, and how along with our quickness to laugh or cry, we also are known to just “break out in song.”  Noraebang, anyone?  (FYI, that’s “karaoke” in Korean).

I never considered myself a “good” Korean growing up.  I didn’t speak the language, I barely understood it, (unless of course my parents were talking trash about me), and I didn’t especially like all the exotic Korean dishes like the three thousand different types of kimchi.  (Hey, the Irish like cabbage too!)  But as I get older, I realize…well, I’m still not much of a good Korean, but I’d like to be!  I’ll be traveling to Korea for the second time in the fall to visit my grandmother who will be turning 100.  (This woman is a rock.  On her eightieth birthday she beat everyone down (and up!) the Grand Canyon!)  I’m bringing the s.o. this time and I’m excited what he’s going to think about Korea.  I have many cousins who are about my same age and the last time I visited, they showed me a taste of the crazy Korean nightlife.  It was there that I realized how well (or not so well) Koreans can drink.  At four a.m. in the morning, we would exit a still fully packed underground bar only to arrive on the red-faced filled streets of Seoul where Pojang machas (temporary tents with food and liquor) await the drunk.  Every night, whether it’s the hot summer or the freezing winter, Pojang machas appear for late night party people and disappear before the morning rush hour.  Nothing like a hot bowl of noodles to ward off a morning hangover!   I’ve been to Paris and I’ve been to New York,  but after going to Korea, I’d have to say that Seoul is really the city that never sleeps!

So to live in Los Angeles, where the largest population of Koreans live outside of Korea, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to get back to my roots.  K-town is a hop, skip, and a jump away from me, and any chance I get I’ll look for an excuse to forget my locavore aspirations and eat some charred Angus kalbi!  I’ve tried over a dozen famous and not-so-famous spas, and Korean spas are still my favorite.  (Scrub, anyone?)  Buying produce at Korean supermarkets are cheap and fresh, and my Korean mechanic never over-charges me.  (Or so I think).  If I could sing better, I’d probably engage in some K-town karaoke.

So in honor of St. Patty’s day 2010, I may just have to hit up my favorite Korean barbeque place.  I know, it’s a convoluted excuse to get eat some kalbi, but like I said before…I’m always looking for a reason!

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