#Drinking in Korea

[mayonezli]

[ecoharbor]

📍Bucheon Lake Botanic Park, Gilju-ro, Wonmi-gu, Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea 🇰🇷

[krkrkrkrkrk1113]

on a calm hot day

[hooned]

just a liiiiiittle bit 😉

[youjustdontunderstandmymusic]

dong-seok ma

[lupusmaxima]

2023/09/25

finally got a chance to pass by korea town to pick up ingredients for tteokbokki and found a drink that i loved in high school!

i’ve also got a new pair of headphones coming in soon. super excited 😊

[alchemro]

I NEED to go to HamHamPangPang and obtain the grandpa mcflurry NOW!!!

[squishsquishy]

>> seoul.southkorea

[dropthedemiurge]

Hi dropthedemiurge,

I am one of your new followers who stumbled onto your blog thanks to your metas for Love for Love's Sake. Thank you so much for them, the cultural and linguistic explanations add another layer to already well crafted show and I would definitely be sorry to miss them.

Talking of cultural differences, there is a thing I noticed in several kdramas and always wanted to find its meaning and didn't know who to ask. Maybe you would know?

When characters are drinking (alcohol) together, after toasting one another, they turn sideways to drink. Is there a cultural reason or meaning to this turn? Where I am from (Europe), we just chug it facing each other, no turning away.

Thank you in advance for answering me!

Hey! You're very welcome (I am also so happy to meet so many new people who are interested in discussing shows and Korean language/culture after Love for Love's Sake), and yes, I absolutely do know what you're talking about!!

Turning away after toasting to drink is truly a cultural thing! It has a lot to do with social & age hierarchy that is very crucial to Korean culture (or tbh, to many Asian countries). At the table you follow some specific rules, for example:

the youngest participant is usually setting the table, grilling the meat and pouring everyone's drinks

if you're drinking with someone older/higher than you, you turn away to drink (which is what you asked about, only the younger ones do it! out of politeness!)

to be polite, you hold the glass/bottle with two hands (or one hand supports your other arm); this is also very typical in grocery stores or anywhere where you need to give someone your bank card/cash/etc

the oldest one usually says toasts (like, the final one, but it depends on the gathering tbh)

Koreans also have a fascinating culture for company drinking and drinking games, I'll just show you a good video that talks about all these cultural differences during drinking, I think you'll find this video interesting! (the drinking starts in the second half of the video)

If you haven't watched Korean Englishman videos, I highly recommend you to! They are really great for showing all those interesting details (and they are also from Europe so you might feel relatable with their reactions :D)

And I'll just post screenshots with some of the rules that they pointed out if you don't have time to watch the video:

Tbh, if you're a foreigner and come to Korea to drink with students, like I did, no one would be scandalized or offended if you don't follow these rules but it's very interesting to exchange your drinking culture internationally and try out new things because Koreans are fascinated when you know some small things that are ingrained in their culture.

Fun fact, my drinking culture (Russian) sometimes clashes with Korean because they pour alcohol to each other mid-air and we shouldn't ever do it :D Also out of habit, I made all my Korean and foreign friends say reasons/speeches for toasts every time we drank because this is what I'm used to and they found it fun xD

Anyway, go watch the video! It's a lot of fun :] And I hope I satisfied your curiosity, now you'll watch dramas and think about this:DD

[pizza-kity]

Hmm.... I'll pass on the drinking mayo for today....

[iamacolor]

maybe because you keep insisting he goes out with you to drink alcohol even though he doesn't like it and has said so multiple times?

[bratkook]

.

[rogerdeakinsdp]

oh no i spent an hour watching instagram reels and now i feel horrible again 😭 and like even worse than i would normally feel after an hour on instagram. people don't actually live like that, they don't all have perfect skin and perfect hair and perfect bodies and perfect houses, right???? i'm not completely doomed and hopeless, right?????? right?????? RIGHT????

[btsbs]

.

[nb-mothman]

☆ south korea ☆ 9/12-9/18 ☆

[thedalatribune]

© Paolo Dala

My First Night in Korea (2024)

With just one hour of sleep for the whole day and after attending 4 lectures... I ended the first day of my first work trip abroad with a night cap at this local pub.

Because why not? Haha... I totally deserved this.