Jason Jang

Tonight I went for a walk just me and my mp3 player.  I noticed a lot of things.

I noticed the high volume of school kids coming home from school.  Mostly in small groups.  It was late.  Much later then by standards back home.  Back home I’d be home by 4 to catch the barrage of old reruns you can catch between 4 and 6 like Fresh Prince of Bel Air.

These kids get home for the 11 O’clock news.  If they have that here.  I stop in at a video arcade.  Only had 10 bills, and a 5 bill, and the machien only took single 1’s.  Dammit.  So I made due with what I had in my pock.  I had 400 Won, which is like 40 cents.  But what’s awesome about these arcades is that the games only cost like 20 cents each.  Back home, that really bitchin new game is always a dollar to play.  Here it’s 40 cents.  I got in 4 games of Metal Slug.

I noticed I was the only non-school boy in the place.  There was this group huddled around the Dj game I always see.  I’ve tried it a few times back home, and just wondered how the fuck anyone could possibly be good at a game this difficult.  It also seemed totally unrelated to DJ-ing too.  But these kids were fucking ripping through game.  It was incredible.

I noticed the four machines at the back.  I’ve seen these particular machines at the movie theatre too.  They’re Karaoke roomes.  But tiny little rooms.  They’d only fit maybe 3 or 4 Jason’s, and even then u’d have trouble sitting.  But there’s a little screen, 2 mics, loud speakers, and a book-list of all these songs.

I noticed 3 of 4 of the machines were currently in use by these kids.

I noticed how Korea doesn’t have front porches.  Back home, people can sit on their front porches, eat peanuts, sip on beers, and shoot the shit with the neighbour til it’s time to put the kids to sleep and watch late night TV till you fall asleep on the couch, waiting for your spouse to come home late from work.  Here they don’t have front porches.
Imagine that back home, that my parent’s store sold beer.  And provided cups for people who bought pitcher-bottles.  And provided plastic chairs and tables out in front of the store.  And even a TV when the world cup games are on.  And hell, even my dad would go out sometimes and invite Perry from next door at ‘Hairfix’ to have a coffee and talk soccer before the hustle and bustle of the day that is following, but which soon will be present.

(I’ve been getting my haircut from Hairfix since I was 4.  I once fell asleep on the chair, but was sitting on a planke of wood laid across the arm rests.  I scared the shit out of Lisa, who still works there, because she thought I fainted.  Dina was a lady who used to work there too.  She was nice.  She was greek and made good greek food.  She used to use phonebooks instead of the plank of wood.  The Plank of wood was always way more comfortable.)

Anyways, so imagine all those things in the front of my store, and you get what 50% of the corner stores provide in Korea.  Multiply 0.50 by the number of stores in Korea, and you get a lot of stores.  And sometimes at the stores you see soem people drinking beer and eating snacks.  Hell, I’ve done it before.  It’s a blast.
I noticed on my walk, I’d fine toys, and kick-scooters occasionally strewn about the sidewalk in front of an establishment who’s owners had kids.  Because naturally these kids would come home from school and go to the business.  They don’t run home.  The bus drops them off at the business.  And they play in front of the store.  Sometimes with the child from next door at the Galbi Restaurant.

I noticed that Korean’s don’t have front porches.  They have sidewalks.