House warming party...

We threw a much overdue and expected party on Saturday night. It was overdue in the main, due to the focus and pressure of getting the plant approved to the quality system for automotive products. It was expected, as it seems to be Korean tradition, that as soon as you move into a new place, it has to be blessed with Soju and Mecju. We have the same traditions back in the UK, but there is never pressure to make sure it happens. The pressure is subtle, with comments from your work colleagues such as “are you having a party then?” Subtle as a brick!

Anyway, we relented and decided we would throw one after the approval. We thought about how we would pick some foody stuff with European slants along with Korean traditions etc etc, then thought to hell with it, lets get the caterers in! We used a local company who our neighbours used on their party back in November. They offered menu A-D with varying types and quantity of foods, hot and cold. We were told they would come into the apartment, set up all the tables, linen, supply all plates, utensils, tables and cutlery etc. They then came back the next day and cleared up after you, including disposal of all food remains and rubbish etc. All we had to do was scrape the plates into a bag, and chuck away the wooden chop-sticks etc. Easy!

We ordered a suitable menu, exchanged a few dishes for ones we liked the look of, and named the day. Bear in mind we booked the caterer only 3 days in advance of the do itself, something that would not have been possible back in UK – these things usually take weeks of notice! Come the day, the van turns up, and I get a call from the guys in the van – “we are at the apartment, can you let us in please” In they come, and start to beaver away. 4 trellis tables, a bit like wallpaper pasting tables are set up by the big picture window, which are then dressed with linen and wrapped with a valance. On these are set up hot Ban-Marie’s for the hot food items, and next to these, big sliver platters crammed with the cold items. 6 smaller version tables, about coffee table height, are placed in the middle of the floor. These get the linen treatment too, and are the traditional Korean dining tables, where they sit on the floor and eat. I considered sitting on the floor too, but decided that my back would not allow me to get back up after a prolonged period of cross-legging it. The sofa would do fine for me.

6:30, and all was prepared. The door bell rang, and a couple of plants arrived – not just a small potted plant, oh-no! This was a tree! In a pot! It had a Korean banner on it, which I learned later said, “From the company COO - be lucky!” The other plant was a rubber tree affair, which was a little smaller. We just had to wait on our guests arriving. Again, in the UK, no-one ever turns up on time. How surprised were we to find the door bell ringing away at dead on 7:00pm. Apart from the plants, we found out it is Korean tradition that a typical house warming gift is either boxes of clothes detergent, tissues or toilet roll! We now have enough tissue to fight the world’s cases of swine flu, and wipe it’s bum too.

The typical thing when you invite the work colleagues is that they generally come alone. I had to specifically ask them to bring their families along with them. Several were taken aback by this suggestion, but brought them nonetheless. Food was tucked into straight away, and the women and children went into our spare room, where we had set up a table especially for the children with lots of brightly coloured E numbered foods and pizza slices. We bought 4 lar-gee size pizzas from our local pizza guy, as we thought the kids would like these. It turned out that most of the guys tucked into it as well!

Food was well underway, and much Soju was being consumed with Mecju chasers. A couple of bottle of white wine were on hand for the ladies. Following traditions, the Soju was poured by the person next to the drinker, and then the drinker poured the servers drink. No-one ever pours their own drink here while in formal gatherings. We had the I-pod on the go, playing through the TV for background noise, and at about 8:00pm, the requests came in. Not for music of a certain genre, or favourite track – Oh-no, they wanted to watch the footie on the TV! In particular, they wanted to watch Man U play Arsenal in the premier league. Who was I to deny them watching one of their sporting hero’s Kim JiSung playing for Manchester united. Korean’s are footie daft! Once the game was over, it was back to normality? I-Pod tinkling away in background, and clinking of many Soju bottles, it was time for the Korean bachelors club to turn on the charm with our invited USA English teachers Gena and Samantha. These girls met up with Sue on a girls night out a couple of weeks ago who were friends with our Canadian neighbours. It was only right Sue should have a couple of girls who she could relate to on the night. It got a bit confusing who was actually trying to chat who up, as I guess the girls get a lot of attention in Korea, and are used to playing them back at their own game. Some of the chat up lines were very familiar, such as I have money, or property, and I am a good catch yadda-yadda! But one line did make me smile! “I have insurance!” piped up one guy, who is already married. I pointed out his wedding band on his finger, and this was quickly removed with him muttering to me “oh – mistake!” He didn’t get very far anyway, as the girls were switched on and bounced them all back.
Our COO joined us for the party, and seemed to have a good time. He left around 11:00pm, and said his farewells. After he left, all the other Korean guys were making moves to leave, but I told them it was too early, and they all sat back down again. It turns out that parties held at homes, don’t go on for very long, and they all tend to leave early – they were about to get a bit of European culture this time. They all looked at each other, something was said about all the available Soju on offer, and sat back down again. The party went on for about another hour or so, then they all started to make moves. I didn’t try to stop them a second time. Our Western friends stayed on to party for about another hour or so, then headed of, as some children were ready for bed. We tidied up a bit, then hit the sack ourselves. It wasn’t through too much drink, but rather the fact that it was all over, and we had gotten ourselves hyped up for the party.

We are looking forward to the next party!