Korean in Japan

The program I’m working on is actually a joint venture between a Japanese company and a Korean company. I knew that the two countries weren’t exactly best buddies (a little matter of a couple wars and an occupation or two), but I didn’t really realize how close to enemies they really are. Let’s just say that I’d rather be an American here than a Korean. At least the stares I get are curious and friendly.

So a representative from the Korean company has been here for the past month and his time in exile is up today. To celebrate, he took us all to dinner last night at his favorite Korean restaurant in the city. Sadly enough, to an uncultured gaijin, the food wasn’t that different. It was marked only by it’s lack of fish and generous sprinkling of habanero peppers over almost everything.

What was rather interesting was that the Korean section of town is apparently the red light district. Walking back to the car was an educational experience. I didn’t realize you could make a skirt out of that little material. And women in kimono in the pictures always seem very prim and proper. However, it is possible to look anything but prim and proper in a kimono. I don’t know how she did it, but she did.

The funniest part was that one of the Americans had told his wife he would call at 10pm. We were late getting out of the restaurant, so 10pm came and went while he was strolling down the street. I’m not sure what excuse was given for the late phone call, or what (if any) resemblance it bore to the truth. I offered to call his wife and vouch for him (“all he did was look, honest! He couldn’t do more because I was hanging on his arm the entire time to protect him”), but he declined the offer for some reason.