JOURNAL: The Sexual Habits of Koreans

Tonight I had a rather enlightening experience. I spent the day in Itaewon at the used bookstore, and then proceeded to a park where people like to hang out. It is near a university, and serves as Seoul's theatre district. There were some very bizarre fringe theatre posters, to say the least. It is the first area in Seoul where I have seen open homosexuality displayed. Koreans tend to take the same position as the U.S. Military on such issues.

Generally speaking, I do not see flagrant displays of P.D.A. (public displays of affection), but I do see couples who are suspiciously close. Actually, Korean couples are very cute without being unbearable. Public kissing is strictly frowned upon, but there are definately some hand-holders (this is also common among friends of the same gender- both male and female), and cuddling going on. I think it is awesome how the young men shelter the young women; I wish American men were that sweet. A middle-aged man once shared his umbrella with me when my (second!) umbrella had broken, and I found it very charming.

I wondered if and where the young couples went to "make out".....and other such activities. Many live in multi-generational houses, and in Seoul, there is no privacy. I know about the sex motels, of course, but there aren't actually that many in Seoul proper. Well, tonight I found out.

A male friend and I decided we were going to go watch a DVD at a "DVD Bong." We went up five flights of stairs and into a reception room. There was a young man up there, who was apparently well-known by my friend. He greeted my friend, but momentarily froze when he saw me. He then mysteriously dashed out of the room. I looked at my friend, and he looked back at me, rather puzzled. The clerk returned, and was all smiles. I saw a chair, but did not sit down, as there was a huge heart pillow occupying the red velvet seat. We browsed through the DVD collection, which included everything from children's movies to a rather suspiciously large collection of pornography. We chose KINSEY, a movie I had not seen yet, and it turned out to be an ironic choice in many ways.

We were escorted into a tiny room, just big enough for a reclined love seat/bed and a rather large t.v. The clerk busily sprayed copious amounts of alcohol over all the furniture, then left. The loves seat was made of sparkly fuzzy white material, but the entire thing was covered in clear plastic vinyl. There was an end table with a large Kleenex box on it (Kleenex is a rarity in Korea), and, rather oddly, a hook with a hanger on the wall. The walls were painted black, and a discreet red curtain covered the window. All of this, added together, suddenly made me realize what sort of activity usually went on here. My friend looked at me and explained the vinyl and Kleenex were for "easy clean-up." Oh.

My friend is a perfect gentleman, so I was not concerned on that account, but it was amusing in a strange way, to be watching KINSEY in a room I am sure Alfred Kinsey would have been intrigued by. After an intellectual discussion (post movie) about whether Kinsey was a drug addict or not, we left. As soon as we emerged, our clerk was in there with his bottle of alcohol.

It was a very strange experience.