An Evening In A Korean Pub
In Praise of Rainy Season
Rainy season in Korea spans from the end of June to the end of July. Seoul becomes hot and sticky and, to put it frankly, miserable. Flooding and landslides are common.
For me, rainy season was ushered in one Sunday evening. My friends and I met for a picnic by the river and ended up trapped under a pavilion for a downpour. Storm clouds blanketed Namsan Tower until it wasn’t visible. Fifteen minutes later, the rain eased up, and we walked along the river together under our umbrellas.
On hot nights when the clouds that constantly hover decide to break open, you want to find yourself is a traditional pub for a Korean pancake and rounds of makgeolli.
Korean pancakes are savory. I like the kimchi ones the most, but the chive pancakes are also a crowd favorite. It’s a tradition to eat them on rainy days with makgeolli (Korean rice wine) because a pancake sizzling in the pan sounds like rain falling to the earth.
Any good meal in Korea is one where you share it. Army stew and a pancake for the table. Someone passes around bowls and cutlery. Someone picks up the ladle. Someone else pours the makgeolli into its traditional drinking bowls. You could spend a whole night like this, a whole life.
The wisps of my hair frizz and curl in the humidity. The waiter smiles when I call him over and ask for water in Korean. At 3 a.m. when many of the bars have closed, folks head over to these restaurants. They’re packed with people ordering beer and soju and makgeolli. French fries and jjapaguri. We’re laughing. We think we’ve spotted a celebrity. We order more food. Trade our beer for makgeolli.
You could spend a whole night like this, and we do. The heat of summer finally breaks, and we walk home as the sun rises: Slow and satisfied with ourselves. Rare for the middle of July, we have a blue-and-white patchwork sky.
Diana Richtman is a writer and ESL teacher living in Seoul, South Korea. Originally from Savannah, Georgia in the United States, Diana writes at the intersection of home and life abroad. Subscribe to The Long Way Home and Brooklyn to Seoul to read more from her.