Uncle! Uncle!... Drinking in Korea

When I was growing up in the U.S., during my grade school years we sometimes would wrestle or play fight. To end the match, you would say, "Say 'uncle'! Come on, say it!"

Finally the other person would give in and say 'uncle' and the match would be over. Since I've been in Korea, I've learned a new form of submitting to people and it is to my actual uncles. Not sure if people know, but Korea has a very strong drinking culture. Some people drink 4 or 5 times a week, maybe more. Definitely alcoholism is a social problem this nation has not come to recognize or willing to admit.

Anyway, at the heart of this is my family. Even people in Korea see my father and uncles as extreme. First, most of them are about six feet tall, so they have the mass that helps in alcohol tolerance. Second, they all have livers that process alcohol very efficiently. Third, they've had years of practice. My first initiation into this was a few months into my move to Korea. At a family gathering, one of my seven uncles motioned to pour me a drink. It was a regular alcohol glass which he proceeded to fill it to the brim. I took a glup and put it back down.

"What's that?!", he lightly shouted, "You have to one shot!"

"Umm... ok."

I shot down the Ballantine 30yrs., one of their favorite whiskeys, and he quickly filled my glass again... definitely glad it wasn't tequila or vodka. Soon after my second one shot of whiskey, I reached for the ice since it was almost melted away in my glass.

"What are you doing? Don't waste space with that. Just drink.", my uncle sternly stated.

I realized that I was in trouble. Being from the same gene pool, I had a good tolerance. On a good night and after a full meal, I could drink a bottle of whiskey without getting drunk, but this was another level. Within a hour and a half, I drank almost five full glasses of whiskey. Feeling warm and fuzzy, I decided to leave before being humbled by men thirty to forty years my senior.

"Umm... Dad, I have to go and meet friends. And seventh uncle made my drink a lot."

"It's ok. Just take a taxi," my dad casually replied.

One of my cousins who is a native Koreans and near forty told me that he tried to explain to his colleagues at his company how our family drinks, but no one would believe him. Another cousin who is also near forty told me how he visted from the U.S. about fifteen years ago. He was a few years out of school and visiting Korea for vacation. Being in a fraternity and known as a big drinker on campus, he thought that it would be no problem hanging with the uncles. After the the first twenty minutes and three glasses of whiskey, he told me that he came to the realization that they were insane and he was in trouble.

Now during family gatherings, I try to sit far and away from the drinking. I also strategically try to place a few nephews and nieces in between to shield and protect myself.