Korean Job Discussion Forums

[citizen erased]

Someone asked me today if I had ever gone "booking." I had no idea what it was. I think she said that it like a room salon but not as serious. Women are brought to a mans drinking room and they exchange cell phone numbers if they like each other. But then she said she thinks women are basically held hostage there and arent allowed to leave the place.

This is the first time Ive heard of this kind of thing since Ive been here. What exactly is it?

[blaseblasphemener]

It's a nightclub where you pay too much to sit at a table and drink, while the bar staff drag women over to your table so you can try and pick them up. You tip the staff and they keep the women coming. Keep in mind as whitey, unless you can speak Korean, the women will be gone as soon as the bar staff turns his head. Lame.

[ldh2222]

[Dome Vans]

Men who pay for women to spend time with them are sad, sad people. Thing is there's an industry for it, so there's plenty of sad, sad men!

[blaseblasphemener]

[Bibbitybop]

Want to spend 200,000 won per person to drink and talk to random, paid women? Good for you, go to a booking club.

[jackson7]

Oh c'mon...it's not THAT bad. Most of the time, the best dancing (if that's your thing Swayze) can be had at nightclubs, and booking comes with the cover. I go to a few prominent ones with my Korean buddies and these days we spend more time dancing than booking, but the 60,000 fee for the lot of us doesn't exactly break the bank. We usually end up spending around 25-30,000 after we order a few extra beers.

Also, the girls are not paid (unless they're dancing on stage), and if they are, good for us for getting free "service." I should mention I do speak Korean, but in the past we have pulled some numbers, subsequent meetings, and even a few one-nighters out of the clubs. These days when we go I enjoy the booking because I have a girlfriend and mention it right of the bat. It's interesting how much more friendly and talkative the girls become (usually)...often about their boyfriends as well. Makes me wonder about the Korean dating (cheating) culture. Would they have mentioned that if I hadn't first...and how many of the girls I have hung out with as more than just buddies had a "real" boyfriend?

[RJjr]

[Atavistic]

[zai]

i actually had my booking club experience recently and it was interesting. kind of like a circus/cattle market. seeing all those girls being dragged by the waiters brought a chuckle out of me. so after this experience i decided to look into this sub-culture a bit more.

after asking locals and some cousins i've come to a few insights. what it basically is a system for locals to meet complete strangers. if you notice the "western" bars here, while they somewhat look like bars back in the west, the atmosphere isn't the same. back in the states you can just walk up to people and start talking to them and have a good time. there's a whole culture in the states of picking people up at bars. you don't have that here. i was told if girls are interested in foreigners they just hang out at itaewon (which is kind of a alternate universe here in seoul).

but booking seems to be pertained to the local culture. if do look at seoul society, you don't even smile at people as they walk by you. you dont say "excuse me" when you bump into them. they're pretty much cold people to complete strangers. if they do know you they're you're best friend. as a foreigner it's hard to be fully integrated into a circle of friends, you'll always be known as the foreigner friend.

thus the booking system gives them a way to meet complete strangers and even get in there one-night stands. now booking clubs are different from room salons, the girls in booking clubs are not obligated to anything. my cousin tells me her and her friends just go so they can party for free (thus how some of the girls love to talk about their boyfriends).

the normal way for guys to meet girls is through circles of friends and relatives (you always here of an aunt trying to set some guy up, or vise versa). it is really rare of a person meeting a complete stranger and then they start going out etc. that's movie stuff basically.

and if you're paying 200,000 won for a night at a booking club, i think you might of went to a room salon instead. i only paid 80,000 and we had 3 bottles of whiskey and a crap load of beer. i walked away with an interesting experience and had on opportunity to practice my korean in a loud environment. even got a few phone numbers. and this was from one of the best nights in gangnam. but then again my friend was close with one of the waiters so we got hooked up. if you noticed one thing about seoul, it really is about who you know.

[zai]

i didn't proofread, so there a bunch of typos. too lazy to fix any of it. it's a sunday afternoon after all.

[cdninkorea]

I brought up "booking clubs" with my adult students yesterday, who all claimed ignorance on what they are. Most of them are women, from young to middle aged. A few men in the group too. When I explained what they are some of them seemed to know what I was talking about, but it seemed to make them uncomfortable (maybe I'm reading something into the situation that wasn't there though).

Are booking clubs something Koreans are ashamed of, or is it an accepted part of the culture?

[Scaggs]

[Cohiba]

[nomad-ish]