Blind Date

Korean Brother had a blind date today. Like apparently so many such dates in Korea, this one was arranged through extended family connections. Any hopes he had though of keeping the date low-key evaporated when the girl expressed the wish to meet in a hotel coffee shop, as opposed to a coffee shop elsewhere. The cultural significance of this difference was lost on me, but it seems to be the case that hotel coffee shops are seen as being a more formal environment where a meeting between two members of the opposite sex can perhaps seem more businesslike. My initial thought as a Westerner though on hearing the proposed venue, was that she was potentially planning ahead in a quite forward fashion... my mistake.

There could be little doubt however with respect to her desire to bring her sister along as a chaperone, which while not unheard of here was perhaps a little unusual, and certainly beyond Korean Brother's experience; he was left scrambling around to put a more formal outfit together before going off to a spa to get thoroughly cleaned up.

He called by at our apartment after the date, yet again mysteriously arriving just before a scheduled pizza delivery - perhaps he's not the only member of the family who's psychic. Now I'm told he's a very fashionable guy, but the long-tailed jacket, mismatched suit trouser fusion undertaker-pop-star look solicited an unintended 'oh my God' from me when I opened the door. Still, it doesn't seem to have had the same effect on the girl, as apparently the date was reasonably satisfactory despite the chaperone loudly slurping her coffee all the way through it.

Oh, and the girl turned up in blue jeans...