Experiencing the charisma of African American culture last
weekend inspired us to take advantage of the NY melting pot and re-discover our
own historical heritages. Naturally, for
me, that meant for our third challenge: taking Salty for some Stone Pot Bibimbop and Karaoke, complete
with our own private dancing anime performance (don’t ask) while we sang. Yes, you guessed it, I’m Korean.
If I had to say my favorite things about Korea in a
snapshot: a) great food b) karaoke (and obvi KPop…hold the applause) and c)
great food (but this time at 4 in the morning at a 24 hour restaurant after a
night out on the town). Now, I decided to ease Salty into her first true Korean
experience and stick with taking her to one of my favorite restaurants in the
heart of NYC’s Ktown (called Wonjo) and then hit up a couple of good hours karaoke-ing (at a
place called Gagopa…which means I want to go. And yes my friends, I always want
to go karaoke so if you ever need anyone to sing duets with, I am your woman).
I wasn’t sure what to expect in how Salty took it…and we also had our second
special cameo on this challenge – our old colleague and friend, who worked with
both Salty and I down in Peru for a good 4-5 months while we were still in our
consulting days. We’ll call her “Trooper” since she still came out with us
though she had a 5am flight the next day. Plus, she was a trooper in being our
photographer for the challenge!
So to summarize our week #3 challenge (we got creative with our numbers this time ;))...
…Food: tofu
bibmbop in hot stone pot—loved it, check! And for me a spicy fish stew (Salty even
braved trying kimchi, though she doesn’t love spicy foods)
…Entertainment: never wanting to leave our karaoke room after having way too much fun – check! ( I think “Young, Wild, and Free” was our personal fave, as well as “B!tch” by Meredith Brooks, a true classic. Salty’s raspy voice was perfect for an awesome rendition of Jack Johnson and Wiz Khalifa’s “No Sleep” (the rapping was in particular quite hilarious).
It was a big moment for me to have Salty at the end of the
night thank me for opening a whole new part of the city to her…even saying this
was one of the most fun nights she’s had in NYC! Interestingly enough, for so long, I had kept
my “Korean-ness” somewhat hidden from my mainly Caucasian friends. It wasn’t
until a couple years ago that I started to bring my closest friends with me to
my house or out to local restaurants for Korean meals, threw my last year’s birthday party at a
Korean karaoke bar back in Atlanta, and I even took one of my best friends with
me to Seoul last summer! While Salty and I have known each other at work and
had traveled together, I must say this was a great way to build even greater
memories and get to understand our own perspectives a bit better. And what’s
even more amazing is how perfect this city is to have these “cultural
revelations” in…all cultures are welcome, all people can find their “corner” of
the city…then it just makes it that much more special when you get the chance
to invite your friends to experience it with you. Thanks Salty, thanks Trooper
for caring and loving one of my favorite parts of the city with me.
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