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How To Have Dinner With a Monk In KoreaJul 20 '06 (Updated Jul 24 '06) Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line Dining with a Buddhist monk is an experience not to be missed. Just eat all your rice. First, be invited. There are places where you can pay to have a monastery style meal, but somehow that doesn’t seem like it would feel very authentic. It rings too much of Amish style restaurants and Disney World or assuming that you know what Korean food is like because you’ve had it in Kansas. No, I think your best bet is to be invited to a real monastery. That requires a little searching, though they’re labeled with what Westerners think of as the swastika so when you see it, it stands out. The best ones, in my opinion, are the ones tucked into mountain valleys. We happen to have a standing invitation to dine at the Hani Temple on In Wang Mountain. All we have to do it turn up at mealtime and they’ll feed us. We’re pretty sure it has something to do with the dogs. The Hani Temple has 3 dogs all of whom loved us on sight and bark at everybody else. If you are unable to acquire an invitation on your own (or even find the temple), I suggest that you find an ELS teacher. Korea is lousy with us and many of us have a scoop. We got an invitation for a Korean girl who had never been invited herself. The best places to find ESL teachers are in Itaewon or by walking into an English school and inquiring. Patience is required for both options because in Iteawon you’ll encounter lots of military types and in English schools, aka hagwons, the secretary probably doesn’t speak English and you might have to wait for a class break. Also in the hagwons you will encounter students wanting to practice their English. Be patient and be nice, they’re students. In my school you’d be mobbed by children who are just as likely to say hello and giggle as they are to attempt conversation. Once you have secured your invitation, arrive reasonably on time. Buddhists believe in not having desires, this means they work at not expecting anything. If they don’t expect anything, they don’t start dinner until you arrive. So don’t arrive starving. Dress neatly, but comfortably because you will be sitting on the floor. And make sure you wear slip on shoes because you will have to remove them at the door. When we have had dinner at the temple we have spent the first 20 minutes to a half an hour visiting with the monks. The monks at our temple do not speak fluent English, but as part of the Confucian tradition, they are willing to learn. This will again require patience as the conversation screeches to a halt while the monk takes notes. You should also recall to address the monk as monk, "sue-nim" in Korean. Even if you are given a name, you should always add monk to it. Basically you have to say John Smith, monk when every you say the monk’s name. Dinner is served at a traditional low table and you are seated on the floor. Koreans don’t tend to eat much off an individual plate, but instead eat from many small plates that are shared with other diners. You will be given a small plate of your own and you will also be given a bowl of rice. At our first meal, I counted 30 small dishes of various foods, not counting our personal bowls of rice. When we went with friends we were served 5 larger platters (12 inch dinner plate size), a tureen of soup, and a dozen or so smaller dishes. You are welcome to sample anything you like, but you must eat what you take. It is a major faux pas to leave food on your plate. You also must eat all your rice. Every grain. They may even give you some hot water to swish around in the bowl so you can get every last molecule. Also, try not to leave your chopsticks or spoon on your plate. It’s considered rude though it’s nowhere near as bad as not eating all your rice. The food is really, really good and you might want to skip the rice in favor of sampling all the other wonderful treats laid out before you. Don’t do it. Eat your rice. Every bit. The last time we had dinner at the temple was Buddha’s birthday. It wasn’t a sit down thing because it was sort of a church social, but my husband had been invited to play guitar and they asked if we ate beebimbap. I said yes and regretted it because the kitchen women immediately prepared these huge bowls of beebimbap for us. I’ve mixed cakes in smaller bowls than these. I doggedly set to work, intent on finishing every last bit. Forty-five minutes, 4 cups of rice, additional mushrooms, greens, unidentifiables and a rain shower later, I did. Then it revisted me (and my husband who cleaned his plate too) for about 3 days. We began to refer to it as Colon Drain-O and swore that it was cleaning impure thoughts from our minds. After dinner (when you aren’t attending a church social) there will be tea and fruit. I didn’t know this the first time we visited, but it’s ok to spit out seeds. I was chewing them up and swallowing them. There’s also more conversation, stilted as it is. Tea is a very slow process. It’s unbelievably hot when it arrives, so take your time. Most often we have been served cinnamon tea and it is, pardon the pun, divine. When you leave you will bow to your host. To do this correctly, place your hands palms together in the center of your chest and bow. You don’t have to go for a perfect right angle, but make it a nice deep bow. The monk will then bow back. Don’t bow again. The monk should always bow last and if you bow again the monk will have to bow again and pretty soon the 2 of you will look like those drinking birds. We’ve had tea with the monks repeatedly and eaten dinner there formally twice and informally once. Before our first visit we stopped in at the information office of the Jongseya Temple for tips. Mostly they told us not to worry and enjoy ourselves. The monks have no desires so they aren’t expecting you to behave beyond eating all your rice. My Other Korea Reviews: What Shots Do I Need? Safety Seoul Local Customs 1 Local Customs 2 Yongsan Market Jonggak Station  |
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