Maybe You Should Sit...(In a Café)

This may come as a bit of a surprise, but sometimes life takes an unexpected turn…I got married!

Oh am I ever JUST KIDDING. Korea is home to a lot of eccentricities, among them a wedding dress café. Though it’s become popular with foreigners, Korean girls (and their boyfriends!) visit this café to try on wedding gowns and take endless pictures. This would probably send most American bachelors running for the hills, but Korean boyfriends didn’t (seem to) mind playing photographer. The really good sports even wore tuxedos! The cost of the experience depended on how fancy a dress you selected and for an hour you could take as many pictures as your memory card allowed. In the spirit of doing as many non-American activities as possible, this café was not to be missed.

Tea is much more traditional to Korean culture, but the modern hot beverage is unmistakably coffee. On the busiest of streets, not only will you have the choice between every Korean coffee chain, in some places you can even decide whether to patronize the Paris Baguette on the left or right side of the road. There have got to be at least thirty major coffee chains, but on smaller streets you can find tons of cozy independent shops…and me! The city even touts café showcases for heaven's sake. The number of caffeine-addicted people required to keep all these cafes afloat is a testament to how big Seoul is.

Korea just has a unique café culture. What’s better than to mix my love of coffee and animals? Dog and cat cafés are prevalent. And in an urban setting where dog ownership is pretty limited to small dogs, interaction with big dogs is greatly welcomed. For just an overpriced cup of coffee, you can spend however long you like playing with dogs of all shapes, sizes, colors, ages, and temperaments. You might even get so lucky as to have a Golden Retriever carry your bill to the register. I’ve been to better smelling cafés but it’s more than worth the experience.

Oh and that’s not all. One day we even made the barnyard café round. First to a sheep café which unfortunately was not as interactive as we had hoped. But the afternoon was salvaged at another dog café with a resident pig! Unappealing, say you? Don’t even get Bekah started…pigs are smarter and cleaner than dogs…

And of course the board game and the puzzle cafés. For an economical hourly rate you can play virtually every board game ever created. The only question is…will I kick your butt in the Simpson’s or Star Wars version of Clue?

The themed café possibilities are endless here. Where’s the creativity, America? The Hello Kitty Café is a hit for people who enjoy feeling like they are sitting inside a pink Easter egg. Or the Charlie Brown café for those who prefer their waffles shaped like Snoopy’s head. I’m a big fan of cafes with awkwardly translated names. For example, “Coffee in Dong”…You can never be sure but I believe they were going for “Neighborhood Coffee Shop.” (Coincidentally, dong also means “east” AND is similar to the Korean word for “poop.”)

If coffee isn’t your thing, perhaps I can interest you in a potato party?

Honorable Mentions: book café, airplane café, cheese café, cake-decorating café, palace café.