People all over the world have had to adapt their social lives because of the spread of the Corona Virus. We have all been affected by it! Young people, especially university students, have had to change their expectations about how their time in these important years will be spent.
In South Korea, young adults have come up with creative ways to hang out with friends and maintain a fun social life. I got to have a first hand look!
I was assigned a partner through PIEF to go out and explore Pyeongtaek. But I had to adapt our plans when my family was caught in a contact trace for a positive COVID case in our neighborhood. My partner, Juyeon, told me all about online parties and suggested we have one since I was unable to leave my house.
Online parties are one way that university students in South Korea have stayed connected with people who live outside their household. Since bars and restaurants close so much earlier now, they host these parties from the comfort of their homes where they can stay up as late as they want!
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| Birthday props for online parties |
For me and Juyeon’s online party, we both prepared some food. And we both ended up eating kimchi, it was kind of like we were sharing a meal! We talked about our lives and being in our homes made us more comfortable and willing to get to know each other. Juyeon told me about how she had online parties for her last two birthdays and had attended many for her friends. She had some fun props that she had used during those parties!
She then told me about what her friends do to keep online parties lively. They make creative drink concoctions! Let me tell you about the fun and hip drink mixes that the Korean young adults enjoy to keep their spirits high in these lockdown times.
You will want to take 소주 (soju) as your base for all these drinks. Soju is the most popular alcoholic drink in Korea. It is clear and a bit bitter, so adding these sweet mixes make it a tastier beverage.
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| A case of soju you can purchase at any Korean mart |
The first mix is going to be 소주 폴라포(soju and pollopo). Pollopo is the Korean pronunciation of the word purple and is the name of a popular grape flavored ice cream treat. Mixing these two together creates a sweet drink, that is one of Juyeon’s favorites.
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| pollopo ice cream treat |
Next you can try mixing soju with haribro jelly bears and cider. Talk about a festive party drink! The three together make a playful concoction!
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| Haribro jelly bears / cider for your mixing needs! |
Then there is a surprising mix… chocolate milk and soju! Don’t knock it til you try it!
Korean chocolate milk
Finally is a famous mix called 고진감래주 (pronounced Gojin Gamraeju) It is powerful and a bit addictive. To make it you need 3 parts soju, 7 parts beer, and 1 part Coca Cola. Juyoen tells me this one is a bit difficult to make, but go for it if you are up for the challenge.
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| Your classic coca cola! |
Next time you are looking for a creative get together with you overseas friends or your Covid cautious neighbors, try making some of these fun drink mixes at your next online party!
Check out this link for more information about common Korean drink mixes:
https://m.post.naver.com/viewer/postView.naver?volumeNo=22723728&memberNo=40222653&vType=VERTICAL
This article is written by Hadley Holyoak a PIEF Foreign Reporter
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