Let’s Table that.

Picture this. You’re watching your Kdrama and the camera pans to the kitchen. There it is, with all the modern conveniences Including a refrigerator, a stove, a rice cooker, even a dining table. Now it’s time to eat. Does anyone sit at the table? No, they don’t. They adjourn to the living room, place the food on a very low table, sit either cross legged or kneel and commence to eat. No one seems to have any trouble getting down, or more importantly, getting up. Even Korean grandparents can do it!

For this American grandma, this is a conundrum on several levels. First, why does the low table take priority over the kitchen table? I do understand having snacks there. We do that in America. Second, how did the low table come to have a place in Korean households? Third, how do Korean people my age remain so spry?

Here is the answer to my first and second questions…and a few more musings on the subject. Before the Joseon period, both high and low tables were used. Later, when the ondol system of underground heating was adopted, Koreans moved to low tables to be closer to their heat source. This trend had become universally accepted in Korea until more recently when restaurants started using tables and chairs instead of low tables. Why?

The answer I found is interesting. Koreans have gone the way of many other cultures and become more youth centered with many people staying single longer. Low tables are for groups. Regular height ones can hold one or two people, and a solitary diner can sit at one more comfortably. I wonder if this is another example of what I call The Western Culture Creep.

The answer to my third question-the one about Koreans being so spry-is impossible to answer. The only way to answer this is to ask a Korean senior citizen outright. To be continued…