Korean Barbecue

I think I know how a lot of white people feel when they go to a Chinese restaurant for the first time now. During our stay in Jamaica Queens, we went over to Flushing to go to a Korean Barbecue place she had heard of via the internet. After some stressful 45 minute traffic through what GPS said was a 5 minute, as well as an eye opening drive through Downtown Jamaica Queens (It so happened I went to High school with someone from that neighborhood, and despite numerous discussions of it seeing such a long street of Fancy store next to old country type kiosks for block after block after block was definitely educational. I think I recalled him saying that this area was much bigger than Boston's Downtown. Well it definitely was much much much bigger and crowded and full of commerce than Downtown Boston ever was, because it's an empty shell now. Many residents, like my friend, are immigrants from Jamaica, but the name, like Jamaica Plain, is actually from a Native American language and is coincidence.) That neighborhood would have been an interesting stop but it was not our destination. We got to the Korean town and were equally as in awe.
But we couldn't find parking. So we ended up going to the restaurant across the street from the internet suggested place because they had free parking with the restaurant.
Now every Korean that I have ever met, either through school or in Massachusetts, usually spoke English and spoke it well. Also, most Boston Chinese restaurants have people that speak at least restaurant English. And I suppose, if they don't speak English well enough the conversation goes into Chinese and honestly it has come to a point where I sometimes forget how much English a person understands, because if I have had a conversation with them in Chinese I... well in a weird way I have managed to get the languages merged into a thought so that I get all that mixed up.

Anyway, I don't know any Korean, and was having trouble understanding the accented English. I ended up understanding what was said, long after the conversation had taken place, plus I was doing the wrong things. I wasn't sure when to do what, or how, or whether this bowl of liquid was soup or sauce.. or whatever. And when Grace tried to ask, one of the servers actually started to speak to her in Mandarin. And I it was only then that I understood that the cold liquid was a type of soup. So basically the whole experience was loads of fun. It was really something new as well as tasty. The place wasn't very crowded, and the kids just kept plying with their Christmas cars they brought with them and were also entertained by the charcoal and flames at the table anyway. Plus any noise they made was drowned out by the very drunk very loud middle aged Korean woman behind us yelling at her Caucasian companion about this or that. It was great. Expensive, but when will we get to do that again? Probably not for a couple years.
The meal ended with some sort of rice drink which we tried to buy a version of at H mart. Similar but not as good as the restaurant version.
Oh well.