my mission, for purposes of television, is to ingratiate myself with a group of total strangers. insinuate myself into their lives. observe, what they call, and please excuse my painful pronunciation, hwe-shik. it s an expression combining the concepts of company and meal. in korean business culture, this would be a regular thing. a one-night corporate retreat, if you will. which is how i ended up at my appointment with the fates. a barbecue joint popular with the salary man. anthony: yeah, who is everybody here? daniel: noh, mister noh. ok. daniel: mister huh. anthony: huh. anthony: tony. daniel: tony. anthony: i think they like me. daniel: do you drink soju? anthony: i do. daniel: okay, excellent. anthony: soju.
. fest. i ve gotten the poor thing killed like twelve times already today. so, i think i m going to hang it up. all right, i m ready for some food. psymon: in korea, it s like the food delivery system is really good. anthony: really good. psymon: a whole bunch of food, you can just order. dr. pepper, gatorade anthony: you order food while you re psymon: yeah! anthony: while you re playing. psymon: yeah. anthony: pc bang sounds like a male porn star. i know. but this one has a smoking lounge and a well-stocked snack bar. energy drinks seem a popular order. but here in seoul, given that there s an entire strata of professional gamers, more substantial food is, from time to time, required. no problem. anything you want, right to your
[ sound effects ] aw, poor little red riding hood. she s not good. anthony: all right. and if i m shooting something it s, uh, e. aw, no, little red riding hood, you re bleeding out again. oops, didn t make it. i don t see any bad guys. are these friends? oops. oops. back in the old days, before time itself. spending seventeen hours a day at places like this was frowned upon by family. now, gaming has become a respected, and often lucrative, profession in korea.
finish, finish. yes? anthony: yeah. choi: yes? anthony: uh, yes. choi: okay, thank you. anthony: this is a magical dish. choi: wow. anthony: so, most people are not sentimental about their time in the military, why do this? i mean, military service. everybody serves in the military, right? translator: yeah, it s mandatory in korea. anthony: all right, well. choi: happy? anthony: very happy. choi: wow, good. translator: you want the recipe about this? anthony: i got the recipe now.
don t eat this all the time. but i guess this country makes you feel like if you can t eat this, then you re not korean! kind of thing. anthony: where were you born? marc: i was born in new york. anthony: you were born in new york? marc: yes. anthony: and were there til marc: til roughly twenty-one. i grew up on the streets, grew up in new york city. it was automatically, you re a chink. wait a minute chink is, isn t that supposed to be chinese? i m korean. and that s where the whole number one korean comes fr. hey, i m kean and i m proud to be korean. anthony: marc is what s called gyopo. meaning korean who s lived abroad. as things get better and brighter over here, more and more people are, like marc, moving back home for the ever more numerous opportunities. marc: when i came here, it just felt right for me. i was like, i m here! these are my people! it s like, this is what i ve been missing! but i was considered not really korean, i guess, you k