25 Years Ago Part III
Sarge suggested we try out the hotel’s restaurant. The service in the Hotel Crown was good. And the food in the restaurant was western style and tasty, though expensive. The hotel also had a night club, a bar and a nice gift shop.
Hotel Crown today.
We finished the meal and Sarge suggested we stay up at least until 8. He said that helped cure jet lag faster. So we decided to explore Itaewon dong. We headed outside and it was cold. The first stupid thing I did was not pack a coat. Buddies said you could buy clothes really cheap, so I did not pack one. Figured I would buy one.
Seoul was having quite a cold winter and the snow could come up to your knees if you walked in the wrong places. The wind bit my flesh and I wished I wore more than a t-shirt and flannel shirt. Fortunately, the shops were about a ¼ mile away.
(If you follow the map on the Itaewon link you can follow the route. We started at 34 Hotel Crown and we visited the shops which would be 32 & 33.)
Sarge pointed out this one establishment and there were dozen of jackets on racks. They were in several different colors and they had hoods. I found a dark blue coat that fit and in five minutes they sewed my name on the front. The back had a dragon embroidered on it and a map of Korea. It noted the location of Seoul. The cost was $20 bucks. I could not believe it. I heard the shopping was cheap and it was true.
From there I went and found a shop with sweat suits. I always remember this place as the young woman that worked there, probably my age, helped me write my name in Korean with Hangul characters. This spelling as well as my English name was sewed on the sweatshirt by the girl’s father. Price was under $10. Still cold so I bought a pair of scarves at a buck a piece. One was brown checkered and I put it on first, while the other was cream color and quite long.
The shopping in Korea reminded me of High School trips to Mexico and bartering and haggling over prices. I enjoyed the action. Until we hit another sweat suit shop and this guy would not budge on any of his prices. Plus he had a pretty smug look on his face. I was actually getting a little pissed, but Sarge pointed out the high quality of goods in this shop and I could not argue with that.
By then we were all ready for a drink so we headed toward the clubs. Itaewon has a number of clubs in the neighborhood, though they are a bit of a walk from our hotel. We crossed a bridge that crosses a culvert in the area. There were working class homes built all along the side. They seemed out of place next to the commercial buildings of Itaewon that tended to be 3 or 4 stories tall. We passed the Hotel Hamilton, which is another hotel that American soldiers could use. It was an older facility, but some GIs preferred it because it was closer to the clubs. The area around the clubs had quite a few alley ways. We cut through one of these alley ways on our walk. The clubs were mixed in with what looked like residences. Doors opened on to stairways. There were no windows on the street level, but you could see lights shine out of higher levels. Some had open windows and occasionally you saw a child watching the street.
Hotel Hamilton today
It looks better than I recall
Then we hit the main drag. Brightly hung signs sought to attract customers and they definitely were targeted at Americans. All of the signs were written in Englsih. We went to the biggest club, the King Club, and walked up the wrought iron exterior stairs that led to the front door. Opened the door and the place was not packed, but not exactly empty either. It was a Thursday evening and some couples danced on the large dance floor. We ordered a trio of OB beers and I had my introduction to Korean beer. It was not bad stuff either. Koreans learned how to make beers from Germans and it tasted better than American beer.
(If you follow the map you can see where we left the shops. There was no McDonalds or Burger King then. I cannot identify where the culvert is. We turned right at the present location of Burger King. That black line is the alley we took. I’m surprised the King Club is still there and the Hotel Hamilton for that matter. The alley north of the King club is the one that goes up Hooker Hill)
We downed out beers and decided to walk a bit more. Just around the corner we hit an uphill alley with more residences. Almost all of the residence doors were open and a lot of girls hung out on the street. That’s when Sarge informed us that this was VD Hill also known as Hooker Hill. We walked up the hill with all the prostitutes. And they were not shy and demure, despite being bundled for the cold weather. You could hear them call out from all around.
“Hey GI. You want to love me.”
“Come here. I think you are cherry boy. Me fixie.”
“You come my room. I makey you very happy.”
“Hey you buy me a drink.”
I smiled like a damn fool as these pretty girls tried to lure me in. But in the back of my mind I remembered Sarge calling this VD Hill. You don’t get names like this for no reason. He elaborated that this area got its name because more girls slipped around the health check ups than those that worked closer to the clubs. So there was a better chance of catching the clap here. Just as an aside, we had not even heard of HIV or AIDS at this time.
We decided to turn around and head back down the hill. We’d seen enough. Then this cute little thang grabs my new scarf and pulls it off. I thought what is she doing? But I still have that silly grin on my face. So I ask her to give it back.
She smiles back, “No. I want you love me. Whats you name.”
I’m thinking this bitch is got to have some kind of disease. I don’t want any part of her. So I pull on my scarf and what is happening is I am reeling in my scarf and the girl too just like a fish.
Now she’s in my face and she is hugging me, while maintaining a firm grip on that scarf. She says, “I know you love me. Come on we go have fun.”
Course I am getting angrier. But she is cute too, long black hair, short in height, very clear complexion and bright cat eyes. But bottom line I was not interested in her. Did not want her or any other girl on that hill. So I yanked my scarf and pulled it free. Then I wrapped it around me and headed down the hill with my buddies. They were pretty amused.
This girl chased me. She grabbed the scarf and now she has a pair of girl friends besides her. Her friends were calling me number fucking 10, 10 being the worst number to describe a person as in Korean culture. And I must of looked real funny too. I had this scarf wrapped around me with this little girl holding on for dear life. I walked down the hill dragging her like a sled over the snow. Sarge and the Spec 5 are busting a gut at my expense. I am wondering the whole time. Why don’t they get some of this aggravation? It’s like I had a sign over my head. Single. Lots of money. Stupid.
Finally reached the bottom of the hill and the girl gave up on me. Went back to her friends. We decided one more beer and then back to the hotel. I think the establishment we went to was the New York Club. Mind is foggy on this, but for the purposes of this story it will be referred to as such. This became my favorite bar in Itaewon. For it is here that I met the Kim sisters and Miss Jin. More about them in Part IV.
(The New York Club is located right across the street from the King club close to the alley.)
