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Saturday, November 10, 2012

Korean Night Market / Pojangmacha at Pitt, November 16.


Via this excellent Korean-language travel and photo blog. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to find a decent pojangmacha picture.

Advertised as both the Korean Night Market and Pojangmacha Night, the Korean Culture Association will hold its annual . . . event on November 16th in the William Pitt Union.
11/16/12 10:00pm is the date and time of KCA's annual Pojangmacha Night Market event! Pojangmacha refers to small tented restaurants on wheels, or street stalls in South Korea which sell a variety of popular street foods. It is a popular place to have a snack or drink late into the night. You've probably seen them in dramas where sad Korean girls go and drink their problems away late at night. Well, thank goodness we're not in a drama :P

This year we will be serving Korean night market style foods from your favorite, Oishii Bento! Vegetarian options will also be available. Along with the food, we will also be having games/activities/prizes/FUN and a specially made video from your favorite board!

Invite your friends, family, and anyone that wants to chill and relax with good food and good company.
It will be held on the 5th floor of the William Pitt Union. The Facebook event page says 10:00, while other advertisements say 5:00, 9:00, and 9:30.

The picture atop the page is of pojangmacha (포장마차) lining a street in Busan's Seomyeon neighorhood. Despite the efforts of some municipalities to sweep food vendors off the streets---paradoxically trying to enhance Korea's image while getting rid of what makes it vibrant and charming in the first place---they're a ubiquitous part of Korean night life. Pojangmacha come in several varieties: single tents, several vendors combined into a tent cluster, and canvas awnings attached to a store or under an already-enclosed arcade.

If you understand Korean, or just want to look at some pictures, Youtube has a 2007 KBS documentary in three parts about three days in a Seoul pojangmacha neighborhood, its significance in Korean culture, and the threat these places face by modernity: