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www.groovekorea.com / January 2015 88 Edited by Jenny Na (jenny@groovekorea.com) COmmuNITy Coming home Kim’s bar in Guri anchors the local expat community Story by Elaine Ramirez / Photos by Andrew Faulk T housands of miles away from home, we all want somewhere to belong. In Guri, a bedroom suburb east of Seoul, the expats have one such place: a bar called Bottoms Up. There’s noth- ing special on the menu — French fries, nachos, Tuesday special chicken wings — and the drink list fits on a blackboard, but the success of a bar is not about the menu or the drinks, says Eddie Robinson, a former Guri resident. It’s about the people who run it. Kim Dong-woo, the bar’s owner, loves his wife, his family and his neighbors. He loves meeting up on his off days, like any good Ko- rean, for a few bottles of soju. Most of all, he loves to share the niches of his hometown so that every expat can feel at home. It is with this jovial attitude that every Sun- day evening, he invites anyone and everyone to dine and drink with him at his favorite local eateries. The is the pinnacle of Guri life. On the surface, Guri is not much different from other medium-sized Korean cities. Be- yond Seoul’s city limits, skyscrapers give way to quiet farmland and forestry and suburbs blend together in the sprawl. High-rise apart- ment buildings tower near the fish market where seafood comes in 24 hours a day. Near Doldari, a namesake stone bridge marking the center of town, old ladies sell their wares in the traditional market that takes up an entire city block. Brothels hide in a quiet edge of the mar- ket, near the older buildings clustered together further south. Like the city itself, Guri’s expat community is unpretentious: There are no book clubs, no rugby leagues. Several expat-formed bands have come and gone, and Moon Blues, the local music bar where they use d to play, has fallen off the radar of newer arrivals. People eat together, drink together, play pool on wing night and take the odd weekend trip to the green riversides of Gangwon Province. But what makes Guri special is a congenial atmosphere that has allowed people to forge instant bonds and build lasting friendships. Most foreigners come to Guri alone and can relate to each other in that way, so nine out of 10 times they will go out of their way to have you come hang out, even if you are a complete stranger, says Rob Schlueter, a Ca- nadian who lived in Guri for three years. “You end up spending a lot of time with the friends you make, probably five times more than you would at home. Because of this, you make a very strong bond that is unforgettable.” It is this welcoming spirit permeates Kim’s bar and has made it a hub of expat life. ExpAT ENCLAvES Expat Enclaves offers a snapshot of the communities that expats in Korea call home. — Ed.
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