by Kevin Burton
More than 2,000 single South Koreans are turning to local government today. to improve their love lives.
It’s called “Romance, Art Night,” a mass blind-date event organized by the city of Seoul, South Korea. This is the second such event. In November the city held “Romance In Han River.” Twenty-seven couples were paired at that event. Those who lasted, if any, are having their first Valentine’s Day together.
Incidentally, I think they mean the event was on the Han River, not in it. That event included yacht tours.
The venue for today’s event is the Hanwha General Insurance office in Hannam-dong in central Seoul, according to Lee Soo-Jung, writing in the Korea Joongang Daily.
Sorry guys, it’s probably too late to arrange to take your best girl to an insurance agency to celebrate the big day today. But there’s always next year.
Now, lest you think I am making light of this event (which given the plus-15-hour time difference between where I live and Seoul, will have already taken place by the time I post this), not so, in fact, to the contrary.
For this humble blogger did take his own personal self, his notebook and his quivering confidence to a speed dating event in 2007, looking for love in an emporium smelling strongly of fish and chips.
Believe it or not, I found it.
For the woman who is now my meticulous proofreader and lovely wife, Jeannette, did also attend said soiree.
Someone more disciplined than I could get a screenplay out of this, for sure. I know I was washing Cupid’s stardust out of my hair for at least five or six days thereafter. I mean it was – poof – instant romance.
With the momentum from that first meeting, it took us a mere five years until we tied the knot.
Now our event was not the same as the one in Seoul. The city of Seoul has done a fair amount of screening for “Romance, Art Night.”
“The Seoul Metropolitan Government would screen applicants’ statements for participation, resident registration, proof of employment and documents proving their marital status,” Soo-Jung wrote “The city authority would also filter out those who have been convicted of sexual crimes based on the Gender Ministry’s electronic database listing sex offenders.”
For our event, we just signed up on a website. Maybe a little scary in retrospect.
“The matchmaking program will feature four sessions: an introductory group session based on artistic preferences, eye gazing experiences, dinner and one-on-one talks,” Soo-Jung wrote. “In the finale, participants should submit their top three preferences for potential matches.”
In our event, the women were seated at a table and the men would rotate from table to table. We had seven minutes to talk to each woman, then a bell would ring and it was time to move on h to the next.
As it turned out, Jeannette was the first one I talked to. She was at table five, which is why years later she got uniform number five when we ran a beep baseball team.
We have joked over the years that Jeannette looked across the table at me and cooed, “Come on, let’s blow this popsicle stand.” That’s a line fit for a screenplay.
At our event people were matched, more or less, by age, as is the case in Seoul.
“By age group, those between 30 and 34 accounted for 40 percent of the total applicants, followed by those in their late 30s at 31 percent. Candidates between 25 and 29 accounted for 17 percent. The remaining 12 percent were between 40 and 45,” Soo-Jung wrote.
This next part, I don’t quite get, but I will pass it along. The article says 2,356 unmarried young men and women signed up for the event, 974 male and 1,382 female. From that group, “50 men and 50 women will be randomly selected if they qualify as eligible candidates — with a residential address in Seoul and an income,” Soo-Jung wrote. “Successful candidates will be notified by the city government individually on Friday.”
The part I don’t get is why this would be random, seeing people have written down preferences for partners.
“An applicant surnamed Park said the occasion felt ‘charming’ as it could be an opportunity to meet potential partners whom the Seoul city government screened. Another candidate, whose last name is Lee, said they ‘look forward to having an in-depth dialogue while appreciating art pieces together,’” Soo-Jung wrote.
“The program has proven popular with unmarried individuals considering the large numbers of applicants,” said Kim Sun-Soon, head of the Women and Family Policy Affairs Office at the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
“Under a shared theme of art, I hope the participants of ‘Romance, Art Night’ can find their partners and wish many find matches,” Sun-Soon added.
To those wishes I add good thoughts from the Burtons. Hey guys and gals, it can happen!
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