Dr. Fish

Time is certainly relative; I’ve been here in Korea for five weeks now. Slightly over a month has gone by and, already, I feel as though I have assimilated into the culture with ease. I’ve learned to read Hangul (the written form of Korean), I can navigate the bus and subway system with ease, I can order food and a beer, I can eat food and drink a beer, I have made a countless number of new friends and yet, everyday still is packed with new adventures.

Life in Sangju is far from what I would consider a city lifestyle. It is a little more relaxed than the fast paced life of a Seoulite, however, it still contains the necessary requirements to be fun and exciting. There are plenty of people, enough restaurants to keep a man full and a 24 hour public transportation system. Although, some things that make Korea such a cultural hotspot can only be experienced in the cities.

This particular experience occurred in a part of Incheon called the Art Center, accompanied by Steve and Ferrin. However, don’t let the name Art Center fool you; it’s as much of a city as Greenwich Village is a city. It is here a café called Dr. Fish exists. Upon entering Dr. Fish, the first appearance is of a very normal coffee shop. Some people sat at tables, others sat on couches, all sipping their vanilla lattes or lavender teas. What makes Dr. Fish different from a hometown coffee shop is the ‘fish’ in Dr. Fish. No, we did not eat fish or consume them in any form. In fact, they kind of ate us.

At the rear of the shop is a fish tank sunken into the floor. Inside, dozens of small fish, the size of my index finger, swim about looking hungry for human flesh. What we did next what quite new to me. Steve, Ferrin and I removed our shoes and, on the count of 3, placed our feet firmly at the bottom of the tank and let the fish, how shall I say, have at us. The fish began to nip at our feet with great fervor. At first, I couldn’t keep my feet in the tank for more than a few seconds or nips…whichever came first. However, after getting used to the feeling, I was able to allow up to 20 fish to simultaneously bite my feet.

I don’t want to give any wrong impressions here. The ‘bites’ or ‘nips’ tickled more than anything, but because it was such a new, interesting and extremely strange feeling, it was slightly uncomfortable. After 15 minutes of hysterical laughing and a few zen like trances, we removed our feet from the tank, replaced our shoes and left Dr. Fish. I will say, due to the 15 minutes of constant tension in our legs from the strange feeling of fish, afterwards we all felt very relaxed and mellow.

I would absolutely do it again, it was a lot of fun. The laughter from the faces made during the nip session made it all well worth the 2000 won it cost to have the experience. Plus, the Korean’s watching us seemed to love our crazy expressions and uncomfortable faces. It was total enjoyment for all.

This is a squid who has only a few more hours to live. Poor guy. You're fried.