The moral of the story is, go with that intuition girl. If it feels strange, it probably is. Exactly like the Love Motels with their stark lobbies and their attendants hiding in their opaque glass cages. It was only a matter of days before le Monsieur Aire de Debonaire invited my friend on a tour of his establishment as he matter of factly explained how he could provide the company of any of a number of girls who work for him. As they strolled by all the huts, furtively glancing in the windows, Le Monsieur pointed out his stable, all the while explaining that if any of those girls were appealing, he need simply to indicate his preference, and his choice would be called upon for the purpose of animating a tête a tête or even joining in with a group if so desired! He proudly went on to explain that not only was he the lord of this establishment, but also that he had several similar venues in surrounding towns.

Le Monsieur also mentioned the Singing Rooms, in which there are the legitimate karaoke halls, but there is another genre of Singing Room, for which if you?re invited there, you?re essentially being invited to a sexual rendezvous. The business can be carried out in one of the rooms, with indeed a karaoke screen, music and microphone and a comfortable sofa; but these locales are often the spot for meeting and deciding and making their plans. It is usually the case that arrangements are made to go to a nearby Love Motel to do their business. This gives the ladies a source of income and something to do while their husbands are out running around on them.

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Yes, it is the revenge of the Korean women. It is their version of the sexual revolution, but something suggests to me that it could be more profound. This idea of selling themselves in such a cavalier manner, as with a kind of second job or part-time job just to earn some extra spending money with which to do their shopping. Come Sunday morning, the largest part of them can all be found in church or either worshipping online. These are not professional prostitutes. These are married women supporting their shopping habits! Is it ultimate sexual freedom? Is it a complete rejection of Judeo-Christian Puritanical hang-ups? Or, to the other extreme, does this behavior manifest a complete inner contempt and disregard of oneself, which has led to an ultimate self-objectification? Could it be the unfortunate heritage of an entire generation of women, a kind of branding of their collective unconscious as a result of a plight dealt to them by the Japanese in the history of the Comfort Women, when during World War II, the Japanese military institutionalized sexual slavery on a massive scale, and girls were ripped from their homes and shipped off like military supplies to be of service to the Japanese soldiers.

Is this attitude in some way representative of some sort of values or attitudes towards sexuality that was subconsciously passed down to them from a generation of exploited women? The hypocrisy is so overwhelming that it begs these questions to me.

Adventurous spirit at heart, Mitzi is oginally from the rock and roll music capital, Austin, Texas. She has pushed her way around the globe from an eleven year sejour in Paris to currently teaching in Asia. Although a hopeless Francophile, she can now be found in Saigon, where she is writing and teaching English. For her complete bio, click here.

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