Blurring lines between day, night

Shoppers including foreign tourists throng the main alley in the trendy district of Myeong-dong at 10 p.m. Thursday.
/ Korea Times photos by Bae So-young, Choi Hyun-soo

By Kim Ji-soo, Choi Hyun-soo

Seoul would be at loss if it weren't for its dynamism. One of the world's most wired cities, it is home to 10 million Koreans. As the holiday season kicks in, the city is flowing with visitors hoping to experience what that famous dynamism is all about.

Ten p.m. in Seoul to a lot of people means work, turning that work into entertainment in some cases. It's a time when the day's grind does not come to an end, but continues.

Driving the coffee machine

For Sarah Yu, 23, who works at a small coffee shop in Jamwon-dong, 10 p.m. is a busy and tiring hour. She works from 2 to 11 p.m., five days a week.
"It's when I get ready to close down, tending to the cash register, cleaning up and even taking orders," Yu says. She works alone during the shift.
She says the customers coming in at 10 p.m. are sometimes drunk.
"They look tired, usually," says Yu ― just like she is by that time, which prompts her to provide better service.

Keeping guard at apartments

Won Gwang-gyo, a security guard at an apartment complex in Bundang, Gyeonggi Province, works a 24-hour shift. For Won, 50, 10 p.m. is a time to observe. "I see people getting home from work, or going out for a walk," he says. For me, 10 p.m. is the starting time for work, but for others it's when they call it a day."
He got the guard job after retiring from a construction company. Won felt he needed to do something to make a living. "The pay is not bad for me, and it's better than doing nothing at home," he says.
"Of course it is physically challenging staying overnight alone. But the duty itself makes me stay awake. Also, the work shifts are flexible, so that I don't feel left out.
"The toughest time is after 1 a.m. Besides that, the work is fine for me."

Deejaying, working with music

For DJ Juan, 22, 10 p.m. is when he starts to get working.
"For me, 10 p.m. is like 9 a.m. for others; it's when I start work. It only took couple months getting used to this pattern," said the DJ who is in his third year as a disc jockey at Club Syndrome in Sinsa-dong, Seoul.
Having played baseball before shifting to being a DJ he said his current job allows him to "simultaneously work and release stress."
Working through the night means he doesn't have the luxury of personal free time and faces difficulty in socializing. "Those who engage in late-night professions tend to meet their counterparts, or those who stay late at night for other purposes, at least."
Lee Su-yeon, a 23-year-old bar manager at CLUB MOVE in Itaewon, has been working in different clubs around Itaewon and Hongik University area since graduating high school.
"I get to meet new people who could have relations to what I do outside the work, interior design, and so I often make friends at work," she said. "Personally, I hate people looking at female workers in the club with stereotypes." More specifically, she said, "People sometimes think we are easy, or cold-hearted so they are not friendly to us."
Lee said she would continue to work in club-related occupations as long as possible. "My main incomes comes from here," she said.

Managing the bar

Lee Su-yeon is a 23-year-old bar manager at CLUB MOVE in Itaewon.
She has been working in different clubs around Itaewon and Hongik University area since graduating high school.
"I get to meet new people who could have relations to what I do outside the work, interior design," she said.
The downside?
"Personally, I hate people looking at female workers in the club with stereotypes," she said. More specifically, people tend to think the female workers are either "easy" or on the other hand unfriendly.
Lee said she would continue to work in club-related occupations as long as possible. "My main incomes comes from here," she said.

Working at 2nd job at ‘pojangmacha'
Choo Sang-wook, 50, is a part-time worker for Bbaldae Pocha, a cart bar in Gangnam. "From 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. is when the cart bar is the busiest," Choo says. "Crowds ordering drinks and dishes in a loud and chaotic scene, when we have to literally run," Choo has been working for the past three months, and the cart is his second job. He works during the day as a game-machine producer.
"I usually sleep four hours after work to get ready for my other job." He says. He says night work for people like him can be a real challenge.
But there are upsides. "Looking at young people laughing and feeling stress-free, or older people talking loudly and recalling their past days, of course with drinks, I can see the society has changed to provide more entertainment and relief these days," Choo says.
"Seeing the sunrise after work makes me feel somewhat accomplished and proud."

With dreams on steering wheel

Park Sang-jun, 45, a taxi driver in Seoul, drives 12 hours a day from 5 p.m. through 2 a.m.
"Ten p.m. for us means the start of peak time. We have the most customers and therefore the most income from 10 p.m. through 2 a.m.," said Park. He has been driving a taxi for the past three years.
Working through the peak hours means he has to deal with drunk customers.
"Sometimes, they vomit in the taxi. Some cause a ruckus, while others pass out. Those days mean not much business," Park said. He started to drive a taxi after going through various jobs including as a salaried worker and running a PC-room.
"Among those jobs, driving a taxi is way down the ladder in terms of status," said Park. For him, the worst kind of customers are "Those who try to pick a fight, usually under the influence of alcohol."
Newly married, Park however holds on. After three years with no accidents, he will be qualified to drive his own taxi, and not work for a company.
"That's the goal and what makes us taxi drivers who work for a company keep on driving," Park said.