For a married woman, I think about dating a lot, enough so that my husband probably should be worried, but he isn’t, because he knows having an affair would require me to shave my legs more frequently than I’ve grown accustomed to. Still, I like to keep my finger on the pulse of the singles scene, and readers of this blog will note that I frequently write about dating in posts such as There’s an App for That, and Remind Me Not to Date Taylor Swift, and, most disturbingly, In Praise of Dating Your Dad. So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across this event, to be held in South Korea on Christmas Eve. From an article in the New Straits Times:
Tens of thousands of lovelorn South Koreans are set to take part in a “battle of the singles” on Christmas Eve — a mass dating event triggered by an innocuous query posted on Facebook last month.
The rules of “the battle” are simple.
Women must dress in red and men in white and all gather at the park, which sits on an island in the Han River that bisects the capital.
The two groups will stand facing each other a few metres apart until the event starts at 3:00pm (0600 GMT) — then run towards a potential date and grab his or her hands.
This woman knows she’ll improve her chances of getting a date by showing up with a present.
The article goes on to mention that South Korea has one of the lowest fertility rates (1.2 births per 1,000 women. To put that in perspective, the U.S. rate, which is no great shakes either, is almost double that), and I’m wondering if one of the reasons why South Korean men and women can’t seem to get together is that they think that running full tilt at a member of the opposite sex in a public park is a most excellent method of choosing a life partner.
I’m also worried about the fact that the event requires men to wear white and women wear red–is that really necessary? Would we be unable to differentiate the sexes without color coding? How embarrassing would that be if you charged across the park, letting out a frenzied war whoop all the way (at least, that’s what I imagine they’ll do), and then wound up tightly gripping the hand of a member of the same sex? That’s not going to help improve that fertility rate any.
Anyway, how will you be spending your Christmas Eve?
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Tagged: battle of the singles, Christmas, South Korea, why Facebook sucks
Well you forget that some might want to grip the hands of the same sex.
I did realize that! I guess if you’re a South Korean lesbian, you’ll show up on Christmas Eve and try to trip all the women dressed in red as they race across the park?
Dammit, I bet I’ll get a lot of lesbian hate mail now for that remark . . .(I’m only joking, lesbians!)
Well.. I have to admit, any of the tactics I’ve tried haven’t found me a ‘mate’ so far – so I might start just tackling passers-by in the park. Maybe. Would probably be good training for Warrior Dash.
I know, this has got to work as well as eharmony, right?
Better, I’d say
Love reading your posts, it’s keeps me laughing
Aw, thanks
Santa better be careful if he plans on making a stop in South Korea; his red outfit could be misinterpreted…
Yes, Santa had better rethink his choice of outfits, unless he wants to a whole mess of horny South Korean men chasing him.
On Christmas Eve, dressed in red with my hubby in white, we are going to stand on opposite sides of the main hall in Grand Central and then run to each other through the swarms people, you know, to spice up date night. I was planning this even before I read your post
I actually did LOL at this comment.
The Korean thing actually sounds like a very attractive system. Presumably the colour coding is to ease the process further. I like it
Yeah, I think it’s an idea that perhaps appeals more to men than to women. You can read about how the whole thing turned out here: Battle of the Singles Flooded by Men.
To get more women to attend, they should have let ladies drink for free, or waived the cover charge, or something . . .