"How to enjoy Korean food" Participation

Do you sing in the shower? Do you ever wish you were Beyonce or Bieber? Well, your wishes will come true in a Korean Karaoke. Singing is not your thing. How about eating. Enjoying Korean food is a bit like singing in Karaoke. You get to participate. Korean BBQ is based in large part on eater-participation. You will be sitting around a heat source, over which one of the various creatively designed Korean BBQ grill/griddle will be sitting. In the traditional sense, BBQs were made on wood charcoal fire. In recent decades, they have mostly evolved into gas heated grills. For certain, in the US market, the majority of Korean BBQ places offer gas grills. In Korea, the more authentic wood charcoal grill places still abound. There is an intermediary form, though. It is called "Yontahn". It is processed coal (the mineral kind), made usually in a cylinder shape with vertical holes in radiating circles. This fuel has claimed many Korean lives. At times, even entire families scummed to carbon monoxide poisoning. Yet, many people in Yontahn generation view the past with nostalgia, creating a niche market for Yontahn BBQs, but I digress. We were talking participation. Yes, you get to cook your own food. Traditionally, Korean BBQs were attended by waiters or waitresses during the entire dinner, cooking, cutting & serving the meat. Restaurants took pride in this type attentive service. Times have changed & cost of labor has gone up; rightly so. For the most part, people's minds have also changed to a more participatory, utilitarian, democratic type of eating. In the western markets, BBQs are initially tended by the waiting staff. Then, once you get the hang of it, they leave the tongue in your trusty charge. They will consistently check & change the BBQ grills. Unchanged, grills can burn on the surface from the caramelization of protein, carbohydrate, and seasoning. This can leave burned bitter taste. So, smile at your server & point at the grill. Before you know, you will be gliding your tasty bulgogie morsels on a shiny sleek surface of the new grill. There is something fundamental, something primitive, something of reptilian brain in this BBQ thing. As you tenderly turn your raw marinated bulgogi to its grilled perfection, you feel good inside, to the pit of your stomach, I mean, literally. You are transformed into a hunter & a gather-n-eater. Eating is fun in a smoke-filled BBQ room teaming with competing senses; smoke, aromas, sizzles, pops, happy laughters, boisterous celebrations. Life, truly, is good in a Korean BBQ. While Korean BBQ is the most prominent participatory eating, there are certainly other items on the menu that require eater-participation. Take Korean stews (Jeon-gol) for instance. Jeon-gol is served par-boiled with all the fresh ingredients elegantly arranged in a large hot pot. The waiting staff initially gets the stew going, then, you get to participate; stirring, mixing, tasting, and serving. HHOW FUN! So, HAVE FUN!