My Debut

Koreatown Eateries Button Up
Table buzzers allow customers to call in wait staff as needed.

By MYOUNG HOON SUH

Buzzers have become ubiquitous on restaurant tabletops throughout L.A.’s Koreatown. When a customer wants something, he simply presses the buzzer. No need to wave or whistle or call for a waiter.

Omar Lopez adores buzzers. He said he misses them whenever he dines outside of Koreatown, and now feels uneasy when he has to catch a waiter’s eyes.

“It should be installed in all restaurants,” said Lopez, 31.

The technology is simple. Table numbers are displayed on a board in the back.
When a buzzer is hit, the waiter knows which table to go to.

What could be dubbed as “buzzer culture” originated in Asia, particularly in northeast Asia, in the early 1990s. People there tend to prefer to eat in private; restaurants often offer patrons a choice of dining in a private room or in the open. And rooms with sliding doors are common in Korean and Japanese restaurants. Since calling a waiter from a closed room can be tricky, the buzzer was born.

If the one-button buzzer is the first generation, then the three-button buzzer is the second. Whereas the one-button is a call for general service, the three-button buzzer specifies whether the customer wants his check, some water or is making a general call.

Haus, a dessert boutique on Sixth Street, introduced the three-button buzzer in July. And there is no board in the back; waiters use a wristband receiver that displays the table number and its commands.

“The three-button buzzer is more expensive but more efficient,” said the restaurant’s executive director, Deryck Kim, 32. “It saves everybody time.”

But that’s not the final bell; buzzer culture is catching on. A system where the kitchen receives orders directly from a waiter’s iPod recently has been developed; servers handle iPods instead of order sheets.

“We are scheduled to open a fusion restaurant on West Seventh Street and we plan to use the (iPod) system when we do,” said Kim.

Loneliness

It's a part of my favorite poem. But I'm not sure that this will make sympathetic. It's very difficult to translate poem.


Live, let’s not talk too difficult.

If you love her, Say I love you
If you miss her, Say I miss you
Let’s talk as it be.

Let’s not think too much
I give one, how many back
Give two, how many loss

Give as much as I want

Live without turning your back

As much as turning your back, Loneliness is deeper
Because human.
If the power, turning your back, remain
Let’s use it to walk to her.

Strart New Life!

I spent two weeks in LA. I finished my first story, it’s short, but I felt that something was still insufficient. I hope to believe that I can make it.

Last 2 weeks I focused on banking system in U.S. I found a few differences.

The bottom line is it is very different in Korea. Banking system in Korea focused on banks. In short it is very nice place for their business.

For example, banks could put under provisional attachment all property when someone who received mortgage was overdue or the house provided as collateral.

But I heard that American banks could treat provisional seizure only thing provided as collateral. Of course it is not easy and takes long time. If the customers tried to hide their property, they might use this period. So bank loans to determine their report can only be calculated carefully.

It’s very interesting to me. For the first time I can’t understand this tradition. But now I think that to protect weak is the spirit of the laws of the U.S. It is true that the customers are weaker than banks.

The difference of bank system brings the distinction in behavior of business. If you apply for loans in the morning, the loan is deposited into your account in this afternoon in Korea. Not fast don’t alive there(of course, except between couple esp. Night)