PC Bong etiquette

By Na Hoang

If you’ve ever entered a classroom on a Friday and asked 40 less-than-impressed faces “What will you do this weekend?” only to be met with 40 kids screaming out in near unison “GO PCBONG!” than you are not alone.

South Korea boasts some of the fastest internet speeds in the world. With PC bongs littering the streets in small towns and big cities across the country it is understandable why so many students spend countless weekend hours there playing Sudden Attack, Maple Story, or logged into their CyWorld accounts.

A PC Bong is essentially a room lined with computers similar to the computer labs you had back on your college campus or the ones found in libraries.  PcBongs normally sell snack foods such as ramen, chips, cookies, and serve complimentary coffee.    They are normally equipped with comfy, high-back, pilot chairs and bathrooms so you never have to leave.  Rates are by the half hour starting from 500 won to 1,000 won.

It was near Christmas in December when my laptop decided to part ways with me, succumbing to an untreatable form of computer cancer that I was most unqualified to treat.  For about a month before I bought a used laptop to get me by, I was forced to do as the Korean kids do, which was to spend internet-hungry hours at the local PcBong.

Tips for a healthy PcBong Experience from a Ex-PcBong User

Smoking Room vs Non-smoking Room: In most cases, as you walk in, you get the option of sitting in the smoking section or non-smoking section.  My advice, even to smokers, would be to opt for the nonsmoking room.  Sitting in an enclosed space for an hour or more inhaling second hand smoke is a terrible habit.  When you leave, your hair and clothes smell like an ashtray, your eyes get red and watery, and your lungs feel like they’ve inhaled cement.

When you need a smoke break, you can walk into the smoke area or better yet, step outside, stretch your legs, and give your eyes a chance to look at something other than a bright computer monitor.

Kids yelling into Monitors: For some reason, I would always get there before most kids do and I’d pick out a seat in the middle of a row. Then kids would come in groups, sit at the computers beside me, opposite of me, and play into the computer while screaming at each other across me as I tried to blog and keep up with emails.  Picking a computer at the end of a row secludes you a bit from getting caught in the middle of a virtual gun war.

Bring Headphones: For the reason mentioned above and because sometimes the people sitting next to you don’t wear headphones, you’re subjected to hearing every gunshot fired, every bomb thrown, and every warning of “fire in the hole!”
Make use of hand sanitizer: I have been to some really clean computer rooms and I have been to some very dusty, dark, and questionable PC rooms.  They normally are equipped with hand sanitizers at the front desk. Sanitize before and sanitize after.  A rule of thumb: if the bathroom is decrepit looking with no form of hand soap available, then be very weary of touching your hand to any part of your body before you sanitize thoroughly.

“Other Advice” that you didn’t get from this newsletter:

Upgrading hardware: If you have old out of date hardware, like keyboards and old mice, you can bring them in, sit in an inconspicuous place in the back corner, and “upgrade.”

Downloading software: If you download Skype or Messenger on PcBong computers, try to do it in Korean.  It is helpful when the staff try to delete it after you leave.

Swine Flu: Practice your most menacing swine flu cough there to keep people from sitting next to you.