Chapter Four: De La Seoul

I had my first staff dinner recently. Unbeknownst to me, it was a night of impending hedonism. All three foreign teachers, three of the four Korean teachers, both of the administrators, and the Director and her husband went to a meat restaurant. You can grill your own meat (or in my case mushrooms) and this being Korea there were numerous sidedishes. A lot of food was eaten. I repeat: A lot of food. Was eaten.

Three tables and still more food than room.

This being Korea, there was numerous beer and soju right off the bat as well. Soju isn't that strong, but it smells like really cheap vodka. I have had bad experiences with cheap vodka the world over, from Subway West End in Edinburgh to Doc's Pad in Eugene. So I find it a little rough, but it's not that bad.

We were at the restaurant for a few hours before most of us mosied over to a nearby hof. I think I've mentioned hofs before, but they are basically pubs. The major difference is that you need to order food when you're here. Even if you've just come from a three-hour dinner. We went through a couple massive pitchers of beer. I think we figured out that they were 4 liters each, and we went through 4 of them.

Katie's brain is boggled by the bigness of the beer.

Chloe shows the proper pouring skills...

... and how buffed she's gotten from pouring said large pitchers of beer.

After a few hours at the hof, a few of us made our way over to a noribang (Korean Karaoke place). I had been to one before just last weekend, but this one was much nicer. It had a large drum, maracas, a stage for dancing, and a great view of the city from the 5th floor. After drinking for something like 6 hours straight even I was ready for singing and we all had a good time. Highlights included Hotel California, Sex Bomb, and some sad Korean ballads.

Everything I know about drumming comes from watching the Muppets.

These song books have hundreds of pages.




Singing AND drumming takes real dedication.


So does maracka-ing and drumming.

That same weekend, I went out and explored the city. I spent most of my time at Gyeongbokgung, an amazing, sprawling palace. It had rivers, ponds, pagodas, statues and so much more. All for only 3000 won (under 2.00 USD). Also, in 2009 all museums are free in Korea so in the palace area there were two big museums I checked out as well.

The mountain looms in the distance.

The queen's pagoda.

The King's Pagoda.

The snobbiest statue I've ever seen. He's apparently from Apgujeong.

Some art in a museum.

I ended up meeting with fellow blogger Brandy of Life is A Highway fame for dinner at my favorite Indian/Nepalese/Tibetan Restaurant. I had a delicious rice dish with cashews and coconuts.

All this, and I haven't even gotten to the best part of my weekend yet. I was aimlessly wandering around, trying to find how to walk from Hongik University to Sinchon when I ran across the first book store I've ever seen here. They had one book in English in the bargain books outside the store. It was a book that I had to buy. At only 2000 won (maybe 1.50 USD) it wasn't even a choice. I've read it cover to cover twice now.

Recently I witnessed something strange. While walking to the bank, I realized something very unusual was going on. Not a single car was moving. This would be weird anywhere, but in Seoul, where red lights are generally considered an optional suggestion, it was like seeing a green sun in the sky. An alarm was blowing in the distance. And there was a small army of middle aged Korean people dressed in yellow on the sidewalks and in the streets.

What was going on?

Was Japan trying to reconquer Korea?

Where the North Koreans invading?

Had aliens made their first contact with the human race?

As you've probably guessed by the fact that I lived to type this, it was a drill. Of the "prepare for invasion from North Korea" variety. I'm not sure the exact defensive worth of stopping traffic and having people in yellow jackets run around and stand in the street...but it was very efficiently done. And for Korea, that's nearly a victory in itself.