Nightlife - Blogabond

Seoul, South Korea

This weekend was interesting. I ended up going into Seoul both nights to see friends, which was a lot of fun! Friday night we met up with friends from Madison that all moved over here.

The boys in Insadong

The three of them live south of Seoul, so we figured we'd meet up downtown. They chose an area called Insadong, which is known for its traditional windy streets filled with more upscale antique and souvenir shops.

We ended up at a really neat restaurant in a side alley that was traditionally decorated with light wood everywhere, paper walls, and a garden in the middle. Mmm, and then they ordered us the most yummy food! It's something called a peojong, which is like a pancake but better. I tried making one the night before out of a mix, but the directions were all in Korea, and somewhere along the line I messed up and it didn't turn out quite like I would've liked. Anyways, the one at the restaurant came out in a big griddle, about an inch thick, and full of shrimp, squid, peppers, and green onions. Sounds weird, but it is sooo tasty! To go with it they ordered traditional Korean rice wine, which is unlike anything I've ever tasted. It's kind of milky in appearance, and slightly carbonated, perhaps from the yeast? I'm not sure. I guess foreigners either love it or hate it, and so far I'm falling under the 'love' category. The best part is it's really cheap, which will be nice next to all of the expensive drinks in Seoul. The one bad thing about the night was that we had to leave pretty early, at like 10:30, because the last train to Yangju every night is at 10:45, even though almost all of the other metro lines are open until one. Poh. However, apparently there are places in Seoul caled Gingabangs, which are like hostels but nicer and extremely popular with Korean people that live outside of downtown. for roughly seven dollars, you pay to get a clean pair of pajamas and sleep on the heated floor, in traditional Korean style. I've yet to try one, but the Americans who have been here for awhile and Koreans alike swear by them as clean and safe, so I'm sure at some point in the year I will give them a try.

Cheers to melon soju!!

Saturday was equally as interesting. The highlight of the night was the kareoke hotel. Yep. I'm not sure how much you have to pay (I haven't had to worry about paying much yet), but for a certain amount, you can rent out a room that comes with a big flat screen TV, huge overstuffed comfy couches, and thousands of songs to sing to. I guess it's really really popular here to sing, all the time. So, keeping in Korean style, I sang "Sweet Caroline" and "American Pie" while eating the free ice cream that comes with the room.

Soo cool! This was also at like, 5 in the morning though so I was a bit tired to appreciate all of the different things.

I have no clue what was so funny

Either way, I know it's something that I'll want to do again at some point. We also visited a few different restaurant/bars. I don't know which to call them because even though you order some sort of alcoholic beverage to share, there is always food that comes along with the drinks. Obviously some of it has to be ordered, but apparently it's relatively unheard of to go to an establishment and drink anything alcoholic without also ordering large amounts of food to eat.

Seoul, South Korea

There has been a recent development in my time in Korea, being that practicing my French skills with other Koreans has now become an option!

SungSou, a friend from Madison, is both a Business major and a French major, while being practically fluent in English. We were finally able to see him on Friday for the first time in months, and what a treat it was! We met near Hangkuk University of Foreign Studies, where he attends, so that we could be exposed to a true Korean university experience. After wandering down winding alleys lined with brightly-decorated restaurants with delicious-smelling offerings, he led us into a packed restaurant. The decor was quintessently made for university students: christmas lights strung on the ceilings, enormous soju posters hung on the walls, and markers all around so that everyone might discover their hidden artistic talents, with only the walls having to pay a small sacrifice. Regardless, the restaurant is apparently famous for its delicious, enormous, and best of all, cheap pajeon. And, surprise surprise, it lived up to its reputation! Deeeelicious. (Pajeon is a type of doughy Korean pancake, usually stuffed with seafood, green onions, and whatever else is around the kitchen that the cook is trying to get rid of. A favorite!)

Being wooed by Adam's amazing French skills

After a couple of pots of dongdongju (a type of slightly carbonated rice wine), we were off to a new establishment, with an even greater selling point. After escaping from the maze of alleys, SungSou led us to a door that was practically hidden from the main street. Going down, the most wonderful sound hit my ears, that of the language of my last international adventure--French! It's true...we had been led to an underground

Basking in the French-speaking glow

gathering place for all of the French majors of the neighboring university, and while most people spoke Korean amongst themselves, they were all more than willing to speak French with me. This last part of the night held an enormous amount of irony for me: here I am in Korea, where my Korean skills are sadly much above nill, but I was able to use what little French ability I have left to finally talk to Koreans! It was a rather exhilerating experience. To cap it off, there was a variety show (unfortunately not in French) in which students got up and sang the two popular Korean songs of the moment. In drag. What could be better?

Life continued...

Seoul, South Korea

Korean French

Seoul, South Korea

Heading South?