After my last class, we left the hagwon as a group and decided to get something to eat. We went to a place 2 floors below the norepang called "Garten Bier" a German themed restaurant that I like because of the atmosphere, the cup holders built into the table that keep your drinks cold, and the crazy glasses they serve beer in (pics to follow). Like in the States people under the drinking age have to leave places that serve alcohol after 9. This potentially was going to cause a problem because one of the students, Danny, is 15. I decided it would be worth a try, so we went in to the establishment and sat down. I had Danny sit between Debbie and Miranda because even though they are both of age they look VERY young, so by proximity Danny looked a lot older. It worked. The girls were carded, and the Danny was left alone. We order a pitcher of beer and some food and start to socialize. The girls were really interested in the cup holders built in to the table because when turned on they get REALLY cold. To impress them, I stuck my hand in there and held it in place for at least 2 minutes...which they all thought was crazy because it was far too cold for them to even touch.
Before we sat down, I needed to use the bathroom, so I went inside, for once remembering to duck and not hit my head. There were 2 Korean men occupying the urinals, just standing there smoking. I stood there and waited. They seemed to not care that I was waiting to use the urinal so I went into the stall. As I was coming out one of the men had left and Sinwoo was walking in. The other man continued to smoke while leaning on the urinal. Sinwoo walked up to the urinal and this guy basically sat there and watched as Sinwoo went. This whole situation basically broke every single rule in the "Men's bathroom code" (http://www.askmen.com/money/how_to_300/385_how_to.html)
Danny had maybe a few sips from the beer we gave him, and ultimately gave it to Sinwoo to finish. As our meal drew to a close only Sinwoo and I had a bit of beer left (my glass was poured a lot more full then the rest). So, in a show of bravado I pulled my glass up and said "Ok all...it's time for a magic trick." I then proceeded to slam the beer down in about as much time as it would have taken to pour it on the ground. I did a little head nod of acknowledgment as I made a joke about making the beer magically disappear. Suddenly I begin to hear coughing and I whip my head around to see Sinwoo choking on his beer. He said "It didn't look that hard, so I wanted to give it a try". I reminded the poor guy that I was a professional and that far better men than him had fallen before me.
*A note about Sinwoo.
Sinwoo is perhaps one of the most entertaining people alive. He is the most innocent and odd person you have ever met, so basically everything that comes out of his mouth is pure gold. I wish I could take a video of the guy because he needs to be shared with America and I really think he would be an unwitting star if he ever made a youtube video. Unfortunately he is very camera shy and the picture I have of him (a link will be posted at the end of this post) was taken guerrilla style.
So after dinner we went upstairs to the norebang. I am a huge fan of Karaoke, so I was looking forward to this. For those of you out there who have ever done Karaoke, I have to give Korea credit...their Karaoke is WAY better than ours. You do make a few concessions though in the differences. First off, there is no alcohol. Second, you have to pay (10,000-13,000 won per hour). The trade offs then are that you get a LOT more chances to sing. You see, unlike in America where you will take turns singing in front of a large group of people...in Korea you rent out a small room where you and your friends get to do all the singing. Sure, you don't get to feel like a rock star when 300 cheer for you after you sing, but it's still a LOT of fun. More importantly, the song list is HUGE. Thankfully there were a lot of American songs so I got to sing several favorites of mine (including "Part of your world" from Little Mermaid!).
We sang for about 2 hours, and I found out that many of my students are incredible singers. Sinwoo was especially great. Not only does he have a great voice, he attacks each song with the kind of passion you would expect from a trashy romance novel.
By the time we left the norebang, our group of 7 had diminished to 4 and those remaining had no desire to go to bed yet. We went to a restaurant near my apartment that has decent food and more importantly 3L pitchers for 9000won (a little more than $8). We continued to drink and eat as the Korean version of "Cheaters" called "Bad Men" played on the little tv above our table. At one point in the evening Miranda disappeared, only to come back a few minutes later carrying 2 large packages of instant ramen that she went ahead and made at the table to eat (I still have no idea where she got hot water). Spencer and I were offered some, but we both declined since we weren't hungry. Finally at about 2am Walter and Miranda decided to call it a night so Spencer and I ran across to the small market across the street to get some Soju and orange juice. Technically you aren't supposed to mix soju with anything, but seeing as how I don't care, I wanted to make my own Korean screwdriver. The night ended with Spencer and I watching "Knocked Up" with Korean subtitles on TV until 4am.
Pictures:
Korea album:
The man, the myth, the legend -- Sinwoo!
3 of my students, Danny, Debbie, and Miranda
Chilled cup holders at Garten Bier
Spencer and the crazy glasses they serve in at Garten Bier
Inside Garten Bier
The hallway leading to all the norebang rooms
Inside of a Norebang room
Haha, great storytelling! And I LOVE norebongs!! Glad to hear party life is picking up in your neck of the woods!
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