Advertisement
Published: August 29th 2008
Edit Blog Post
Remember that seen in Rush Hour 2 when Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker are at a Karaoke bar in China, and Tucker gets angry at one of the Asian business men who is singing Michael Jackson on stage and just ruining the song?...
So I went out and got a taste of South Korean night life last night. I met up with two co-workers from Avalon, four teachers from our sister hakwon and five friends of my co-worker (3 of them were foreigners and two were from Daejeon). The first bar that we went to was located in the new downtown area of Daejeon called Time World. Although it was 11:00 pm by the time I got there, there are so many neon signs and buildings in this area that it was almost as though it were daylight. The bar is called Lucky Strike, and advertises itself as a western, American bar. The decor was a very homey. pub-type feel. Wood floors, wood-panelled walls, barstools and an extremely small seating area. The only difference between the seating at Lucky Strike, and that of a pub in the US was the proximity of everything to the floor...much lower here. And that
is more a cultural thing than a direct reflection of the height of Koreans, as I have come to find many Koreans are much taller than I expected. On average, the general population feels similar to that of the people in an American city. Even the kids we teach are big and some are as tall as me already! This was actually a big disappointment to me - I was hoping to actually be one of the taller or at least not a short person in Korea. Oh well.
So, all along the back walls were many American beers and drink specials. There were also many of the most popular imported beers in general - Stella, Heineken, Hogarden, etc. However, the menu was still in Korean and all of the bartenders were Korean as well. We went to this bar because it is the favorite spot of one of the Canadian girls leaving the country next week. I was hoping to go to a local Korean bar my first time out, but it was good just to get out and get the initial experience with people who know their way around. As we ordered our drinks, I noticed that
all of the patrons filtering into the bar were either white, black, or English-speaking Asians. It indeed was a "western" bar and known to be by the foreigners in the city.
We stayed at the bar for a couple of hours, then some of us decided to hit up one of the Karaoke clubs next door. I didn't chip in for the cost, since they didn't let the newbies pay, but for around $25/hour, you rent a large room with a large double flatscreen TV on one wall and a huge seating arrangement on the opposite part of the room and then take turns singing your heart out! To get to our room, we went to the 4th floor of a highrise amidst all of the bars. Once you step out of the elevator, you are greeted by a hostess booth and then a long hallway leads to the karaoke rooms on either side of you. Our room was the third door on the right. As I walked down the hallway, I could see the silhouettes of people in the other rooms and hear the abundance of laughter and talking. Inside the room, a purple suede couch formed a
semi-circle along the back wall with tables in the middle. Atop the tables sat the songbook and remote control as well as several ashtrays. The opposite side of the room contained the screens that displayed the song lyrics and an accompanying music video for each song - featuring Korea. The room was very dark, with disco-esque lights shining throughout the night.
The first singer of the night was Ray, my co-worker, and a Korean-American who prefers to sing in Korean. He began his ballad and I immediately thought of all of the American movies that I have seen with scenes of Asian karaoke in them. Exaggerated, but they definitely get the feel of such an environment down. Ray was quite good - I enjoy listening to people sing in Korean, I just wonder if I would have thought he was as good, had I understood anything he was singing.
We took turns singing, and drinking Soju (THE Korean alcohol. A rice wine that basically tastes like vodka. You drink it in shot glasses as well). It was a great way to get to know and laugh at each other, and gave me a great first impression of going
out in Korea. By 3 AM, most of us decided it was time to head home. But a couple people were still ready to keep the party going. Korean bars stay open until around 6 AM. As we left the club and walked outside to grab a taxi, I was surprised at how many people were still out walking or stumbling around, and just smoking cigarettes and talking (Almost every Korean man that I have seen is a smoker. Some women as well, but you primarily will only see this at night, as it is not really socially acceptable for women to be smoking). I was told by numerous people that Koreans are drinkers, but I was still surprised to see such a vibrant nightlife first hand.
After contemplating a trip to one more bar, I decided it was best to call it a night. But it was a very entertaining experience. The first of many I am sure 😊
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 5; qc: 42; dbt: 0.0603s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb