Norabang Fun

The work week was over and our director, Mr. Won, wanted to take the teachers out for dinner and drinks. He often does this to show his appreciation for all of our hard work. And trust me, teaching a language is hard. Props to you Uncle John. Won originally wanted to take us out on Thursday night, but we told him we'd prefer to do it on Friday. He said okay, but wasn't sure if he could make it because he would be tired from playing golf all day. I guess working all day is easier than playing 18 holes. He didn't show up. We didn't care though.

Mike, Dave and I were the first to show up. The hof was called One Shot. I had been there before and had a great time, so I was happy to hear that's where we were going. At Hof's you're usually forced or pressured to order food. We were all going to eat anyways so we looked over the menu. I can't read Korean at this point so I quickly defaulted my opinion to the wisdom of Mike and Dave. After we decided what to order we pushed the button. The button is on the edge of the table and it sends the signal to the waitress who will quickly be at the table to take your order. Seconds after pushing the button I saw the waitress literally running to the table. We ordered a few pitchers of beer and two Soju pitchers. Minutes later Rhett, Aaron, Gina and Liam made their way down the steps and into our sight. They were pleased to see the drinks we'd ordered and wasted no time pushing the button to get more mugs and shot glasses.

We ate squid, chicken, kimchee (spicy onions), french fries, and all sorts of vegetables. Finally Terry, Mr. Won's assistant and also our boss, came there to join in the fun and ultimately pay for the evening. We milked the free night; ordering as many things as possible so we did not have to spend much after we left there. After a couple hours there we were all pretty loose and started getting into the typical stuff. Aaron, Joel and I argued for awhile about which humanity or social science was more important in the analyzation of the post-modern world. I argued for Anthropology; Joel for History and Aaron for Philosophy. In the end it was decided that all three of them play off of eachother and that you can't have one without the others. I still think Anthro is the best. Then Dave and I got caught up in another nose-off. This was the second annual nose-off and I was poised to win. We took more profile pictures of the noses and even had a new challenger, Liam. He was eliminated right away. His Welsh nose didn't stand a chance againt our German noses. We showed the pictures and our noses to unbiased strangers and once again, I lost. Dave's nostril size gives him the upper hand, but he's on vacation for the month, so I guess I hold the prestigious position now.

Midnight rolled around and we decided it was time for the norabang. A norabang is karaoke. When this idea was first mentioned I was not keen on the idea. I have an awful singing voice and I'm very aware that I can not sing, but I'm in Korea for such a short time so I figured I'd give it a go. We left One Shot and were greeted with a light rain. When it rains here, which is almost daily, it rains for a few minutes and then stops just as fast as it started. However, while we were in the bar we picked up a Korean couple who wanted to tag along. That was fine and they were nice, but recently I have been hesitant about letting people tag along. This is because wherever I go I am told two things. One, that I am handsome and the second is that I have a very nice voice. It's a nice compliment, but when people are looking at me and then come over to tell me I am handsome, I am almost embarrassed. They pass over all the other teachers and come to me. At work the other day, one of the mothers made a point to tell a Korean teacher that I was the most handsome teacher there. Then I realized why they are doing this and why the pass over the other teachers, who are all good looking people. I have blonde hair and I have blue eyes. They don't. Now, at home this would never happen. First of all people don't act like that at home. They don't single people out and tell them they are attractive. It's more subtle. Also, I am a lot more average at home. There are tons of people with blonde hair and blue eyes. I know I'm not ugly, but this is too much. I have never thought of myself by my looks and even writing this makes uncomfortable, but I'm trying to convey to you guys ALL of my experiences here; good or bad. This particular couple kept calling me Tom Cruise. This one made me a little mad. I said he has brown hair and I'm not a scientologist. It must have been our similar large noses. I am getting tired of this, but hopefully it will end soon. Do they have to be so overt!? Don't worry, I will not let this get to my head or use my "unique" features to take advantage of anyone.

We located a norabang and went inside. Without thinking, we forgot to hide the Soju and the owner said we could not bring it in. We understood and left to find another one. All of sudden, the Korea guy who was with us started yelling at the owner. They pushed eachother, they yelled at eachother and before we knew it they were about to fight and all of us were in between the two of them trying to break it up. It only escalated from there and it was getting serious. The owner threw the Korean guy to the ground, stepped back and removed his shirt. He was ready to fight. They both walked down the stairs and into the rainy street. We still tried to separate the two, but we risking getting too involved. How did this happen? Why was the Korean guy so mad at the owner who had a legitimate reason to ask us to leave? It was silly to me and the rest of us.

They continue pushing and yelling and soon the guys girlfriend, who we were talking to while her worse half was being an idiot, ran off...literally. She ran away and we had no idea where she went. Finally the owner went back upstairs and this left the still fuming Korean guy for us to deal with. He starts talking and tells us in broken English that the owner was racist and did not want foreigners in his norabang. This was a lie. Dave heard what the owner had said and it was not anywhere close. Then the guy started saying,

"America good." and he gave a thumbs up.

"Korea bad." and he gave a thumbs down.

I was very suprised. Why would this guy say that?

"No, no, no. America is good and Korea is good. They are both good" I told him.

He insisted that Korea was very bad and America was very good. He then ran up the stairs and went to yell at this guy some more. We used this time to leave him behind and venture to the next norabang.

We got there and hid our Soju until we were in our room. When you arrive at these places, you pay 15 dollars for an hour. They show you to your room and leave you alone. In the room, which I have one picture of on webshots, there are couches, a table in the center of the room, and a large flatscreen TV. The mics are sitting there and you look at the list and make your selection. The words appear on the screen along with a background of your choice. You can pick nature scenes, city life or pornography. I'm still not sure why porno is an option. Who would want to sing and watch porno at the same time? We chose the nature scenes, I promise.

We sang for an hour and then decided we need to sing some more. Then, Mike's Korean friend Jayce, met us there. He selected some songs and started singing. We all listened in amazement. He had a phenomenal voice. He could sing everything so well. His best was Skid Row though. If you haven't listened to Skid Row imagine AC/DC. If you're lucky you have listed to the greatest band of the 20th century: Ezra. If you haven't heard them I suggest you call my brother-in-law and he'll send you an album and video of them playing live. Crossover! He might even throw in Big Slam.

So we sang, laughed and had a great evening in the norabang. I can't wait to go again. When we left it was light outside. I looked at the time. It was 6:00am. The others continued on. Those guys are wild. I am so glad that I came here and met this group. They are all so much fun, so loyal, so smart and I will stay in touch with them for years to come.

I wanted to continue on, but I had to get home. Kristin was calling at 9:00am.