VIP People Watching

I finally made it to Seoul this weekend for the first time. It seems odd waiting a month to go to the city with half the country's population, but good things come to those who wait...or something like that. On that note, this weekend was like a whirlwind club-and-run tour of the city. I took the bus in with some ETAs on Saturday and headed over to the Gangnam district, one of the more trendy and bar-studded parts of town.

It was pretty amazing actually, I've been to plenty of big cities but Seoul is like one giant billboard. It is like thousands of smaller Times Squares everywhere you go--lit up with colors I didn't know existed and in places I still wish I didn't. If I could read all the signs, I can just imagine them screaming "GROCERY STORE" and all sorts of otherwise boring names. Speaking of names though, we had two Jungwon students with us whose names were "Tree" (Namu in Korean) and Moon Kyong-rock; they were great guys, but I guess I felt left out because my name isn't an inanimate object.

Anyway, after grabbing kimbap and bibimbap in Gangnam we headed over to Club Mass around 11--one of the newer techno/trance spots in town. Normally I wouldn't head in so early, but I got roped into the VIP room (I mean, you have to live it up...just this once, I suppose) which came with a bottle of Macallan, some Grey Goose and the sexiest fruit plate this side of the DMZ. Well, scotch on the rocks went down plenty smooth and the vodka only reminded me of high school, so I soon graduated to random mixed drinks paid for by some guy with a job. The place started to fill up around 1 and by then I had drank enough courage to show the world my dance skills--and oh, I did just that. It was pretty great overall, If I die tomorrow I will have at least experienced the Seoul house/trance scene for all that it's worth. As for the details, the DJ and light show were spectacular; and I don't sweat very much but the dance floor (or anywhere outside the VIP room for that matter) was like the Korean monsoon.

Heading back to our ta

bleabout 4:30, all I could do was sit and bask in the glory of a soaked shirt, being an ostentatious, minority, and failed attempts on Korean women. At that point I just hung back with a couple

friends and embarked on a little VIP people watching--trying to decipher the range of personalities while I sit back and sober up a little bit (some others, not with us, were less fortunate--see the picture).

About 6:00 we headed outside, only to be graciously introduced to the sun we left behind Saturday evening--that's always a fun experience. After some 7-Eleven kimbap we headed over to the Jimjilbang (like an overnight sauna) to grab a couple hours of sleep. The Jimjilbang has to be the 2nd greatest thing I've found in Korea so far, I don't know what the first is yet but this one definitely fits in nicely at 2nd. Basically you pay your 8,000 won (like $7), hit up the shower, hot tubs, cold tubs, and my personal favorite: the lukewarm tub. After you've had your fill of all that, you can head to any number of room or saunas to grab a few minutes of sleep. I say minutes because that's about all you can put together at one time while sleeping on a hard tile/wood/pebble/or tweed mat floor before you wake up in pain: Compared to thick Americans, Koreans cannot possibly have any internal padding, and I'll never figure out how they're so good at sleeping on hard object. Also, imagine my surprise walking into a big auditorium at 7:00 in the morning and finding 50+ Koreans sleeping around in various nooks and crannies. The place also has a little restaurant, a drink shop, little massage chairs, a gym area, and a bunch of saunas at random temperatures where you can "sleep." I checked out the ice room, which felt pretty good after a long, sweaty night, and then finally got a few hours of sleep in one of the warmer saunas. On one hand I think these places could really catch on in the U.S. They're cheap as balls considering it's a place to sleep, relax, and even get a shower/workout (apparently some people will stay days, even weeks, at a time), but then again American are far too interested in personal space to spend a night with 50 randos all around.

We finally got up around 11:30, and out the door by 12, only to take on several grueling hours shuttling around the city and checking out some of the sights. I'll be spending a lot more time in Seoul in the coming months, and (I hope) in better physical condition, so expect a better report on some of the sights when the time comes. In any case though, I wanted to give you a taste of the city. Also, we find out our placements tomorrow--essentially where I'll be living, breathing, and teaching for the next 11 months--so expect an article on that when I get the chance.