The 4th of July in South Korea

It was a somewhat strange feeling to be in another country on America's Independence Day.  There were no city fireworks, no hotdogs & hamburgers, no campfires.  There were no American flags - no red,white, & blue at all.  We attended class, which was even stranger.  All in all, it didn't feel much like Independence Day at all, so many students (American and not!) decided to have our own celebration in Seoul last night.


One Korean student purchased W50000-worth of fireworks in honor of the U.S. holiday.  A crowd of about twenty or thirty HISS students trekked across the Han River to a relatively small space on the bike path, which really seemed unsafe to me as bikers and walkers continued to wiz by.  Many of us carried our enormous bottles of Cass beer, since you can publicly drink here...awesome!  I guess it just works when crime rates are low and people are generally peaceful and kind.  

Drinking publicly is legal in Seoul.

Cries of "AMURICA!" could likely be heard for kilometers as our tiny (but mighty) fireworks shot into the air and exploded into bursts of color.  We savored the "firework smell," which mustered feelings of home.  Most passersby were indifferent to our firework show, as if it was not an uncommon occurrence.  One biker, however, actually kicked one of the boxes out of the path (after it had been lit) but luckily all the fireworks had gone off from it.  That could have ended badly.  It wasn't quite like being home on the 4th of July, but it was a truly awesome experience.


After our short fireworks display, many of us went to the bars in Wangsimni to continue the celebration:

We were excited to celebrate, obviously.

In fact, I was so excited that I agreed to try beondegi - silkworm larvae!  I'm sure many of you recall me reading off the list of "daredevil foods" for the brave to try while in Korea.  You likely also recall my absolute repulsion to words such as "silkworm larvae" leaving my mouth.  Well, my friends, I ate not one, but four or five!  They were crunchy and tasted somewhat like how I would picture a shoe tasting.

Trey and I, unsure about the beodegi.

After this interesting experience, we headed to do some karaoke.  Noraebang in Korea involves stylish, individualized rooms with a television, microphone, and seating.  Groups rent the rooms at an hourly rate and sing the night away.  I can't quite remember, but there were between twenty and thirty drunk people in our room, which resulted in screaming along to "Wonderwall" and "Born in the USA."  Twice, an employee had to enter our room to tell us to be quieter.

A noraebang natural!

Needless to say, I was exhausted and worthless today in class.  However, it was the sacrifice we had to make to celebrate the birth of our wonderful country.