Seoul's Nightlife

Last night was my first taste of Seoul's nightlife, since last weekend I was too jet-lagged to go anywhere.  Several friends and I ventured to Wangsimni for drinks at the Cass bar - a much shorter distance than to Hongdae for clubbing, which would require time on the subway.  First, we stopped at TLC (another bar in Wangsimni) to visit some friends from New York who were hanging out there.  We looked over the beer menu.  Bottles of Cass (the Bud Light of Korea), Budweiser, and the TLC draft were each W3000 (3$), so we tried to order the Cass.  The waitress told us that Cass was sold out and the draft machine was broken.  Although I have yet to meet a rude or seemingly dishonest person in Seoul, sometimes I wonder if the shopkeepers and waiters view foreigners as an opportunity to make a little extra cash (as we witnessed at the Drunken Monkey only several hours earlier, which I will explain).  We ended up leaving without ordering anything and ventured to Cass, where we could order enormous pitchers.

These pitchers are huge and heavy.  

We definitely got our won's worth at this place (unlike at the Drunken Monkey).  At the Drunken Monkey, nine of us tried to order from a menu completely in Korean and void of pictures.  You have to wonder why a restaurant/bar with an English name has no pictures and no English on the menu.  In hindsight, it's the perfect tourist trap - which is probably why there was no one else there.  The nine of us split a few appetizers for W61000- 61$!  It was not even half of the proportions we receive in some of the authentic Korean restaurants, and for an exponentially larger price.  On average, a meal costs between W2000-3000 (2-3$) per person, and this cost everyone around W6000 (6$).  Thus, this place clearly ripped us off and we won't return; we are also now quite aware that we are vulnerable to such cheating.


On a brighter note, my experience at the Cass bar was wonderful.  It was interesting to simply walk into a bar and skip the tedious formality of ID checking and re-checking, as the drinking age in Korea is technically 18 (though it is not strictly enforced).  Drunk-driving and issues related to drinking are not a problem in Korea, maybe because they are (generally speaking) more mature.  


It was so much fun to get to know other HISS students.  Interestingly, another student asked me what bit of Asian was in my blood - telling me that I looked "hybrid," or as if I was partially Korean, Chinese, Japanese, etc.  This is not the first time this has happened to me!  I had to convince the student that I was indeed Caucasian with Europe in my blood.  Mom and Dad, are you sure I wasn't adopted?  We played various games, including "Titanic," which involves an empty shot glass floating in a mug of beer.  Each person takes a turn pouring soju (the Korean vodka-like drink) into the shot glass.  The first person to sink the shot glass must drink the whole mug.  Needless to say, I won't be drinking soju again for some time.


I've told several friends about the recurring dream I have after a night of drinking which involves me endlessly chugging pickle jars of water (a subconscious indicator that I am dehydrated/very, very thirsty for water).  I almost laughed when I woke up this morning, recalling the same dream from last night, with a minor change - I was chugging little silver cups of water, not pickle jars (you may have noticed that almost all Korean restaurants serve water in these small silver cups).