while I spoke about the beer in the memoirs post, I feel now I should extend beyond just beer and give you a flavour of the nightlife during my stay.

For me both Busan and Seoul both came alive at night, the streets seemed to fill with people, all of whom were reclaiming their lives as their own after a grueling day in the office. The lights of the city shone with a neon golden glisten, illuminating the streets that have no pavements, where the pedestrian reclaims the tarmac fearlessly. That is unless you are a tourist and are not used to cars bypassing you within inches, or scooters heading at you straight on, driven by the men with no helmets. I digress, the evenings would start much like the mornings, and that was with a coffee after a generous serving of food, this is not the cultural norm but I do love a good coffee and it perfectly combines with a night out; though in my experience this is not true when consumed at the end of a night, a story for another time I feel.

While nights differed, it largely depended on the numbers of people we were out with and who they were. A good few times, we’d hit a western bar, where beer was prized without the need to lavish the night with ‘side dishes’, this was always pleasant and often accompanied by a game of pool. One night 4 of us embarked from the international student house and ended up in a bar playing fussball with some yanks. Needless to say being all Germans, the Americans went away with their tails between their legs. At this point I’d like to point out, that i’m rubbish at fussball drunk or not.

That night, but not the only night, we hit karaoke, that famous and most entertaining past time. I karaoke no less than three times while out there, each time was in a different venue and each time had a different vibe. Drunk and with the lads, was extremely amusing, nobody to impress, nobody was good, everybody was powering through every last note of every song. My spirit here was rekindled by the karaoke song of the holiday, the killers “mr brightside”, this song started every k session and I would have had it no other way. The second k night, proved to be my favourite, 3 guys, 2 girls in a perfectly square room, taking songs to the next level. Nothing like grouping together for robbie williams “angles” then taking centre stage for frank sinatra “my way”, which silenced the room until rapturous applause at the end. On the third and final k evening, you realise the western screaming approach to karaoke are not shared by our east asian counterparts, who without a doubt, were key perfect on all their attempts.

Visiting traditional bars with others, involved the typical sharing/eating food but more importantly the drinking games would eek out. I’m always amazed to see people play, rock-paper-scissors, I wonder where in the world that started and how it got so wide spread. Drinking games are much fun, I remember there being other games, but I lost touch after a while, I guess I must have drunk too much to remember.

The only Friday I was there, where I could party without redemption was the middle Friday and so a big group of us hit a nightclub. This was my Lost in Translation party scene moment. I’ll admit, I was expecting it was going to be a drag considering the walking done that day. However, after a few white russians, the beat rooted itself in my bones as I hit the dance floor. The night starts becoming a blur and I’m not entirely sure how I ended up on the stage in front of the dj and why I was dancing to the crowd. All I know, is I felt like a rock star, everyone looking at me, everyone judging me, these were my fans. I guess that’s what possessed me to try and fill the stage with as many dancers as I could. Gradually I started pulling people out of the crowd to get them on stage and dancing, I believe that some were easier than others, but most were willing, girls especially. The guys I chose were the geeky looking ones, as they had dancing skills. Keeping the girls on stage was difficult and was a constant battle to maintain a level of dancers that I felt sufficient. That night, I felt like I knew everyone, a particular shout out to the Russian and Finnish girls, the crew I went with, and the geeky korean guys and their girls. I like to think that night I helped give some people an experience they wouldn’t forget, most of all I hope someone got lucky because of me but I guess I will never know.

I do know that upon leaving the stage and checking back 10 minutes later it was baron and reverted back to normality. At least upon leaving I greeted my fans (something I was reminded of the next day) with slogans like, “I like your hat, it’s cool”, “I like your hair, it’s cool” and “I like your shoes, they’re cool”. Little did I know my jeans has ripped that night from all my antics.

I had much fun in the evenings in Korea, be it singing, dancing or drinking in a tent, where I had my first rusty nail cocktail, from a barmen that sourced his vodka from the russian ships that docked not 30 minutes down the road. A vibrant nightlife culture which was easy ride on the back of a country where I drunk every night bar one. How relaxing.