Karaoke!

Last Saturday, after school presentations, we decided to go out for a celebratory dinner with most of the teachers at our school. It was also a goodbye to the other couple teaching, who were leaving for Nepal to volunteer at an orphanage. We went to a meat restaurant and all sat on the floor around a long table. At each grouping of four people, there was a round grill on the table. They brought out tons of sides, tons of beer and soju (the Korean cheap alcohol-tastes like a mix of wine and vodka), and a bunch of raw meat. Traditionally, Koreans have long meals and spend a lot of time socializing. We had the traditional Korean meal and spent hours cooking our own food, drinking, and socializing. It was the most fun I have had since we've been here. After dinner, we decided to go to a Noribong (I don't know how to spell this), which is a Korean karaoke room.

The first and second place we went to were full (yes, these are very popular amoung Korean culture). The third, a few doors down from the others, had a room available. I had no clue what to expect and was a little nervous about doing karaoke with a bunch of people I just met, but was pleasantly surprised when we walked into to find a very small, private room with booths lining the walls. The 12 (or so)of us went in, brought some more soju and chips, and spent hours singing karaoke.

For me, this karaoke room was ideal. It had nothing about karaoke I don't like: strangers watching us, solo pressure, etc. We started out singing solo or couple at a time, but by the end of the night we were all singing and dancing together...the company even supplied tambourines. It was so much fun!