Sept. 16, 2008: Nori Bang Fun

안 녕

I was looking through my blog recently and realized that I haven't talked about one of my favorite places in Korea, the nori bang. Nori bang translates to singing room; which is a private room fully equipped with a karaoke machine, tv, surround sound, and to top it all off, tambourines. Most people usually go there after a night of drinking (drinking? who's drinking?) to sing their hearts out. It's a pretty amazing place to sober up and blow off some steam. You may be asking, aren't all the songs in Korean? Well most of them are, but there's actually a pretty decent selection of American songs (such as We Built This City). These places are open all night and conveniently located everywhere, and I mean on every corner.

It's a pretty common activity for people of all ages; I've heard old ladies and families usually go during the day and the younger crowds and businessmen frequent them at night. Unlike the U.S. people here aren't embarrassed at all about singing in front of other people. That was something that took me some time to get over and occasionally I'm still a bit hesitant. But when your with your friends it's pretty relaxing. I'm also really impressed with how well Koreans sing, most of the people I've gone out with have blown me away. But as most of you know I'm no Marvin Gaye. Nonetheless the night feels empty if I haven't gone to a nori bang. So if any of you make it out here plan on singing.

Thank you to all of those that wished me a happy birthday, it meant a lot. No worries if you forgot, I've certainly missed plenty myself. I definitely had a good time though, dinner, drinks and of course the nori bang.

While I was looking through a list of some of the songs I came upon this music video by Lionel Richie. If you have the time you gotta check it out, it's amazing!

~Sunny

Sept. 7, 2008: Recent Adventures

안 녕

Recently I've felt like I've been in a rut so I decided to go do some exploring. The weather has been a lot nicer lately so it's been easier getting out. I'm still really looking forward to winter though, especially the snow. I don't think my friend Jon really thinks it's that much snow but he is from Minnesota.

Hiking: Recently Jon, Jamie and I went on a short hike near our houses. We hiked up to this very popular platform along the mountainside that overlooks the entire southern half of Seoul. Jon said that the view there was actually better than from the Seoul Tower. I've been back on my own and I'm still in awe of how huge Seoul is. I guess you really don't get the perspective until you see it from afar. Along the trail we also saw some bunkers and trenches that may be left over from the Korean War, but I'm not really sure about that. Either way they were pretty interesting.

Han River: Last weekend me and some friends went on a ferry ride along the Han River. The Han is the major river that runs through Seoul, kinda like the American but much bigger. Unfortunately it wasn't the greatest ferry ride I've been on, but it was still a good experience. The boat was moving a bit fast so it was tough taking pictures. The coolest thing I actually saw was this piece of volleyball art in the park where the boat was docked.


Korean War Memorial/Museum: This last Saturday I went and visited the Korean War Museum and man was I impressed. It was nice way to brush up on my Korean history and see an awesome array of warfare. It was pretty astonishing to see all these tanks, planes and artillery just sitting out in front of the museum. You can actually climb into some the tanks and planes.

~Sunny

August 30, 2008: Korean Sports

안 녕

I must be the worst blogger ever! It's been way too long since my last post, but I'll try to close the gap. It's been about a month since my last post and life has settled into a routine of work and weekends. It's pretty similar to back home except for being in a completely different country, so every things an adventure.

Baseball: This last weekend I went to my second baseball game and man am I hooked. It's amazing how much energy fills up the stadium. Right when you walk in you feel this overwhelming sense of awe from all the fans cheering and banging their thunder sticks. I know that baseball is America's past time but believe me Koreans know how to put on a show. The most surprising part for me was the amount of respect between rival fans. From what I saw there was no trash talking or heckling, it was pretty refreshing. And I'm officially a Doosan Bears fan; I've been to two of their games and hopefully more.

Olympics: Watching the Olympics in Korea was definitely a new and interesting experience. I've always lived in the U.S. so I've never experienced a foreign perspective. Since Korea is a small country it doesn't have near the number of participants as the U.S. or China. But believe me the entire country gets behind all the athletes and none get lost in the mix. I did get to see some events that are usually not televised in the U.S. archery, table tennis, judo, taekwondo and some others. Nonetheless I'm proud of all the medals Korea and the U.S. won, but I gotta hand it to the Korean baseball team.

~Sunny