My Dirty Weekend Away with the Missus

OK, I’ve been getting lazy with this blog. I’ve gone from writing two a week to one every couple of weeks…sometimes. The last few weeks here in Korea have been unbearably hot and humid. Yesterday it reached 34°C but, with the humidity it supposedly felt like 40°C. I’m not sure how they work that out, temperature is fairly definitive. There are no added clauses on a thermometer but, at some time this week a Korean has said that it currently feels 40°C and I’m not going to argue with an Asian who deals with numbers.

Last weekend we went to the 17^th Boryeong Mud Festival, an event that I’m sure you can work out what happens from the title. People come from far and wide to cover themselves from head to toe in mud. My dirty weekend away with the missus got off to a terrible start. As she is Korean, I left her to organise the accommodation, travel, all the important organisational stuff. She just told me where to be at what time. “Meet at 10:20 at the Express Bus Terminal Station, Nambu Terminal”. OK, easy enough, I’ve been to that station plenty of times.

I met a few friends for some drinks the day before on Friday. After some drinks that afternoon I met some other friends and we went to a house party organised by some people we met at Korea Burn a few weekends before. A few too many drinks later I headed home. As I woke very hungover, I realised that I was late. I had to gain consciousness, evaluate my life, pack a bag, and get the subway to EBT Station. As I was packing I realised I didn’t have my wallet. Fuck! Where is it?! It turned out that I’d left it at the party, and Somi had messaged me to tell me that she picked it up as she left. Good and bad news, at least I haven’t lost my wallet but, now I don’t have a wallet for the weekend. I searched around my apartment and found ₩2,000 (£1.20), enough money to get the subway to meet Angie. As I evaluated my life I was at a low point, I was enduring a violent hangover and I felt that I was going to be sick at any moment. I put a plastic bag in my back pocket in case of any impromptu vomiting on the subway. Always thinking.

I arrived at Express Bus Terminal Station (no vomit) on time but couldn’t find the Nambu terminal. I searched for ages but finally had to ask. The lady at the information desk told me it was two stations down the line. Bollocks. I’m at the wrong station. No time, no wi-fi, no wallet, no money, no idea. The low point hit lower. Finally, I got wi-fi and told Angie. All the guys we were travelling with made the coach but Angie had to go and meet her clueless boyfriend. I asked her if she was angry, she said no but she definitely was.

We got a coach from EBT and headed for Boryeong. We arrived and it was time to get muddy. I had heard that the festival was just filled with boozy foreigners, and not to let the reputation down it was time to start drinking again. The last hangover had just worn off but I had a feeling I was in the process of starting a new one. The festival was fun; obstacle courses, mud slides, mud wells, a music stage, and all the events were beside the beach.

We got a lot muddier but I think we were all too muddy to operate a camera. Never mind.

We went back to the pension and spent the evening playing drinking games. So many drinking games I can’t even remember them all. We also played the longest game of Ring of Fire that I ever witnessed. We played the entire game, as the last card drawn was the 4^th King. We played so long that we actually ran out of alcohol. An impressive feat.

After the drinking games we went down to the beach. As we frolicked on the sand and watched the fireworks I had one of the most random moments of my trip so far. Sometimes on your travels things just start to become normal. Living in Korea isn’t weird anymore, it’s just normal life. But at 3am on Boryeong beach I was watching middle-aged Korean couples doing the waltz, as someone blared classical music from their car. I had an “oh shit, I’m in Korea” moment.

It was a fun weekend all round.

The following weekend Karl and I went indoor fishing. I didn’t even know that was a thing. We had discussed going fishing for a while but in this intense heat you want to spend more time inside enjoying the delights of air conditioning. 

We went in and the room was dark, this was to stop fisherman targeting the larger fish as the fish were electronically tagged and by catching the larger ones you could win a prize. It wasn’t long before we were both baited and had our rods in the water (that’s not a euphemism). It took all of about 15 seconds before there was a fish on the end of my line. I felt a mix of joy and accomplishment by catching a fish, I was hardly a match for Jeremy Wade or David Seaman but, still. But as I pulled the fish out of the water it started splashing and I felt terrified, and began squealing at the thought of unhooking the fish. Luckily there was no one else there to judge our lack of manliness. Karl plucked up the courage to touch it and we released it back in the water.

I think I liked the idea of fishing but in reality I’m too much of a coward to deal with a harmless fish. It’s one of my believies.

I was catching so many fish it was becoming unpleasant, the repetition of joy followed immediately by terror. I said at one stage “oh bollocks, I’ve caught another one!” something that has never been said in the history of fishing.

A while into our indoor fishing nightmare 3 Korean guys joined the party. Before long they were catching fish too but they weren’t squealing. These were obviously real men. I was too ashamed to catch any fish in front of them and decided to stop baiting my hook. Unsurprisingly and thankfully, I didn’t catch any more fish.

Despite spending the afternoon panicked and petrified I did have a fun time. Another fun weekend in the Land of the Morning Calm. 

Korea Burn 2014: Never Trust a Hippie

The Burning Man festival takes place every year in the Nevada desert. I had heard a few stories about this phenomenon over the years, I understood it to be a drug and alcohol fuelled hippie orgy where everyone wishes it was the 60s. Each person weirder than the next all trying to be creative displaying their art, vibrant hair colour, and face tattoos. So when I found out that there was a Korean equivalent I was hardly in a rush to attend. It was only from speaking to Josh, James, and Susie, who attended the festival in 2013, that they managed to convince me to go. Josh described the event as the best thing he did in Korea, and the best festival he had been to. Josh and I have been to many Reading Festivals down the years and so his claims were the tipping point. I was in.

Preparation for the event brought my commitment into doubt. You cannot buy anything at the event; no food, no alcohol, you can’t even buy water. You must bring your own supplies into the camp beforehand. Even so, I reluctantly agreed. Through further research I was told that there would be a gift exchange throughout the event with the other Burners. If you met someone and you felt generous enough to give them a gift you can. It’s all about love. Christ, these hippies are testing my patience! I can’t buy beer all weekend and then I’ve got to give shit away to these free-loading tree huggers!

This year’s gang included Susie, Somi, Karl, and I from Seoul and Michael from Masan, but due to all of our different schedules we arrived at the festival at different times. Susie went alone on Thursday and I joined her on Friday afternoon. Upon arrival at the camp I was greeted with a “welcome home!” by one of the free spirited organisers. Welcome home? I’d just turned up to campsite with no beer, if that’s home then I don’t want to be there. Before letting you in they make you recite their 10 rules and bang a gong to announce your arrival, and everyone cheers like a cultural ritual. “Radical Inclusion! Gifting! Communal Effort!...” Doing so made me look and feel like a twat. Too much noise, let me walk in quietly unnoticed. I haven’t mentioned it yet but the event was organised by Americans, but you could tell that already, right? If the event was run by Brits there’d be a guy half-drunk sitting in one of those camping chairs and he’d say “Alright mate? Bogs are over there, kettle’s over there, and don’t act like too much of a knob. Have fun.” And that is what I want.

Anyhow, the tent was pitched and I was in need of a drink. Susie and I opened the supplies to find that between us we only had wine and rum with no mixer. It was decided that we’d mix the two together using the wine as the mixer. Smashing idea. Don’t judge me. Later Karl, Somi, and Michael arrived and we enjoyed the first evening.

The next morning came around and I felt terrible, not because of the alcohol (I felt surprisingly good after an odd cocktail of rum and wine that tasted like Vimto) but because of the mosquitoes. Jesus, I’m not Rainman but I must have been bitten 200 hundred times, that’s not even an exaggeration. Stinging and itching I made do with a wet wipe shower. With all the red dots on my body I must’ve looked like I had been shooting up with Kate Moss the night before.

At a hippie fest such as this one there is no rest for the attention seeking earth lovers. To my astonishment, blurry eyed from the night before, a woman completely naked walks through the campsite. Bollock naked… well, muff naked I suppose. I had to double take. Not so long later another nudist, this time less exciting, a man. Even so, for some unknown reason I couldn’t stop looking. I don’t understand naturism, you’ve got to be drugged up, or a nutter, or a drugged up nutter to be into that and I couldn’t work out which category these hippies fell into.

Saturday was another day to enjoy the festivities, music, dancing, football on the beach, and of course drinking. I got to say it was a good day, I didn’t even have to use my A.K.

The night fell and it was time for the main event, burning of the man. It was a big, rather impressive spectacle. I have no idea if the burning was meant to symbolise something, more than likely considering the number of “artists” there but it was still entertaining. The build up included drumming shows, fire displays, and unintended fireworks. No matter how good or bad the final act was it couldn’t have been worse than the opening ceremony of the World Cup.

Despite my original qualms about the event and even through some/a lot of negativity I still had a really good time. Was it the best festival I’ve been to? No, far from it. Being eaten alive by the hundreds of mosquitoes, not touching a drop of beer all weekend, missing the World Cup quarter finals, being surrounded by hundreds of weird hippies, and having to give stuff away for free. I’m pretty sure the festival’s not suited to me and I’m not suited to the festival. But never say never.

Homosexuality Isn’t a Choice. Discrimination Is.

We just had a bank holiday weekend and it was action packed. Coming to Asia on of the things I  wanted to see was some form of martial art display so on Friday Karl and I went to Namsangol Hanok Village to watch a taekwondo performance. The show merges dance and martial arts to create great entertainment. I’m not really into dance performances, neither am I overwhelmed by martial arts as I always considered the people that did them after school geeks (geeks that could kick my arse) but put them together and I thoroughly enjoyed the performance.

Martial arts are a bit weird really. If Karl had called me that morning and said 'Do you want to come round mine and watch me break some wooden planks?' I'd have said no thank you. But because these people are professional Asian wood-kickers I was well up for it.

Saturday came around and there was the much anticipated Korea Queer Festival to be enjoyed. I have never been to a gay pride festival before so I wasn’t too sure of what to expect. I asked a gay friend of mine and he told me to expect the unexpected.

"They have parades. There're no parades for how I get laid. They have parades... marching down the street to celebrate that they blow each other, fuck each other in the ass, and smush their vaginas together or whatever that one is. Whatever wonderful thing those folks are doing, it's none of my business." (Louis C.K.)

Karl and I arrived in Sinchon, the first person who welcomed me outside the station was someone who was working for the local clinic. “Free STI checks for everyone!” They really know their target market.

We had only been there a matter of minutes before we saw our first confrontation. Homosexuality is still taboo here in Korea, gay movements only started fighting discrimination laws in the 1990s (according to Wikipedia). The confrontation was between the thousands of representatives from the gay community and about 4 Christian nut-jobs. It started getting heated and had the police not intervened it probably would have resulted in violence.

In that situation who are the crazy people? The people who are attracted to the same gender or the guy dressed in his pyjamas telling everyone that they’re committing an “abomination” (Leviticus 18:22) and that they all “deserve to die” (Romans 1:32) because it was written in a book over 1,800 years ago. People used to believe that well preserved Beanie Babies would be worth a fortune one day, and that only happened in the 90s. Sometimes people are wrong. (Although, give it 1,800 years and my Beanie Baby collection could be worth £40).

We met up with a gay friend who came to shed light on the whole festival. Apparently, protesters are very common and they should be ignored (something I couldn't bring myself to do in this blog). Anyway, we continued through the crowds, we saw a lot of stands, a lot of love, and a lot of skin (from both genders, don’t worry). We enjoyed the stage performances too, many gay people, drag queens, and the like who were on stage showcasing their dancing and singing abilities. The highlight of the show was when a transgender (I think he/she was anyway) tried to sing Beyonce’s Crazy In Love but unfortunately he/she didn’t know the words… and was out of time… and was out of tune. To the crowds delight he/she still gave it a go and filled in the unknown words with “blah, blah, blah”. Very funny.

At the end of the show the parade started. This was certainly a first for me, not only was this my first time in attendance at a gay pride parade, it was also my first time partaking in the march. With a cocktail in hand, and wearing the gay pride flag as a cape I was fully immersed in the day, I was ready to throw on a pair of leather hot pants with the arsecheeks cut out.

The parade came to a halt only half-a-mile in. The Christian nuts had taken it upon themselves to stop everyone’s fun. They were sat in the middle of the road bringing an end to the festivities. The police were drafted in again, this time to protect the selfish, insane, prejudice, close-minded, homophobes. The thousands of parade marchers were growing restless, they were ready to throw buckets of cum and glitter on the Christians for ruining their fun. It’s a shame that a mere 20 or so Christians can ruin the fun of thousands on a day which is to be celebrated not targeted.

This is the kind of Christian I can get on board with.

The interruption was a perfect opportunity for a toilet break. I nipped into the nearest Tom N Toms only to find that there was only a single cubicle. I waited patiently, and as the guy in the cubicle left he was followed by another gentleman. I guess it was the day to be proud.

During the wait a friend of mine checked his Grinder app on his phone and it was crazy! An app which is designed to find the nearest gay person to you so you can meet and ‘hook up’. It’s slightly different than straight apps such as Tinder, which measure available singles in miles, Grinder measures available singles in feet. Lo and behold there was a gay man only 6 feet away, I could see him! He was ready to fuck!

Those kinds of Christians really bother me. What do they really expect when protesting at those events? All the gay people to say “I’ve seen the light, I’m now straight and a devout Christian!” No, of course that’s an unrealistic thing to expect. They’re gay, they cannot change who they are. All the Christians are doing is making gay people, and others hate their religion. People were at the festival to celebrate being gay, drink, party, and have a good time not to convert. We stayed a little longer before we got bored and found a nearby pub.

Sunday was soon upon us and we decided to do some sightseeing, we went to Changdeokgung Palace and the palace's Secret Gardens, as I write it on here it becomes far less secret. A less dramatic day than before but beautiful all the same.

A great weekend from start to finish. 

See You on the Other Side!

On the 25^th May, 2014 it had been 6 months since I left the UK. Nearly half way through and the time has gone so quickly. I’ve been quite lucky that I haven’t felt any homesickness, obviously it would have been nice to see friends and family during that period but it won’t be long until I’m back, and sparing any UKIP deportations everyone will be there waiting for me when I get home.

A reason why I possibly haven’t really felt any homesickness so far has been that I’ve been surrounded with familiar faces since leaving the UK. When I was in Thailand I met up with Amy and Kelsey, two girls from uni. In Australia, I met up with Ed and Amy, a couple of Bedford companions. I got to Korea and met up with Toner, a great friend from home. Soon after, Ben came out to visit for a week. In February, Karl, one of my best mates from uni, came to Korea to teach for the year. And most recently Kate, another mate from uni popped over to Korea to visit Karl and I as she was passing through Asia on her travels. In only a short period of time, I have gone from a tourist to a tour guide, as I showed Kate and her bum-chum Rose around the sights of Seoul. Although when most people think of Brendan the tour guide they immediately think of a flamboyant, overweight twat… Maybe it’s more accurate than I thought.

Kate and Rose arrived in Seoul to torrential rain. The heavens had opened despite my promises to Kate that it would be hot and sunny when they arrived. She was not impressed. We started the catch up with a few pints in the local, as we shared stories and got to know Rose a bit better. A quirky, fun individual to say the least!

Unfortunately, due to our teaching hours Karl and I couldn’t spend as much time as we had hoped with the girls during their stay, but this gave them some exploring of their own to do without us. There’s a lot to see and do in Soeul but when you’ve only got a week you have to start cramming. We suggested the truly touristy attractions; cat café, dog café, palaces, temples, museums, and of course soju and kimchee. Korea in a nut shell.

On Saturday we took a trip to the baseball. We found a good spot in the stand to watch the game and cracked the first beer open in the afternoon sunlight. It was nice for about 10 minutes but standing in the unbearable heat stops becoming fun very quickly. I soon became a hairy, sweaty mess. My chest was like a rain forest, my arse was like a swamp, and my bollocks had mushrooms growing on them. I spent most of the afternoon with my legs apart trying to give the twins some breathing space. And apparently the summer gets hotter here in Seoul, my heritage derives from Ireland and England, I wasn’t designed for the hot climates. I’m happy in the cold and rain, I’m a human slug.

I look so camp in this picture.

The baseball game was enjoyable despite “supporting” the team that got dicked 23-1. In attendance were Kate, Rose, Somi, Karl, Bernd, Angie, and I, we’re hardly what you’d call die hard baseball fans. Our excuse was to show Kate and Rose something different that they hadn’t experienced on their travels so far. In the crowd I happened to see this guy watching TV on his phone, upon further inspection he was watching the baseball game that was happening live in front of him.

If he had lifted his head up 20cm then he would have seen the game live. Baseball is hardly that interesting at the best of times, if you watch the game live and then watch the replay on your phone you’re only going to be bored twice.

As we were leaving the game we also saw this pair of sad acts.

“Together Since 2010.” So what? Rihanna and Chris Brown were together since 2008, and look how that turned out. (Although, based on the pictures Angie has been drawing of us maybe I shouldn’t comment on other cringey couples).

We showed the girls the highlights of the Hongdae night life. We went to the park and they got to meet the notorious Makgeolli Man.

Both Friday and Saturday night were filled with drunken adventures which ceased around 5am.

They said they had a great time in Korea, and would like to come back again. It was great having them here it’s just a shame it was only for a week. Korea is an awesome place, and you know the old saying ‘Once you go to Korea… you get gonorrhoea?’ I was trying to think of something more accurate, but that’ll do. 

Sport in Korea: Which is Better, Football or Baseball?

Football

I’ve been to a couple of football games in Korea now, both domestic and continental. I attended Seoul’s opening game of the season against Chunnam Dragons they started with the usual opening day procedures. When the game got underway the most noticeable difference to the English game that I’m used to is the considerable drop in quality and talent. Poor passing, no control, and shambolic organisation. I have been told that the best Koreans players get offers from abroad and head to Europe or Japan, and even those that can kick a ball straight get lured to oil-rich nations such as the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia leaving Korea’s domestic game lacking quality to say the least, even Emile Heskey could look good in this league… OK, maybe not.

Korea was lucky enough to joint host the World Cup with Japan in 2002, as a result Seoul got a brand new stadium which Seoul FC were fortunate to inherit after the tournament. The downside to this is that Seoul FC usually attracts crowds of around 15,000 which don’t quite fill the 67,000 seater stadium that the team plays in. The fans are too spread and the stadium looks empty. This is how a stadium would look if Joey Barton ever had a testimonial, no one would go.

I’ve also made an appearance at an Asian Champions League game, when Seoul took on Kawasaki Frontale. The Asian CL is different from the UEFA CL, I was expecting to hear that glorious, recognisable theme tune (The Champioooooons!). Instead I got a Korean rendition of If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands. Not quite the same.

I took my seat and before long the game was underway, I noticed the two guys in front of me had a feast of snacks to eat throughout the game, they even had a huge pizza.

This is what’s wrong with football today, the American influence has changed every sporting event into an eating competition. You don’t go to the football for the food. It’s called “The Beautiful Game” for a reason. It’s meant to be watched, observed, studied, it’s about passion, and creating an atmosphere, not filling your face with over-priced hot dogs. If you’re hungry, you have a dodgy pie before the game. Unfortunately too many clubs have gone down this route, and yes my club (Arsenal) is also guilty of this. Sure, we can boast that we have one of the highest incomes from match days in global football, but at what cost? Filling the stadium with plastic fans and out-pricing genuine fans creating one of the worst atmospheres in European football. The FA are guilty of this too, for too many reasons; for the over budget Wembley Stadium, milking fans, charging them £50+ for irrelevant friendlies – they’ve sold out. It’s a major shame… Maybe I overthought those two guys having pizza.

I moved in the second half and got amongst the signing fans, they were a delight. Real fans.

Seoul have lost the games that I have attended so far. Last season Seoul finished 4^th (surprise, surprise, I’m supporting the team that finished 4^th) and qualified for the Champions League. This season they’re 2^nd bottom and have scored a less than impressive 6 goals in 11 games. This demise has occurred since I have started “supporting” them, I’m sure they could do without my support.

Baseball

The most popular sport in Korea is baseball so for months I had wanted to go to a game. We decided to attend the Doosan Bears vs. LG Twins game, these are both Seoul based teams so it was pretty likely that this game would sell out. We came up with a plan to get to the stadium at 11am (3 hours before kick-off) to ensure that we got tickets. There was only one slight hiccup to our plan and that was that we went out drinking the night before and therefore slept in. We arrived at the stadium at 1:30pm (30 minutes before kick-off) and inevitably the game had sold out. This left us with 2 choices, call an end to our baseball adventure or find a ticket tout, in no time at all we found a tout.

They seem to be very common, all there to make a quick won. In very broken English we asked him how much he wanted for a ticket, he said ₩9,000 (£5). We agreed and he led us to though the subway station to the man with the tickets (it was very dodgy). We tried to give him the cash but he was refusing saying that he wanted more, he wanted ₩19,000 (£11). We weren’t happy about the increase in price but decided to pay it anyway as the game was starting very soon. So we handed him ₩19,000 and he said no again, we realised that in fact he wanted ₩90,000 (£52) for a ticket. We told him where to poke his ticket.

The game had started and we decided to wait 15 minutes for the ticket prices to come down a little and not long after we found another tout and got a ticket for the reasonable price of ₩15,000 (£9). We stocked up our beers for the afternoon and made our way into the stadium. We had standing tickets and found a good spot at the back of the stand. The sun was shining and I had a cold beer in my hand, I cared little about everything else around me.

I had no idea what I was watching. Scott tried to explain the rules to me but ultimately it’s just glorified rounders. The atmosphere was good and everyone else was really into it, although I couldn’t bring myself to cheer at a girls’ school sport.

Scott made a comment that made me chuckle. He said that he was impressed with the crowd chanted in unison. Well, yeah… that’s what all sports crowds do, don’t they? He went on to explain that in American sports there is no organisation with the chanting, everyone just shouts what they like when they like. ‘Murica.

After a while I realised that watching baseball is very much like watching cricket, you go along not because it’s a great sport but because it’s a nice day and you can get drunk. I did have fun, and I’d probably go again but when you have a choice to attend a good baseball game or a poor football game I will always go to the poor football game. 

For all of football's downfalls it is still adored worldwide, and baseball is just another bat-and-ball game. Football is the greatest sport on the planet. No questions asked. 

"Some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more important than that."
Bill Shankley

Furry Felines, Horny Hounds, and Coffee

It’s taken a while but I finally got round to going to both a cat café and a dog café. Korea is renowned for these particular attractions so like the tourist that I am I went. I’m still not sure if I like them or not, on one hand these places pamper the animals, there’s a constant flow of customers coming in and giving the animals attention and treats, but on the other hand the animals are essentially caged all day. The good outweighs the bad so I think I’m fine with it.

Karl and I had our first man date in a dog café. I feel sorry for dogs in Korea, it’s the ultimate beauty contest, it’s almost like Russian roulette. If you’re a cute dog then you’ll end up in a café, if you’re a mutt then you’ll end up in the butchers (it’s not strictly legal but it still happens).

People in Korea (especially girls) love all things cute, so most of the dogs were tiny spaniels, poodles, or Chihuahuas; there were a few cool dogs there though. Dogs are fun to watch, they’re easily excited, running around, fighting, and more often than not they’re humping which is always funny. There was an army guy at the next table to Karl and I, he was there with his girlfriend. At one point I overheard him say “I didn’t come here to watch dog porn”. That was the main reason I was there, it was entertaining, I took like 40 pictures.

A few weeks later and Karl and I had our second man date, this time at a cat café. Karl doesn’t really like cats so he was slightly reluctant to go. The first thing I noticed was the lack of enthusiasm that cats generally have. They’d be lying down and act like “Oh look, more people. So what?” There were many Koreans also in the café and they were speaking Korean to the cats and it dawned on me that the cats probably know more Korean than I do.

The cats have free reign of the café, they will walk all over the counters, I really hate that. I wasn’t too keen on the coffee in these animal cafes. It’s probably not worth thinking about that the same people that clean up after the animals also make the coffee, like I said I’d rather not think about it.

The cats generally do nothing unless you give them a treat. The other customers bought some chicken and the cats all rush to them. Having only spent a short amount of time there you soon start to realise that cats are sluts. Cat cafés are like strip clubs and the cats are the strippers, they’re only interested in you if you tip them. They will sit on your lap if you pay them.

Whereas dogs, they’re more like the drunk girl at a party. They put on a show for everyone and don’t expect anything in return. Dogs and drunk girls are just happy to be getting the attention.

So which do I like more, cats or dogs? Well, that’s the same as asking which do I like more, strippers or drunk girls? Let’s just say I like cats and dogs equally.

The Melee in Hongdae - Street Fighting, Lanterns, and Suwon

I’m starting to notice a bit of a recurring theme with the stories I have been writing on this blog. It seems rather regular that a story starts with “We were drinking in a park when… “ and this story is no different.

It was Friday night and through a friend of a friend we were drinking with a group of maybe ten French guys. Generally, the relationship between Britain and France is antagonistic, but after a few drinks with these guys I was having a great night. An easy icebreaker between European males is to talk football, they supported Lille and Arsenal is basically French so we had a lot to talk about. After a few drinks I started to realise that I share many similarities with the stereotypical frog. For instance; French people are rude and obnoxious, and I’m rude and obnoxious. French people rarely shave, and I rarely shave. The French are known for being great lovers, and I’m… OK I’m not that similar to them. Anyway, we were drinking in Hongdae park when a Korean bloke approached us and he was asking us if we wanted to fight him. It turned out that this guy is a professional boxer and was giving people the opportunity to pay him to fight him. So you pay him to get your arse kicked. You know what, I’m good. I don’t know if this guy was training for a fight and wanted some different competition, or maybe he was just after an ego boost but he was not short of opponents, one being one of the French guys who was out with us. He was drunk which made the fight all the easier for the sober professional. There was some basic equipment, gloves, headgear, and a bloke with a smart phone to time the rounds so you know it’s legit. There was also a sign tied to a tree which explained the rules.

Here is some of round 1 (notice the drunk guy with the makgeolli).

Some of round 2.

Unfortunately I ran out of memory to capture round 3 but it was a blood bath. The boxer didn’t want to fight the third round stating that he’d batter him, which inevitably happened but the French guy was persistent (I know, a French guy who wants to fight – that’s unheard of!). The fight finally finished and the French guy was covered in blood and his face was black and blue. The boxer finished the fight a little sweatier than before. Was it worth it? Definitely not.

We continued drinking in Hongdae but the drama stopped there.

The following day we went to the Lotus Lantern Festival which was spread out across Seoul. We checked out a few of the Buddhist Temples (Bongeunsa and Jogyesa) and watched the parade come through Dongdaemun. It was pretty cool. I mean, essentially it’s only fancy origami with a couple of candles but impressive all the same.

We had our term break this week, a couple of days off during the week. We went down to Suwon to see Rabel and to explore Suwon. It was great we walked around the city and walked the length of the fortress walls. A great day of sightseeing.

After a full day of sightseeing we rounded the day off with a Noraebang (karaoke singing room). I tolerate these places and I’m often forced to sing even when I don’t want to, I went along with the guys this time but made it clear that I was coming for the beer. Very soon into it while the guys were singing I got a really strange impulse… to sing! This had never happened before. I sang an Arctic Monkeys song (poorly) and I really enjoyed it! Before I could gather my thoughts I was lining up another and by the end of the night I had sung Oasis, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Spice Girls, Shaggy, and Frozen (when in Korea, do as the Koreans do). I thoroughly enjoyed the karaoke and I never thought that would happen in my lifetime.

Back at work today but we’ve got another long weekend ahead of us. I could really get used to these two-and-a-half day working weeks.