Night Life in Seoul; Hangeul

This entry is split up into two sections: Night Life in Seoul, and the Hangeul Alphabet.

NIGHT LIFE IN SEOUL

Unfortunately, I don't have as much experience with this subject as many of my fellow teachers, because I am a little bit lame. But that's me, and that's probably why many of you love me :) (For example, last night after our evening meeting, I declined to go to an amazing market with some really cool fellow English Teachers to take a nap from 9:30-11:30, and then subsequently go for a night run. Other people were out drinking, sucking up Seoul...yea...it's cool, for me, that was a pretty sweet night.

ANYWAY. I can comment on the few nights that I have been out. Both times I just went and chillaxed in a few bars. Two of them were more like the kind of bar you might find in New Haven - (like a Viva's and a Richters) and the other was more like a trendy type bar. Anyway, from my experience, everyone seemed really nice. One night I was with a few friends, and none of us spoke Korean. But we just smiled a lot, made gestures, and were really friendly, and the people working at the bar seemed to like us just fine. One thing to remember in Korea - NO TIPPING. It is an insult here. I think it might be like suggesting that they are poor and might see it as you trying to give them charity. It's a little awkward at first, especially when you want to do show them your appreciation. But just trying to speak a little Korean seems to go a long way in the showing-appreciation department. (Pic below: me and Ashley, a former coordinator who will now be studying at Yonsei University in Seoul)

One thing I really like about dining here is the sense of community. Everyone is always conscious of others, making sure that no one's glass is ever empty. Whenever someone finishes his cup, another person will jump to pour more drink for that person. Whenever we go out, we always try to practice that custom - I really love it. It makes me feel happy to make sure others are enjoying themselves, and it makes you feel really good yourself to know that others care about you enough to be watching to make sure you always have enough to drink. And the Koreans do love to drink (more about that later).

Whenever someone pours you a drink, they take the pitcher/bottle with two hands, and when you receive a drink, you pick up the glass with two hands, and lift the glass off of the table. If the glass is left on the table, it is considered rude. Also, when you take your first drink, usually you turn your back on the person who poured your drink (I'm not sure why...). I'm not actually sure if that is still practiced...but I will find out soon enough when I go out to dinner with my co-workers in a week or two (that entry will be very interesting, I'm sure...). Also, when you go to a bar, at most places, you must order food as well as drink. Just an interesting aside.

Seoul is so bustling and energetic at night. There are lights everywhere - it is like nothing I have ever seen before. If I had to compare it to a city in the States, I would have to say it most resembles Vegas - multi-colored lights everywhere...everyone out until all hours of the night...I should have taken pictures...maybe I'll just have to come back some weekend.

Soju is the drink of choice here, which is apparently similar to the strength of wine and to the taste of vodka. However, some soju is stronger than others, so drinker beware. Many people have horror stories with soju, also, because the Koreans drink it so liberally, and are always filling up your glass, so especially when you are out with other Koreans treating you, you can end up drinking a lot more than your body might appreciate.

Beer is prevalent here too, although not nearly as popular as soju. 3L of beer is about 15,000won, about $14-$15. YEAH. Dirt cheap. Ohhh Seoul....

Perhaps more on Seoul in a few days, as I will probably be attempting to be social these last two nights at Konkuk University, before diving into the world of teaching in Busan. Stay tuned. Now for a bit about the amazingness of Hangeul.

HANGEUL

Hangeul is the Korean alphabet. It has 19 consonants and 21 vowels, and is extremely easy to learn. I've probably spent 5-6 hours on the alphabet in the past 3 weeks and I can pretty much sound out anything. Each syllable is a block of usually two or three letters, and is refered to as a syllable block. It is AWESOME.

Today I was studying the numbers (the numbers used for monetary purposes...the words for counting numbers are completely different). I LOVE hangeul's numeric system. It is based on tens, unlike our system. For example, our system has "eleven, twelve, thirteen..." where hangeul has "10 1 (the word for 'ten' and then the word for 'one' right after), 10 2, 10 3". And instead of "twenty, thirty, fourty..." it has "2 10 (two tens), 3 10, 4 10..." Numbers in multiple of tens are unique until 10,000, and then 10,000 starts being multiplied to make higher numbers. For example, 10 is "shiip", 100 is "paek", 1,000 is "ch'eon", 10,000 is "man", and then 100,000 is "shiimman" (10 x 10,000). !!!!!! Ahhhh I love it. LOVE IT!!!! It is going to take me a bit to be able to rattle these off my head quickly, though - having to multiply as well as come up with the vocab on the spot (I tried earlier today to say out loud the price of my dinner, which was 2,500 won...more on that in a second...), but on the spot I couldn't recall the number for 2 and 1000 and 5 and 100, but if I had, I would have just said "iil-ch'eon oh-paek". Oh man I love this place.

Getting back to my dinner of 2,500 won (roughly $2.50), this is what I purchased:

$2.50!!!! For a small orange juice, mentos, and two different types of "gimbop" - basically rice wrapped in seaweed - the bigger one is more like a rice burrito, and the smaller one is more spicy, with anchovies, apparently (I love the smaller one - it is soo delicious - aju masshiit seumnida!