Christmas comes to Korea: Part 2

It feels a little bizarre to be reflecting on various expat holiday events in Korea now that it's January 3rd, but that's what happens from Christmas through the New Year.  My gym trips have become less frequent (thank goodness my weight has not increased!), I've slept in later, spent much more time with friends, and have neglected blogging more than I'd like to admit.  Christmas comes to Korea (Part 2) takes us back to December 19th, 2015.  Since then, I've had Christmas Eve festivities at school, Christmas brunch (and post-brunch napping), Christmas Dinner (where we actually ended up at a club in Seomyeon, of all places...Happy Birthday, Jesus!), New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, and the remaining 2 days rounding out my winter vacation.  December was a complete and total blur, and thinking back on this year (it's been 10 months in Korea - I can't believe it) time has flown by far too quickly.

We all seem to have become accustomed to our tiny Korean kitchens.  Some of my friends have toaster ovens and microwaves.  I have neither.  It's tough to impress at a pot-luck dinner for foreigners with 2 hot plates and a blender.  10 girls from across Canada, the United States, and England filled Expat and the City's villa-style (ie. not an apartment high-rise) suite bringing various hors d'oeuvres and desserts.  I brought homemade hummus and crudites, while others made charcuterie platters, homemade cookies (pictured above - they were out of this world!), and vegetarian Vietnamese salad wraps.  The people who opted for the traditional Korean custom of take-out brought chicken bites, Frasier bakery bread (blueberry "crack" bread), and ice cream cake.  There was plenty of food (we were definitely dessert-heavy!), and we spread out across the living room and bedroom to nom out.

We had been assigned Secret Santa at our American Thanksgiving pot-luck dinner, but since there were more people joining us we turned it into a stealing game where everyone had a number (there are various names for this game) and, going in order, each person could either steal a gift or select a new one to open.  

The favourite of the evening seemed to be a pair of fleece Canadiana-inspired Moose pajama pants (there were a couple of other things in the package but I don't quite remember what).  The second most stolen gift was a cozy package including a little lamb fleece hood (totally designed as a blanky or towel for little kids) with some hot chocolate, face masks, and Christmas-themed Krispy Kreme donuts.  

The brigade of fleecy, soft PJ pants!

It took us 8 months (to the day, in fact) to finish the Absolut from Kudeta, but we did it!  I had my gifts stolen twice (wahhhh!), had the opportunity to steal once, and ended the game by taking the last gift (PJ pants with cows jumping over moons and a wicked night-time face gel).

Sam's place is really close to Seomyeon (a downtown area of Busan that's not on a beach), so we piled into a couple of cabs and headed over to Thursday Party.  If you live in Korea and have never been to Thursday Party (an American-themed bar franchise with cheap-ish drinks by Korean standards, darts, beer pong, and sticky floors), I would be very surprised.  We sang a combination of Korean, Canadian (Canadians are ruling the Billboard top 10 and top 100 right now), and American pop tunes, met some Korean girls (usually it's just the guys who want to chat so that was new), and boogied in our self-made dance-floor (there was an actual dance-floor, we just couldn't get over to it!).  Between Seoul and Busan, the Christmas season was shaping up well!

How to meet people in Korea (or at least Busan!)

You're going to have to kiss a lot of frogs before finding your Prince (or Princess!).  Thankfully there is a mixed bag of great people in Korea.  Photo by Joel Gale Photography

I was very hesitant to write another list post but after the quick success of the last one (and e-mails from followers - thank you!!) I figured why not?  Feel free to add your thoughts in the comments and tell me about anything I've managed to forget.

1. This one's the easiest.  Talk to strangers!  If you spot a foreigner for the most part they will be just fine with you saying hello.  Don't be creepy, crack a joke and if they laugh and seem open to conversation then continue along.  If they seem busy or uncomfortable then move along.  Most of the friends I've made here have been from smiling and saying hello.  More often than not if they are going to go do something cool and you seem interested they'll invite you along.  That's how I met one of my best gal pals (and discovered a tasty vegan restaurant!).  I read an article when I first arrived in Korea about a guy who ran down the street to talk to another foreigner just so he could speak English.  If you're in a rural village this might be your best bet.

2. Head out to the University area on a Friday or Saturday night.  Kyungsung University in Busan is a really busy area on Saturday nights and you can usually just sit down at a table and chat people up.  Friday nights we usually start in Gwangan or Haeundae (the beach areas with lots of expat bars), but ultimately we always end up in KSU!  I hear that PNU has some good spots as well, but I have yet to discover the area (other than the nearby Dongnae-Gu).

3. On that note - Expat Bars!  There are a TON of expat bars in major cities (Seoul, Busan, Ulsan, Daejeon, Daegu, and others).  These are spots where you'll meet other foreigners or English-speaking Koreans who are interesting in broadening their horizons.  In Busan you can check out Thursday Party (there are practically more Thursday Party locations than Starbucks and they're always busy)

4. Trivia - there are so many spots to do trivia that you could probably fill your week with a different bar each night.  Typically people do arrive in teams, but you can always join in (someone always has to bail if they need to work late or get up early.  Spots open up - don't worry!).  Check out HQ Gwangan, HQ KSU, and Eva's (Thursday night at 10 PM weekly).

5. Go on a trip!  Groups like When in Korea (WinK) offer group trips to the islands, zip-lining, Makgeolli tasting, Wine-making, and to the DMZ.  They've also opened up their own restaurant/ bar in Seoul which looks like it would definitely be worth checking out!

6. Charity Events.  Sharky's is hosting an upcoming event in support of the disaster in Nepal, Curry for Canines at HQ Gwangan, and dog walking at the Busan Abandoned Pet Sanctuary are all great places to meet people with common interests (or just party productively).

7. Concerts - Ultra and other similar concerts sell out pretty quickly but you can always catch DJ Festivals here and there to meet people with similar tastes in music.

8. Language Exchange Groups - careful with this one.  I haven't checked them out yet but I've heard from a few sources that Korean guys aren't so interesting in practicing their English skills, rather meeting foreign girls they might deem easy.  Obviously this isn't always the case, but if you bring up a Language Exchange to a Korean friend you might get a chuckle and a knowing smile.  If you're looking for an International Party there is one coming up in Gwangan at Sharky's.

9. Clubs - There are a ton of groups on meetup.com.  The one's that are really active on Facebook are the Wine Club and the instagram Club.

10.  There are hidden foreigner markets generally with a philanthropic goal - keep your ear to the ground for these ones.

11. Hit the beach!  In Haeundae and Gwangalli on a bright, sunny weekend you're almost guaranteed to find foreigners laying out unafraid of the sun.  Look for the people on the beach without umbrellas or creep the patios - the Sunday Funday game is strong! 

12. Do you like to dance?  Go to a club!  There are a ton of nightclubs in Seomyeon and Haeundae where Busan's elite hang out.  I haven't partied Gangnam Style just yet, but once I do you'll all be sure to get the inside scoop.

13. Lucky (or unlucky) #13 is Tinder!  Tinder is used pretty heavily in the expat community.  I find that it's a little less hook-up, a little more dating-friendly (or at least a way to meet cool new friends).  I know a few guys and gals who have met their significant others on Tinder in Korea.  Go ahead and swipe right!  You never know...

14. If all else fails there's ALWAYS Speed-dating!  I would never have imagined going to a speed-dating event back home in Canada, but you never know who will be out on a lark looking for a good laugh.  Drunkenmaster KSU will be hosting a Speed-dating event this weekend so if you're interested the details are available here.

Realistically the only way you're going to meet new and exciting people is if you put yourself out there.  Don't wait by the phone expecting people to get in touch with you - the most wild and imaginative people are already out there experiencing it all.

Kudeta

Merriam-Webster describes a Coup d'état as: "a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence".  "Kudeta", a nightclub in Haeundae Beach, seems to have taken over the space we originally thought was TAO Beach Club (yes - like in Vegas).  Whether through violence or not, the sudden take-over came with a new name and a surprise to my two EPIK gals, a couple of military boys from California, and me.  Most surprising of all?  The fact that my 27 year old ass was so willingly brought along to a nightclub.

Last Friday night S, L, and I met up at S's gorgeous little villa-style apartment for some planning and Makgeolli.  It was the first time I had taken the city bus in Busan, so I was glad that L waited for me at the station.  The gents had already arrived, so once we settled on a game plan we all piled into a cab clown car-style and were on our way to Haeundae Beach.

It hadn't occurred to me that we would be heading over the Gwangali "Diamond" Bridge that I've had the chance to admire a few times from land already, so my pictures of the unbelievable light show we experienced aren't fantastic.  I think it was everyone's first time rolling over the bridge so it was pretty exciting!

  














First stop was, of course, Thursday Party.  This was my first time at Thursday Party in Haeundae Beach, however I had been to the location in Changwon and then in the KSU area as well.  We saw some locals from Hwamyeong, which was unusual because Haeundae is so far away.  After a drink and some beer pong with a strapping young Air Force man we headed out in search of TAO.

As we know now, somewhere down the line TAO became Kudeta.  Friday night, however, we walked around for what felt like an eternity just trying to figure out where we were going.

The club itself was actually quite small.  We were brought over to our booth which had an arrangement of fruit as well as a couple of bottles of Absolut Vodka and various mixers.  It was kind of far from the dancefloor in its own room with couches, so I venture through to the runway-style dancefloor and met various English-speaking Koreans, one of which was apparently a Korean Drama Actress, another who owned a large shipping business.  Smoking was allowed inside the club which left me a little smelly the next morning, but that might have been compounded with the smoke machine.

If you've read about South Korean modesty rules then let me tell you - nightclubs do not reflect those rules.  My Halston dress was a criss-cross halter that was backless and I was one of the more conservatively dressed women at the club.

All in all it was a great evening with even better company and if this was any indication of the nightlife in Busan you can bet you'll see a few more posts on industry experience to come!