Hilarity and Romance
So on Friday, we went to the HOTTEST CLUB IN SEOUL. I put that in all caps to try and communicate the hilarity/irony of that statement. It was called Circle and pretty much on any Korean soap opera or music video (youtube Big Bang, “ Last Farewell”) in which they have a club scene that’s where its based. It’s also the place where most western celeberties go partying such as Lil Wayne and David Beckham (who unfortunately wasn’t there, --le sigh--).
Circle is a big hit amongst the orangejok set. Orangejok is a term used to describe young, rich Koreans. It usually implies someone who has inherited money, like the son/daughter of a chaebol owner, as opposed to earning it themselves. The reference to ‘orange’ is a rather pejorative way of making fun of them trying to emulate the orange-county lifestyle. Although I had fun, which isn't saying much because I pretty much always have fun, I think that if I had to have actually paid the cover (which I think was $30-50), I would have grasped the full weight of how overrated the place was.
Circle made me ponder one of the key mysteries of men that I have never understood. While we were out this super dusty old dude bought a bunch of shots for me and my friends (which I respectfully declined lol). I honestly don’t understand why men do this. No woman in her right mind is going to drink some roofie colada that a complete stranger tries to hand her. I’d also imagine that going out in general is a lot more expensive for men for various reasons so why waste money on some girl who probably just wants to be left alone? Maybe you can leave your money in your wallet and save up and buy some guitar lessons (aka the Keith Richards method of getting women, seriously the man looks like a corpse)?
Along those same lines, this week I’ve had a number of random unpleasant interactions with Korean men that have really made me feel grossed out. In particular, it’s been especially awkward in a country where the only reference young Koreans have to people who look remotely like me are music videos. There are a lot of stories, I could tell along these lines but it would take hours. It's just funny because I had originally planned on ending my ‘date fast’ in the near future but now these experience just make me feel like ‘eh.’ I still don’t feel like I understand anything. Like when I think of things that have made me attracted to someone it’s usually seeing them do considerate stuff for their friends/family or being passionate about something interesting or being creative, etc. Other than that, I for the most part have never even really had a concrete ‘type.’ But apparently no one in the world operates that way. I’ve been trying to not let it get to me but every time someone here, Korean or Western, pays attention to me because of how I look it just makes me feel a really deep loneliness. I think it’s the combination of not looking like anyone around me and feeling like no one thinks of things the same way I do, a total inner and outward isolation. Thankfully those moments have mostly been few and far between. I just wish some people weren't the way they are.
We stayed at Circle until about 4:30 and things started to get weird. Funny stories: So my friend Kristen told someone that my name was Beyoncé Berry (as in some fictional relative of both Halle Berry and Beyoncé Knowles) and they actually believed it because apparently black people all look alike to Koreans haha. Then randomly later, I was coming out of the bathroom and this man comes up to me and wanted me to be in some promotional video for the club. So he’s trying to explain it to me and I kept telling him to talk to my friend that speaks Korean. But the funny part was it was so late and I was so out of it that I didn’t realize he was speaking English the whole time. So somewhere on the internet there is a video of me literally saying “Club Circle, FUN FUN FUN!” There’s also one of my friend Nikki, who surprise surprise isn’t Asian either. They were clearly looking for the dumb foreign girls. He gave me his business card with the website on it but later I got annoyed at one of the boys (for calling a girl a bitch) and threw it at him and forgot to pick it up. Although my impression was: Not Legit.
I’ve written a lot since getting here, it’s making me very happy. I think it’s my way of taking being a tourist to a whole new level. I’ve been delaying the inevitable point in which I start to hate everything I’ve written and spend days adding and deleting periods/words/the whole thing by literally writing stuff and just leaving it alone for 2 weeks. But already I'm pretty unsatisfied so....oh well.
I love the glasses Koreans wear. Like this guy:
I really love glasses. I found a non-prescription pair the other day but I definitely was not meant to wear glasses. On the bright side, so many people i love wear glasses (Mom, Dad, Jess, granny, etc.) so glasses are still alright with me.
On a completely unrelated note, I had some really good pizza today. Korean pizza is so yummy. I was actually surprised this is the case because I'm pretty sure the only type of cheese they have in this entire country is American (vomit) but it was quite tasty. The crust of the pizza I had was filled with sweet potato puree which is actually pretty amazing.
Mmmm, sweet potatoes....
Circle is a big hit amongst the orangejok set. Orangejok is a term used to describe young, rich Koreans. It usually implies someone who has inherited money, like the son/daughter of a chaebol owner, as opposed to earning it themselves. The reference to ‘orange’ is a rather pejorative way of making fun of them trying to emulate the orange-county lifestyle. Although I had fun, which isn't saying much because I pretty much always have fun, I think that if I had to have actually paid the cover (which I think was $30-50), I would have grasped the full weight of how overrated the place was.
Circle made me ponder one of the key mysteries of men that I have never understood. While we were out this super dusty old dude bought a bunch of shots for me and my friends (which I respectfully declined lol). I honestly don’t understand why men do this. No woman in her right mind is going to drink some roofie colada that a complete stranger tries to hand her. I’d also imagine that going out in general is a lot more expensive for men for various reasons so why waste money on some girl who probably just wants to be left alone? Maybe you can leave your money in your wallet and save up and buy some guitar lessons (aka the Keith Richards method of getting women, seriously the man looks like a corpse)?
Along those same lines, this week I’ve had a number of random unpleasant interactions with Korean men that have really made me feel grossed out. In particular, it’s been especially awkward in a country where the only reference young Koreans have to people who look remotely like me are music videos. There are a lot of stories, I could tell along these lines but it would take hours. It's just funny because I had originally planned on ending my ‘date fast’ in the near future but now these experience just make me feel like ‘eh.’ I still don’t feel like I understand anything. Like when I think of things that have made me attracted to someone it’s usually seeing them do considerate stuff for their friends/family or being passionate about something interesting or being creative, etc. Other than that, I for the most part have never even really had a concrete ‘type.’ But apparently no one in the world operates that way. I’ve been trying to not let it get to me but every time someone here, Korean or Western, pays attention to me because of how I look it just makes me feel a really deep loneliness. I think it’s the combination of not looking like anyone around me and feeling like no one thinks of things the same way I do, a total inner and outward isolation. Thankfully those moments have mostly been few and far between. I just wish some people weren't the way they are.
We stayed at Circle until about 4:30 and things started to get weird. Funny stories: So my friend Kristen told someone that my name was Beyoncé Berry (as in some fictional relative of both Halle Berry and Beyoncé Knowles) and they actually believed it because apparently black people all look alike to Koreans haha. Then randomly later, I was coming out of the bathroom and this man comes up to me and wanted me to be in some promotional video for the club. So he’s trying to explain it to me and I kept telling him to talk to my friend that speaks Korean. But the funny part was it was so late and I was so out of it that I didn’t realize he was speaking English the whole time. So somewhere on the internet there is a video of me literally saying “Club Circle, FUN FUN FUN!” There’s also one of my friend Nikki, who surprise surprise isn’t Asian either. They were clearly looking for the dumb foreign girls. He gave me his business card with the website on it but later I got annoyed at one of the boys (for calling a girl a bitch) and threw it at him and forgot to pick it up. Although my impression was: Not Legit.
I’ve written a lot since getting here, it’s making me very happy. I think it’s my way of taking being a tourist to a whole new level. I’ve been delaying the inevitable point in which I start to hate everything I’ve written and spend days adding and deleting periods/words/the whole thing by literally writing stuff and just leaving it alone for 2 weeks. But already I'm pretty unsatisfied so....oh well.
I love the glasses Koreans wear. Like this guy:
I really love glasses. I found a non-prescription pair the other day but I definitely was not meant to wear glasses. On the bright side, so many people i love wear glasses (Mom, Dad, Jess, granny, etc.) so glasses are still alright with me.
On a completely unrelated note, I had some really good pizza today. Korean pizza is so yummy. I was actually surprised this is the case because I'm pretty sure the only type of cheese they have in this entire country is American (vomit) but it was quite tasty. The crust of the pizza I had was filled with sweet potato puree which is actually pretty amazing.
Mmmm, sweet potatoes....
posted by Sarah S | 5:02 AM
1 Comments:
-There's been an influx of glasses-wearing Asians at the basketball courts lately--all wearing the thick black frames. I noticed it, then read your thoughts on glasses.
-Like you said, buying drinks is expensive. Unfortunately, my guess is that the reason guys do it is that it works often enough for it to be worth it to them (economics...).
-It's not only music videos. Some countries only see Americans through their satellite TV. So they think America, "the Christian nation," is the land of sex, and they think that Christians are perverted. It's stuff I try to think about when considering consuming garbage on TV/theater.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home