Partying in Korea: Can you keep up?

Last weekend was our first weekend in Daegu, so we decided to check out the nightlife downtown. We had two separate groups: one that was coming for dinner and one that was coming after dinner. Well, we had way more people than we anticipated show up for dinner (I guess that's what happens when you put something on Facebook) so we ended up splitting into a few different groups. In my group (which was basically Class 3 from orientation, we split up again for dinner. Half of us went to a Korean BBQ restaurant and the other half went upstairs to a Western bar called Traveler's, where we all met up again after dinner.

After dinner, we got cocktails in a bag at this really small place that's basically just a stand (which is fine, because you can carry around open alcohol containers in Korea) and then we ended up at ANOTHER Western bar. I hadn't really planned on coming to Korea only to hang out in the exact same types of places I could go to at home, and luckily, I wasn't the only one. Another girl from my orientation, named Annie, also wanted to get a little more involved in actual KOREAN nightlife. We walked around for a while and eventually decided on the club that had the longest line: a place called Monkey (MK). We went in and it was completely packed. One of the biggest differences between this place and clubs back home was that EVERYONE was dancing. Even boys, and not only just if they were grinding on a girl. Also, the DJs had more interaction with the crowd than I've seen at clubs in the US. There were about five of them on an elevated platform in the back and they would yell things out once in a while. The other people in the club were really friendly. Some of them don't mind pushing you out of the way if they're trying to get by but I think that's just the way they do it since it's so crowded. Aside from that though, we were each given glowsticks on two separate occasions includung a small group of girls that we danced with for quite a while. They even passed us their drinks when they were sharing them. (It wasn't sketchy or anything, Koreans share EVERYTHING.)

 I didn't take this picture but it's a pretty accurate picture of what the streets looked like.

We were at MK for about three hours before we left. It was after 3am and the club wasn't showing any signs of slowing down. It was just as packed as when we walked in. I heard a lot of clubs here are open until like 7am. I haven't confirmed this, though, so I can't say for sure. After wandering around and finding some snacks, Annie and I made it back to the Western bar where everyone else had been. Many of them were still there so we talked to them for a while. Then, Annie went...somewhere else and I went home in a cab.

When I got back to my apartment, my feet hurt, my ears were ringing and it was around 5am. But it was totally worth it.

I can't say I necessarily LIKE this song...but I can't really do a post about partying in Korea without it.

Artist: PSY

Song: Gangnam Style

Album: PSY's Best 6th Part

Released: July 2012