Hostels and Clubs

South Korea represents a lot of firsts for me. The first few nights in South Korea I guess kind of set the tone of my experience here.

1) My first night in a hostel

Those who read my first blog know that I arrived a day early and a kind lady helped me find a hostel to stay at my first night. I stayed in a four-person FEMALE dorm, but only had one roommate for the night. She was also an American exchange student who took classes over the summer. She helped me find a place to eat dinner and then we went back to the hostel. ( I was too tired to explore ) Well an hour or two later, one of the workers barges into the room. No knock or “Hey I’m coming in!” Or anything. He just simply puts the key into the lock and turned the doorknob. He then proceeds to tell us he has to “fix the router” which is oh so conveniently in our room. He exits the room leaving the door wide open and as soon as I close the door, he bursts right on in again this time bringing another worker with him. Both of them take the liberty to lie all over my roommate’s bed. The room wasn’t very big to begin with, so it really became crowded when the two ahjussies (Korean word for middle aged man) took over the room. 

It was one of those defining moments where you ask yourself "What is going on in my life right now?"  

I’m not really sure what they think of foreigners if they assume its okay to barge into the other genders room without knocking or asking permission. In America, that wouldn’t be okay. They would have likely been threatened.

I came to this country thinking it was a very conservative country. I guess conservative is a relative term.

2) Clubs

.Sayyy what??!! CC went to a club?!

 My second night here, there was a welcoming party for all the exchange students in Seoul.  I joined a group of people who wanted to go to the party. We had a nice Korean BBQ dinner, and then decided to wait out the Welcoming Party because there was a special discount after midnight.  After dinner, we went to Club Maad. Now, for those who know me, know that clubbing/partying isn’t exactly my cup of tea…but since I’m in a different country I decided to give it a try. The club was small, and dark with very flashy lights that hurt my eyes and gave me an instant headache. There were more international students rather than Koreans. People were drinking, smoking, and yelling in each other ears. Not exactly my ideal place to meet people.  Honestly, all I wanted to do was go back to my room, turn on a nice Korean drama and go to sleep. 

I was happy when it hit midnight and we left the small crowded club and headed towards the welcoming party, only to find out the welcoming party was yet another club that was even more crowded and weren’t allowing people in.

So that was my clubbing experience. I went, I saw, I left. Never again. I much rather watch Japanese anime in my dorm room with my roommate.  That’s my ideal of fun.