nightlife adventures in Jeonju!

So, with the busy schedule of orientation it felt as if we had little free time. We had to be up for breakfast by 8AM, go to 2 lectures, eat lunch, go to 2 more lectures, eat dinner, go to Korean language class, and then finally we were free, around 9pm. Not to mention I volunteered to participate in the talent show for the closing ceremony, so any small chunk of free time was consumed with practicing for that.

QUICK NOTE: 
For the talent show we choreographed a dance routine to the song "Buttercup" lol. It was meant to be funny, and we even included the traditional Korean dance form into our routine. However, we performed directly after a girl who did an L.E.D. light hula-hoop performance, so the audience was still awed by her amazing talent. Then we show up on stage in masks and arm cloths (like the ones they used in the dance we learned) dancing around like fools, and the audience was super quiet, which made it slightly awkward for us. But, oh well, we had fun!! :)

So back to orientation. They also offered an opportunity to watch a Korean film, as I previously mentioned, which was shown after Korean language class, but I never made it in time. Which was fine because most people were ready to go out around 9 or 10 due to our 1AM curfew at the dormitory. The curfew was kind of lame, but I believe it was helpful in making sure you got a decent amount of sleep, and didn't drink too much. Although I heard some people enjoyed a little too much Soju and beer lol.

So, the first two nights I was responsible and stayed in haha. But the third night I was talked into going to a different university campus to experience the club scene in Korea. It was about a 10 minute taxi ride, and we squeezed 6 people into the cab in order to save money, and because only one girl knew how to tell the driver in Korean where we wanted to go lol. Once we got there we of course had a little trouble finding the club, M2, but we eventually made it.

KOREAN BIEBER FEVER:
As we walked into the club we were greeted with a chorus of, "baby, baby, baby!" (they were singing Justin Bieber's song to us haha). Two of the guys I was with loved dancing, so shortly after entering they made their appearance on the dance floor. We were a little confused as to why no Korean people were dancing, but we later discovered that they take mandatory dancing breaks, lol. So we happened to enter during that time that they were sitting at the tables. Once the D.J. said something in Korean, they all joined us on the floor.

trying to find our way

the ladies of the night

the boys of the nights

gotta love the New Balance sweater!

Overall, the experience was highly entertaining, but cut short due to having to hurry & take a taxi back to the dorm before curfew.

The other few times I went out, we stayed near our dormitory in order to stay out a little later. Everyone at orientation who went out managed to find 3 different bars who were welcoming of the foreigners, lol. I actually only went to one of the three bars, but had a blast! It was a little annoying in the fact that they played the same 3 or 4 "western" songs over and over, but once you started drinking and talking the songs faded out lol. I enjoyed talking to alot of people from different countries, especially South Africa. I love their accents!! And they have 11 or 12 different languages there so they tried to teach us a couple of them. They were surprised that I didn't have a Texan accent until I said the word "y'all" haha :) 

As far as drinks go, their beer, called Hite, pretty much tastes like Miller Lite or Bud Light, which is great to me! "Meckchu" is the Korean word for beer. And of course they always have Soju, the trademark drink of Korea. I like the flavored Soju better than regular, but it's easier to take shots of Soju. Most people buy a big pitcher of flavored Soju, which is kinda frozen/icy and just add in a bottle of regular Soju to make it stronger. I haven't experienced a hangover from Soju yet, but I hear it's pretty bad. I'll just stick to "meckchu" for awhile then haha! And of course it's important to drink lots of "mool" or water :)

lots of meckchu!

flavored soju & meckchu :)

Meckchu ju seyo...means "I'd like more beer." Knowing the phrase "ju seyo" is helpful for ordering pretty much anything. You don't sound like a completely dumb foreigner atleast lol.

I guess that about sums up my adventures during orientation on Jeonju University. Now on to my experience in the city that I will call home for the next year....Gumi!

XOXO,

Amanda