TALL ORDER THIS WEEK (THE 'I LOVE LJ CUTS' EDITION)
I'm so behind.
Anywho, last weekend I went to Music Core again with a new group of girls. It was rainy that day, so the queues were actually inside. I thought that was nice of them, since people still would have waited if the queues had been out in the wet. There wasn't a sign up for T-ara, but there were a bunch of people there to see them, so we made our own line. We met a random Malaysian guy from Australia named Kevin, and Danny fanboy showed up as I had expected him to. Then for some reason got to go in to see not only T-ara's pre-recording, but CSJH-2 and Rania's pre-recordings. There was no standing room this week for some reason, so we were all just grouped up in the seats. Rania only had one row of fans. D: But T-ara fans were forty strong at least this week, and a hell of a lot louder than I had been anticipating. We were herded back out as usual and queued immediately, so of course we got into the live. There were enough people this week that they were putting people in the aisles, but we got seats exactly where I'd sat the previous week, so I got another chance to gaze upon some shiny SHINee. Because it was their last week MCing for a while, Onew and Minho greeted their fans before the show. I blew Onew a kiss in a fit of madness, and I fancy that he saw it (but probably not).
Here's the breakdown: Jang Woo Hyuk is completely bitchin' awesome, but we didn't get to see all of his choreography. HyunA was super lame, even though it was her comeback; she had no energy in her fanservice dance and didn't even attempt to lip-synch. Boyfriend was super adorbs again, as were ZE:A. 8eight should also be loved by everyone because, well, because they're fantastic. Block B and B1A4 didn't perform, to my dismay, but 2NE1 and 2PM still rocked it like they always do. But that pelvic thrust swing move they do in Hands Up should be illegal in public. WAY too intense. Fangirls might die.
The next day, I decided to take the plunge and hit up Inkigayo. I had things to do later for school, so I figured I may as well get up and go support T-ara's pre-recording, getting to see inside Inkigayo's stage in the process. They were set to pre-record (I'd been told) at 8:30 AM, but I was doing great on time until I noticed something odd (no fans anywhere) and asked a guard about it. Turns out there are two SBS buildings in Seoul, and I was at the wrong one; but at least it was a very nice building with an ATM in it, and the guards were nice. I took a taxi and got to the right building just in time. Because T-ara's female fans are prized, we were shuffled into a standing room line, separating me from my English-speaking cohorts (Danny fanboy, Danny fanboy's friend Anthony, and Kevin). But I managed to sort of communicate with the Korean fangirls (who were very nice), and then actually communicate with a bunch of Japanese fans that were there. Inkigayo is TINY, so we were much closer to the stage than standing room at Music Core allows, and it seemed like the artists were under less pressure too, since they were responding and interacting with the fangirls who would call out questions. I was, of course, put right at the front of the standing area, being the only non-Asian in line, and since the Japanese tourists standing next to me were calling out to T-ara loudly, I got noticed as well. Soyeon thanked me for being there, Boram kept waving at me (she's so smiley), and Eunjung asked me whose fan I was. I pointed at her, of course, and she got all surprised. According to the Korean fangirls, she was talking about me with the other members onstage. As much as it kind of irritates me sometimes, it's kind of a bonus to be obviously foreign.
The pre-recording was fun, but after getting lunch with the English speakers, I had totally been planning on going about my business for the day. But we passed by the T-ara line on the way to the subway, and the fangirls from earlier pulled me to sit beside them. Apparently, even though there weren't many tickets left, there was hope? I didn't really know what was going on, but they insisted I stay. The guys left (one went to line up for Girls' Day), so I was alone in a sea of Koreans. But I studied some while waiting and had remembered to bring my dictionary, so I was able to piece together a few sentences here and there. So I read and mumbled to myself, and the girls chattered about T-ara (I think), and we took turns fanning each other, and one of the girls bought me a drink, and all of a sudden they were handing out tickets and I GOT ONE. Then we had a bit longer to wait before we could get in, but I GOT IN and that was all that mattered. And even though they were putting people on the stairs at Inki as well, there were still people left outside, so I felt extremely lucky, especially because I actually got a chair to sit in. And holy frick I GOT IN. And things just kept getting better, because not only did I get to see Block-B and B1A4 perform again, but I got to see Jang Woo Hyuk's whole choreography on stage. Gotta say, I'm a big fan. And ZE:A, oh my God, ZE:A needs to be loved by everyone. They went from the sexy hot of Heart for 2 right into the cuteness of Watch Out! with nary the bat of an eyelash. And even though Watch Out! was pre-recorded, they still did all of the choreography and actually sang (and sang well). Total badasses. HyunA was lame again, and I was reminded of how irritating her speaking voice is, but that unfortunateness was washed away with the pleasant surprise of a special stage featuring SHINee and f(x). Sadly, it was only Minho, Taemin, and Key, but at least I've seen four of them in person now? Taemin's legs are SUPER SKINNY, but it looks like he's actually muscled up them skinny little arms a bit. Key was fabulous, of course. Those two had a cute bro moment during the winner's ceremony. They were buddies, and it was cute. And 2NE1 was awesome, and 2PM were awesome, and then they won, and then they did their whole song again so we got the fun twice in a row. Illegal move should still be illegal. They brought the lights up, though, and since the audience is so much closer to the stage, it feels much more interactive than Music Core. I waved at Wooyoung, and he waved back, and then Taecyeon ran into the audience on our side, so that was cool. He's really a big dude up close.
Then the week started again. And class was class. But I got to try some order-in fried chicken, which was delish. Also I bought some Big Bang socks with GD and Daesung on them. Also also went to EverySing and took dorky photobooth pictures with SHINee. Yes, those dorky photobooth pictures. Also also ALSO found the Nature Republic store that gives out the best freebies; Nature Republic is the cosmetic brand endorsed by JYJ, and more recently Jang Geun Suk, and for 23,000 won worth of nice cosmetics (something like $20), I got two free posters. I also got to pick whose posters I got. Obviously I had to get Jaejoong, but while I love me some Yoochun, Jang Geun Suk just calls to me. So I got him too.
Our first weekend field trip was to the DMZ, which was more intense than I was expecting mostly because on the bus ride up, you start to see barbed wire fences lining the river bank. This is in case North Korean spies try to sneak in by water, which has been known to happen. And while it's not exactly a secret that the two Koreas are still technically at war, seeing armed soldiers and barricades lining the highway so close to Seoul really hit that fact home. But then you get to the DMZ and it's become this huge tourist attraction and is barely serious at all, so it's actually completely bizarre. We couldn't really get a good glimpse of North Korea, though, because it was foggy and rainy.
When we got back, we decided to venture to the jimjilbang, which was totally awesome. The one we went to was quite luxurious, with an outside pool, gaming room, karaoke, and all sorts of spa amenities. It also had sauna rooms ranging from 37 to 80 degrees celsius. We tried them all, of course, breaking in between for cold drinks and boiled eggs.
Yesterday, it was finally time for the... MUD FESTIVAL. Sooooooooo many people, and most of them foreign, which was just weird, to the point where if you heard any Korean being spoken, it was like, "WOAH WOAH, WHERE THE KOREANS AT". There were a bunch of slides, but you had to pay for those, so we stuck to the free vats of mud, slathering up and then running down to the beach to rinse off. Then repeat. The mud felt lovely on the skin, which was good because tons of people were just throwing mud everywhere. There were random muddy hugs all around. There was also colored mud you could be painted with. The ocean was, of course, full of rowdy people, but it was refreshing and had fun-sized waves. Also, the mud was apparently special mud that was full of vitamins and minerals, so it's supposed to have great cosmetic benefits (which have proven to be true, my skin looks and feels excellent). So if you happen to be in Korea near the end of July and don't mind getting extremely filthy, you should check this festival out.
We got back at around 7:00 PM and decided to go clubbing. So we got ready and met again later at 11:30 to go hit up NB2, which is a popular hip-hop club that is supposed to be known for playing YG artists' music. And boy was it ever. Popular, that is (I counted five kpop songs total, four of which were YG and the other one which was of course 'Hands Up', just what I needed in my club experience :D; they also played a Tiger JK song, but I don't think he counts as kpop). We had no trouble getting in, but once we were in, it was a whole different story. To get into the club, you go down a few flights of stairs and then you're engulfed in a pulsing crowd with very little room to move or breathe or do much of anything but try not to die. The cover charge included a free drink, so four out of our group of fourteen ventured to the bar, and that was pretty much the last time we saw most of the rest of the group for the rest of the night.
And I know everyone knows that white foreigners are generally treated a bit differently in Asia than foreigners from other Asian countries, but it's especially true in the clubs. I went in prepared to fend off overeager guys who enjoy the idea of the "loose white foreign girl", but I wasn't quite prepared for it to happen as soon as we got in. Our little band of club venturers had managed to make it across the room to order, but the crowd was pressing us literally into the bar. I ended up getting shoved beside this one guy, who kind of sneaky slipped his arm around my waist and started dancing with me a bit. I wasn't much bothered until he stroked my hair, and that was just a little bit too weird too soon, so I grabbed my drink and shoved back into the crowd to follow my people, spilling a quarter of it on myself and those around me in the process. We managed to find a somewhat open corner to down our drinks, and then attempted to make our way back to the stairs to find the rest of our group. But again the crowd surged and I was right back where I'd been before with the same guy, who decided to just pull me around in front of him and trap me against the bar. This was okay temporarily, because I was protected from the crowd, but my friends were still moving in the traffic flow and I was stuck between the guy's arms. He spoke some English and shared his drink with me, which was cool until he asked me for my phone number, then if I would be his girlfriend, then if I would go to a hotel with him in direct succession. Then he just shoved his tongue down my throat, which was my cue to GTFO.
But at least he was cute.
Anyway, I rode the crowd around the entire club looking for people I knew, and found some on my second circuit. Of course, they'd already done a few shots and were pretty gone (I think children could drink more than some of these girls before getting drunk), so I decided to hell with it and did a few shots myself. I question now why I chose a Korean club as the place to just let loose, since I knew going in that there would be assumptions about me as little miss white girl and that I need to be careful in Korea to keep any American stereotypes as hidden as possible, but basically there is only good news to be had. Just like most of the European persuasion seem to have a hard time differentiating between different Asian faces, Asians have an equally hard time with European looks; everyone is just used to looking at different features, really, but it's actually kind of a relief to know that while you are an obvious white person in Asia, you are generally an obviously anonymous white person. Also it seems that I can hold my liquor, since I felt nothing more than a little silly and a little more loosey goosey than I normally am. And the music was heavy on the beats, so we were just dancing up a storm at our strategic bar placement right in front of the AC. We'd been left alone for a surprising while (except for a few ass-grabbings in passing), but we were also right by the stairs, so there was a constant flow of people and semi-okay lighting with which to see us in all of our non-Korean glory (or me, at least. The girls I was with were all from Singapore and Malaysia, but while I don't think they look Korean, Koreans see them a bit differently sometimes). And this led to the next Korean guy deciding to latch onto me, though this one was decidedly more fun than the last one. He was a much better dancer and just generally having a good time. He was also attractive (because that's so hard to find amongst Korean men...) and smiley and probably more than a little drunk, but it was all good. He shared his drink with me too, waited a whole four songs or so before petting my hair at all, and was a lot nicer about his kissing attempts (which soon turned into successes; apparently I am a total kissing hussy for tall, nicely muscled, attractive men). He also talked with my friends, which was hilarious to watch since they were pretty drunk and are hilarious as such. Well, I say talked, but it was more like he yelled things in Korean and we yelled other things in Korean back since we still don't really speak it. He didn't speak any English apart from asking my name, asking where I was from, how old I was, and then random phrases from the hip hop songs blaring around us, but that was okay because it was too loud to talk anyway. So we alternated dancing and kissing, and then my friends wanted to leave, but I stayed because like I said, kissing hussy. This guy's hands began to wander as well, but that was easy enough to put a stop to, since my hussiness seems to only go so far as making out with random guys at clubs. At about 4:00 AM, he pulled me upstairs and started saying things in Korean. Of course, I had no idea what was going on, so I just listened for words that I recognized. I thought initially that he asked me to wait there for him and he'd be right back, but since he didn't come back for ten minutes or so, I think he was actually asking if I wanted to go home with him. But I just kept saying 'mollayo' and only responded with a yes when I heard what I thought was 'wait', which I later realized wasn't 'wait'. I think maybe I responded in the affirmative that I wanted to stay at the club, so he just left. But then a random guy from England found me and started talking.
And said random guy from England (name of Melvin) then proceeded to talk me back into the club when I had been about to leave, and then started asking all these impertinent questions about if I had "yellow fever" and how was it working out for me being a white girl in a club full of single Korean dudes. And I had a suspicion about what he was angling for, and I should have shot him down more blatantly, but long story short, ended up having kissed three guys in one night. And while I'm grateful to Melvin for being there to save me from the super intense black man who just grabbed me on the dance floor and started hardcore grinding with me, I don't think me saying Melvin was my boyfriend to escape super intense black man was any reason for him to suddenly start kissing me. I mean, we had some fun dancing at first, because Melvin could actually dance, but then he just got all kissy and gaga stupid over me for no apparent reason. We left the club together holding hands, and he kept spinning me around, and it would have been super cute if I had any sort of real attraction for him. And while I appreciated that Melvin was a rather dashing European bloke who seemed to be suddenly enamored with me, Korean Guy #2 (whose name was something that sounded like Seung Ho, but I'm not completely sure about that because it was really damn loud in the club) stoked my fire a lot more, if you know what I mean. I guess the Western approach to make-outs just doesn't really do it for me, versus the Eastern approach which clearly worked for me, since I made out with Korean Guy #2 for like four hours. Also, Melvin's kissing technique was way slobbery, so not really up anyone's alley, I would think. But anyway, we got a cab together and he walked me back to my dorm, where he initiated make-outs again and again. I was trying to get him to leave, but he kept insisting on walking me back to my room. This is just not possible, since the Ewha dorms require a card key to buzz in and out of the building, so unless you have one, you're stuck, but he just wouldn't go. After complaining for the fifth time about being damn tired and foot-sore, he finally left after some more intense kisses and murmured conversation about when we were going to see each other again.
Yeah. Because we're so totally meant to be after meeting two hours previous at a night club. Thank God I didn't give him my full name so there's no way he can find me on Facebook. And the college he's summering at is really far away, so unless he treks back out here and manages to track me down during my usual afternoon excursions away from campus, we won't be meeting again.
Of course, I'd rather meet Korean Guy #2 again, but with my luck, Melvin will find me instead and I'll have to give him the talk about how he's dumb. I'm really hoping that he went back and slept off the stupid and that will be that.
Then today, after sleeping for a few hours, I got showered and went to a T-ara fansigning. I almost didn't get in, though, since my friend who had my special album bought from a special store was nowhere to be found until the very last minute. And he'd totally been there since before I got there... So I was the last one through the line, but Boram, Soyeon, and Jiyeon remembered me from the Inki crowd and greeted me very enthusiastically. They asked my name and where I was from, and I even talked with their manager a bit, who is apparently from Japan. And while I had decided the week before that Eunjung was going to be my favorite, she has rivals now. She seemed tired when I got to her, but greeting tons of fans and signing things for them would get tiring. But I gotta say, it's really pretty cool when idols are actually as nice as they act on TV. And now I have a signed T-ara album. They each signed on their pictures in the album booklet, and some of them wrote little messages in cute English.
And tonight marked the last night of meeting with my fan friends, since some of them are leaving next week, and then I'm leaving the week after. No more music shows, since I'm going to Busan the last weekend I'm here. D: But I went to three, and I shouldn't take for granted how awesome it's been that I got in three times (especially now that the fan rules have apparently changed for T-ara and you can't just get into live shows by lining up anymore or something). And hey, I get to go to Busan, hear me some satoori, and get even more confused about the Korean language. WOO.
Anywho, last weekend I went to Music Core again with a new group of girls. It was rainy that day, so the queues were actually inside. I thought that was nice of them, since people still would have waited if the queues had been out in the wet. There wasn't a sign up for T-ara, but there were a bunch of people there to see them, so we made our own line. We met a random Malaysian guy from Australia named Kevin, and Danny fanboy showed up as I had expected him to. Then for some reason got to go in to see not only T-ara's pre-recording, but CSJH-2 and Rania's pre-recordings. There was no standing room this week for some reason, so we were all just grouped up in the seats. Rania only had one row of fans. D: But T-ara fans were forty strong at least this week, and a hell of a lot louder than I had been anticipating. We were herded back out as usual and queued immediately, so of course we got into the live. There were enough people this week that they were putting people in the aisles, but we got seats exactly where I'd sat the previous week, so I got another chance to gaze upon some shiny SHINee. Because it was their last week MCing for a while, Onew and Minho greeted their fans before the show. I blew Onew a kiss in a fit of madness, and I fancy that he saw it (but probably not).
Here's the breakdown: Jang Woo Hyuk is completely bitchin' awesome, but we didn't get to see all of his choreography. HyunA was super lame, even though it was her comeback; she had no energy in her fanservice dance and didn't even attempt to lip-synch. Boyfriend was super adorbs again, as were ZE:A. 8eight should also be loved by everyone because, well, because they're fantastic. Block B and B1A4 didn't perform, to my dismay, but 2NE1 and 2PM still rocked it like they always do. But that pelvic thrust swing move they do in Hands Up should be illegal in public. WAY too intense. Fangirls might die.
The next day, I decided to take the plunge and hit up Inkigayo. I had things to do later for school, so I figured I may as well get up and go support T-ara's pre-recording, getting to see inside Inkigayo's stage in the process. They were set to pre-record (I'd been told) at 8:30 AM, but I was doing great on time until I noticed something odd (no fans anywhere) and asked a guard about it. Turns out there are two SBS buildings in Seoul, and I was at the wrong one; but at least it was a very nice building with an ATM in it, and the guards were nice. I took a taxi and got to the right building just in time. Because T-ara's female fans are prized, we were shuffled into a standing room line, separating me from my English-speaking cohorts (Danny fanboy, Danny fanboy's friend Anthony, and Kevin). But I managed to sort of communicate with the Korean fangirls (who were very nice), and then actually communicate with a bunch of Japanese fans that were there. Inkigayo is TINY, so we were much closer to the stage than standing room at Music Core allows, and it seemed like the artists were under less pressure too, since they were responding and interacting with the fangirls who would call out questions. I was, of course, put right at the front of the standing area, being the only non-Asian in line, and since the Japanese tourists standing next to me were calling out to T-ara loudly, I got noticed as well. Soyeon thanked me for being there, Boram kept waving at me (she's so smiley), and Eunjung asked me whose fan I was. I pointed at her, of course, and she got all surprised. According to the Korean fangirls, she was talking about me with the other members onstage. As much as it kind of irritates me sometimes, it's kind of a bonus to be obviously foreign.
The pre-recording was fun, but after getting lunch with the English speakers, I had totally been planning on going about my business for the day. But we passed by the T-ara line on the way to the subway, and the fangirls from earlier pulled me to sit beside them. Apparently, even though there weren't many tickets left, there was hope? I didn't really know what was going on, but they insisted I stay. The guys left (one went to line up for Girls' Day), so I was alone in a sea of Koreans. But I studied some while waiting and had remembered to bring my dictionary, so I was able to piece together a few sentences here and there. So I read and mumbled to myself, and the girls chattered about T-ara (I think), and we took turns fanning each other, and one of the girls bought me a drink, and all of a sudden they were handing out tickets and I GOT ONE. Then we had a bit longer to wait before we could get in, but I GOT IN and that was all that mattered. And even though they were putting people on the stairs at Inki as well, there were still people left outside, so I felt extremely lucky, especially because I actually got a chair to sit in. And holy frick I GOT IN. And things just kept getting better, because not only did I get to see Block-B and B1A4 perform again, but I got to see Jang Woo Hyuk's whole choreography on stage. Gotta say, I'm a big fan. And ZE:A, oh my God, ZE:A needs to be loved by everyone. They went from the sexy hot of Heart for 2 right into the cuteness of Watch Out! with nary the bat of an eyelash. And even though Watch Out! was pre-recorded, they still did all of the choreography and actually sang (and sang well). Total badasses. HyunA was lame again, and I was reminded of how irritating her speaking voice is, but that unfortunateness was washed away with the pleasant surprise of a special stage featuring SHINee and f(x). Sadly, it was only Minho, Taemin, and Key, but at least I've seen four of them in person now? Taemin's legs are SUPER SKINNY, but it looks like he's actually muscled up them skinny little arms a bit. Key was fabulous, of course. Those two had a cute bro moment during the winner's ceremony. They were buddies, and it was cute. And 2NE1 was awesome, and 2PM were awesome, and then they won, and then they did their whole song again so we got the fun twice in a row. Illegal move should still be illegal. They brought the lights up, though, and since the audience is so much closer to the stage, it feels much more interactive than Music Core. I waved at Wooyoung, and he waved back, and then Taecyeon ran into the audience on our side, so that was cool. He's really a big dude up close.
Then the week started again. And class was class. But I got to try some order-in fried chicken, which was delish. Also I bought some Big Bang socks with GD and Daesung on them. Also also went to EverySing and took dorky photobooth pictures with SHINee. Yes, those dorky photobooth pictures. Also also ALSO found the Nature Republic store that gives out the best freebies; Nature Republic is the cosmetic brand endorsed by JYJ, and more recently Jang Geun Suk, and for 23,000 won worth of nice cosmetics (something like $20), I got two free posters. I also got to pick whose posters I got. Obviously I had to get Jaejoong, but while I love me some Yoochun, Jang Geun Suk just calls to me. So I got him too.
Our first weekend field trip was to the DMZ, which was more intense than I was expecting mostly because on the bus ride up, you start to see barbed wire fences lining the river bank. This is in case North Korean spies try to sneak in by water, which has been known to happen. And while it's not exactly a secret that the two Koreas are still technically at war, seeing armed soldiers and barricades lining the highway so close to Seoul really hit that fact home. But then you get to the DMZ and it's become this huge tourist attraction and is barely serious at all, so it's actually completely bizarre. We couldn't really get a good glimpse of North Korea, though, because it was foggy and rainy.
When we got back, we decided to venture to the jimjilbang, which was totally awesome. The one we went to was quite luxurious, with an outside pool, gaming room, karaoke, and all sorts of spa amenities. It also had sauna rooms ranging from 37 to 80 degrees celsius. We tried them all, of course, breaking in between for cold drinks and boiled eggs.
Yesterday, it was finally time for the... MUD FESTIVAL. Sooooooooo many people, and most of them foreign, which was just weird, to the point where if you heard any Korean being spoken, it was like, "WOAH WOAH, WHERE THE KOREANS AT". There were a bunch of slides, but you had to pay for those, so we stuck to the free vats of mud, slathering up and then running down to the beach to rinse off. Then repeat. The mud felt lovely on the skin, which was good because tons of people were just throwing mud everywhere. There were random muddy hugs all around. There was also colored mud you could be painted with. The ocean was, of course, full of rowdy people, but it was refreshing and had fun-sized waves. Also, the mud was apparently special mud that was full of vitamins and minerals, so it's supposed to have great cosmetic benefits (which have proven to be true, my skin looks and feels excellent). So if you happen to be in Korea near the end of July and don't mind getting extremely filthy, you should check this festival out.
We got back at around 7:00 PM and decided to go clubbing. So we got ready and met again later at 11:30 to go hit up NB2, which is a popular hip-hop club that is supposed to be known for playing YG artists' music. And boy was it ever. Popular, that is (I counted five kpop songs total, four of which were YG and the other one which was of course 'Hands Up', just what I needed in my club experience :D; they also played a Tiger JK song, but I don't think he counts as kpop). We had no trouble getting in, but once we were in, it was a whole different story. To get into the club, you go down a few flights of stairs and then you're engulfed in a pulsing crowd with very little room to move or breathe or do much of anything but try not to die. The cover charge included a free drink, so four out of our group of fourteen ventured to the bar, and that was pretty much the last time we saw most of the rest of the group for the rest of the night.
And I know everyone knows that white foreigners are generally treated a bit differently in Asia than foreigners from other Asian countries, but it's especially true in the clubs. I went in prepared to fend off overeager guys who enjoy the idea of the "loose white foreign girl", but I wasn't quite prepared for it to happen as soon as we got in. Our little band of club venturers had managed to make it across the room to order, but the crowd was pressing us literally into the bar. I ended up getting shoved beside this one guy, who kind of sneaky slipped his arm around my waist and started dancing with me a bit. I wasn't much bothered until he stroked my hair, and that was just a little bit too weird too soon, so I grabbed my drink and shoved back into the crowd to follow my people, spilling a quarter of it on myself and those around me in the process. We managed to find a somewhat open corner to down our drinks, and then attempted to make our way back to the stairs to find the rest of our group. But again the crowd surged and I was right back where I'd been before with the same guy, who decided to just pull me around in front of him and trap me against the bar. This was okay temporarily, because I was protected from the crowd, but my friends were still moving in the traffic flow and I was stuck between the guy's arms. He spoke some English and shared his drink with me, which was cool until he asked me for my phone number, then if I would be his girlfriend, then if I would go to a hotel with him in direct succession. Then he just shoved his tongue down my throat, which was my cue to GTFO.
But at least he was cute.
Anyway, I rode the crowd around the entire club looking for people I knew, and found some on my second circuit. Of course, they'd already done a few shots and were pretty gone (I think children could drink more than some of these girls before getting drunk), so I decided to hell with it and did a few shots myself. I question now why I chose a Korean club as the place to just let loose, since I knew going in that there would be assumptions about me as little miss white girl and that I need to be careful in Korea to keep any American stereotypes as hidden as possible, but basically there is only good news to be had. Just like most of the European persuasion seem to have a hard time differentiating between different Asian faces, Asians have an equally hard time with European looks; everyone is just used to looking at different features, really, but it's actually kind of a relief to know that while you are an obvious white person in Asia, you are generally an obviously anonymous white person. Also it seems that I can hold my liquor, since I felt nothing more than a little silly and a little more loosey goosey than I normally am. And the music was heavy on the beats, so we were just dancing up a storm at our strategic bar placement right in front of the AC. We'd been left alone for a surprising while (except for a few ass-grabbings in passing), but we were also right by the stairs, so there was a constant flow of people and semi-okay lighting with which to see us in all of our non-Korean glory (or me, at least. The girls I was with were all from Singapore and Malaysia, but while I don't think they look Korean, Koreans see them a bit differently sometimes). And this led to the next Korean guy deciding to latch onto me, though this one was decidedly more fun than the last one. He was a much better dancer and just generally having a good time. He was also attractive (because that's so hard to find amongst Korean men...) and smiley and probably more than a little drunk, but it was all good. He shared his drink with me too, waited a whole four songs or so before petting my hair at all, and was a lot nicer about his kissing attempts (which soon turned into successes; apparently I am a total kissing hussy for tall, nicely muscled, attractive men). He also talked with my friends, which was hilarious to watch since they were pretty drunk and are hilarious as such. Well, I say talked, but it was more like he yelled things in Korean and we yelled other things in Korean back since we still don't really speak it. He didn't speak any English apart from asking my name, asking where I was from, how old I was, and then random phrases from the hip hop songs blaring around us, but that was okay because it was too loud to talk anyway. So we alternated dancing and kissing, and then my friends wanted to leave, but I stayed because like I said, kissing hussy. This guy's hands began to wander as well, but that was easy enough to put a stop to, since my hussiness seems to only go so far as making out with random guys at clubs. At about 4:00 AM, he pulled me upstairs and started saying things in Korean. Of course, I had no idea what was going on, so I just listened for words that I recognized. I thought initially that he asked me to wait there for him and he'd be right back, but since he didn't come back for ten minutes or so, I think he was actually asking if I wanted to go home with him. But I just kept saying 'mollayo' and only responded with a yes when I heard what I thought was 'wait', which I later realized wasn't 'wait'. I think maybe I responded in the affirmative that I wanted to stay at the club, so he just left. But then a random guy from England found me and started talking.
And said random guy from England (name of Melvin) then proceeded to talk me back into the club when I had been about to leave, and then started asking all these impertinent questions about if I had "yellow fever" and how was it working out for me being a white girl in a club full of single Korean dudes. And I had a suspicion about what he was angling for, and I should have shot him down more blatantly, but long story short, ended up having kissed three guys in one night. And while I'm grateful to Melvin for being there to save me from the super intense black man who just grabbed me on the dance floor and started hardcore grinding with me, I don't think me saying Melvin was my boyfriend to escape super intense black man was any reason for him to suddenly start kissing me. I mean, we had some fun dancing at first, because Melvin could actually dance, but then he just got all kissy and gaga stupid over me for no apparent reason. We left the club together holding hands, and he kept spinning me around, and it would have been super cute if I had any sort of real attraction for him. And while I appreciated that Melvin was a rather dashing European bloke who seemed to be suddenly enamored with me, Korean Guy #2 (whose name was something that sounded like Seung Ho, but I'm not completely sure about that because it was really damn loud in the club) stoked my fire a lot more, if you know what I mean. I guess the Western approach to make-outs just doesn't really do it for me, versus the Eastern approach which clearly worked for me, since I made out with Korean Guy #2 for like four hours. Also, Melvin's kissing technique was way slobbery, so not really up anyone's alley, I would think. But anyway, we got a cab together and he walked me back to my dorm, where he initiated make-outs again and again. I was trying to get him to leave, but he kept insisting on walking me back to my room. This is just not possible, since the Ewha dorms require a card key to buzz in and out of the building, so unless you have one, you're stuck, but he just wouldn't go. After complaining for the fifth time about being damn tired and foot-sore, he finally left after some more intense kisses and murmured conversation about when we were going to see each other again.
Yeah. Because we're so totally meant to be after meeting two hours previous at a night club. Thank God I didn't give him my full name so there's no way he can find me on Facebook. And the college he's summering at is really far away, so unless he treks back out here and manages to track me down during my usual afternoon excursions away from campus, we won't be meeting again.
Of course, I'd rather meet Korean Guy #2 again, but with my luck, Melvin will find me instead and I'll have to give him the talk about how he's dumb. I'm really hoping that he went back and slept off the stupid and that will be that.
Then today, after sleeping for a few hours, I got showered and went to a T-ara fansigning. I almost didn't get in, though, since my friend who had my special album bought from a special store was nowhere to be found until the very last minute. And he'd totally been there since before I got there... So I was the last one through the line, but Boram, Soyeon, and Jiyeon remembered me from the Inki crowd and greeted me very enthusiastically. They asked my name and where I was from, and I even talked with their manager a bit, who is apparently from Japan. And while I had decided the week before that Eunjung was going to be my favorite, she has rivals now. She seemed tired when I got to her, but greeting tons of fans and signing things for them would get tiring. But I gotta say, it's really pretty cool when idols are actually as nice as they act on TV. And now I have a signed T-ara album. They each signed on their pictures in the album booklet, and some of them wrote little messages in cute English.
And tonight marked the last night of meeting with my fan friends, since some of them are leaving next week, and then I'm leaving the week after. No more music shows, since I'm going to Busan the last weekend I'm here. D: But I went to three, and I shouldn't take for granted how awesome it's been that I got in three times (especially now that the fan rules have apparently changed for T-ara and you can't just get into live shows by lining up anymore or something). And hey, I get to go to Busan, hear me some satoori, and get even more confused about the Korean language. WOO.