So after a full day of lectures, we headed out at 9 pm for the benches. The benches are basically some picnic tables set up outside a convenience store, and it’s the place where we can hang out and drink. It makes me feel sorta like the homeless guy you see drinking outside a 7-Eleven, but it’s all good. In Korea, alcohol is a pretty big deal, and it’s cheap. The most popular liquor- soju- is sold for a buck a bottle. It’s less expensive than water. You can’t really beat that.
We got a couple bottles and started playing a Korean drinking game called 007. The first person says “zero” in Korean and points at another person, who then also says “zero.” That person points at someone else, who says “seven,” and then they point at someone and say BANG! and pretend to shoot them. The two people around the person who got shot throw their hands up in shock. I’m probably not explaining this very well because I barely even figured it out myself. All I know is that if anyone messes up, they take a drink. There was a lot of messing up.
Anyway, after we finished up at benches, some of the TaLK people who’d already been here for a term led us over to an indoor bar. The bar is farther downtown and also farther away from our campus. I didn’t check the time, but I figured we were OK, and if not…I was with twenty-five other people. They can’t get us all in trouble, right?
The next bar was all TaLK people again, but I still had a really good time hanging out and getting to know everyone better. We ate, we drank…and then somebody suggested we go to another bar. Well, I’m not one to decline, so we started heading deeper into the city. And the whole time we walked along, we were going down this winding hill. Finally, we get to a western bar called “Touch.” I’m not really sure what was western about it, other than the fact that they had crappy light beer. I had a lot of fun, though, and this bar actually had a decent amount of Koreans, so it felt a little more authentic.
Just as I was thinking about going up and talking to some of them, a person in my group said, “Hey, it’s 10:30.” Oh shit. We were probably a twenty-five or thirty minute walk away from the dorms. I threw down some cash and started to book it out of there. I got a couple hundred feet away…and then I realized that I’d forgotten my backpack at the bar. I turned around, but all the shops looked the same and I had no idea where I was. I started wandering in circles while everyone else headed back for the dorms. I’m thinking I’m screwed…and then some random chick came out of a side door with my backpack in hand. Whoever you are, thank you and god bless. Anyway, now that I had my bag I felt a little better, but I still had to get back to campus in twenty-five minutes. And since it had been all downhill on the way there, that meant it was all uphill on the way back. Christ. If I went at a normal pace, there was no way I could make it back in time. That meant there was only one thing to do: run. Let me tell you, running uphill with a twenty pound backpack is kind of a pain. I didn’t have my cell phone, so I really had no idea how close I was cutting it, but I figured I’d need every second I could get. By the time I made it back to the dorms, I was covered in sweat. The clock read 10:55. He's safe! He's safe!! And the crowd goes wild.
In the end, we were allowed to hang out for another hour in the lounge downstairs, and then we were all herded off to bed. That just about wrapped up an exhausting, fun day. The best part is, I’m still demerit-free.
At least for now.
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