Going Out in Hongdae

I love Hongdae. Hongdae is amazing. I want to live in Hongdae. Did I mention I love Hongdae? Okay, I probably just took it too far, but I really did enjoy myself in Hongdae and I definitely wasn't in Inje anymore.

One of the streets of Hongdae

Hongdae is this area in Seoul that has a bunch of different bars and clubs. Most are open until 6 AM so that people can party all night and just catch the subway in the morning (the subway closes at 1 AM, I think). It was pretty cool walking around with the streets just full of people, foreigners and Koreans, and the people are all within the same age range (my age range). It was an amazing change from my Inje nightlife: walking alone in the quiet streets, passing a man who drank too much Soju peeing in the side of the road, the occasional car driving by, on my way to Jjokki Jjokki, where the bar is never full, to meet my fellow foreigners.

Andrew enjoying himself on stage

I ventured out with Andrew, Tony, Bronnie, Joeanna, and some Hungarians from our hostel. The Hungarians led us to Papa Gorilla, a bar where they have 6 tequila shots for 10,000 won (roughly $10), also where we spent the entire night. Dangerous. Needless to say, the night was interesting. Met some Koreans, watched some Russian girls dance provocatively on a pole, and drank a lot of Budweiser.

Bronnie having a dance off

There is this park in Hongdae that is full of performers and entertainers. There are dancers, musicians, singers, rappers, anything. Unfortunately didn't get to experience because there was no one there. Hopefully next time. Another interesting fact of Hongdae is that there are no military personnel allowed in most (or all) of the bars. I've heard that in Itaewon, where most of the US military personnel go out, there are lots of bar fights so I guess this is Hongdae's way of regulating bar fights.

All in all, Hongdae treated us well. I didn't go to sleep until after 4 AM, and waking up at 7:30 AM for my DMZ tour was rough to say the least.