Spontaneous Partying with Korean Elderlies

Okay, not all of them were elderly.

When Ian and I decided to walk down and check out the tech stores opening near Emart, there was quite a bit of commotion coming from a street corner near our complex.  We heard what sounded like noribang (karaoke) and general party noise.  I initially thought that it might be from a grand opening.  There is a lot of pomp and circumstance for grand openings here.

But, as we walked down the street, we saw a relatively large group of older Korean people drinking and generally getting their party on.

 

The group.  As soon as we slowed our pace, they waved us over and served us paper cups of beer.  They tried fervently to give Ian soju, but he declined.  It was, after all, early afternoon.

As we were standing there, the woman in the apron looped her arm through mine and pulled me into their dance party.  That's me in the middle with the striped sweater.  I danced.  You don't say no to people this happy.

 

Sorry, it's blurry.  Our camera battery was damn near dead.  A very nice man taught us how to play this game.  There's a point system that depends on what side of the sticks are up when they come to rest.  I did well, Ian did poorly.  The man (Cheon Si-chun?) then told us he liked America because of our involvement in the Korean War and the sacrifices of our troops.

Most likely, they were celebrating tomorrow's holiday.  It's Independence Movement Day, which commemorates the Korean people's decision in 1919 to fully invest themselves in gaining autonomy from Japan.  We didn't need their party to start revolving around us, so we stayed about 15 or 20 minutes total, bowed and thanked everyone and continued walking to the store.

 

The tech stores were uninspiring, but we did find this special on Velveeta cheese and hand cream.  Together at last.  Is that hand cream Philadelphia brand?  As in the cream cheese?

Good night!