Our First Night Out

Even though we have practically gone around the world to settle in our new home, we have been greeted by several familiar faces from IMD :)

Our first Friday night was an IMD reunion. We spent it with old and new friends from Lausanne at a famous restaurant serving temple food. When we arrived we had to take our shoes off, which is customary here, and then wash our hands at the sink. From there, we wandered to our table that was just high enough off the ground that we could sit comfortably on cushions.

The meal started off with many small dishes and soups and continued through the night til we all could eat no more. About halfway through the dinner, a traditional Korean show began.

First there was a man who painted calligraphy on large sheets of paper and then gave them away to the diners. Nicholas was one of the lucky recipients :) Then several dances followed, along with a show with drums. It was a fun introduction to our new culture.

We had a special dessert for the birthday boys at the table- David and Adi :) 

After dinner we went to a Noraebang, or song room, to sing karaoke! Karaoke here is done in small rooms, sometimes equipped with instruments, a large screen and several large volumes of song books. I read that many of these places don't serve alcohol but do serve all you can eat soft-serve... interesting. Luckily, ours did serve beer and a fruit plate.

IMD-GSGers

When you start a song, the room dims automatically and neon colored lights start to flash around. After you sing, a score appears on the screen depending on how well you did. I have no idea how it judges the singer, because we all sang just a bit better than a tortured cat would, but the scores seemed quite good. When the only Korean out of our group took over, we were all stunned. He had a beautiful, soft voice that I imagine can only come from years of singing in these small rooms! Posting video, please ignore all of our horrendous voices that block out his spectacular one...

It was an excellent first night out!