Motorcycle!

Guys, guys! Motorcycle!

Okay, that's Stella riding it, but we all got a turn and I was the best at it! (By virtue of being the only girl who wasn't terrified of going fast enough to have to pick up her feet.)

After Korean class we all went to the waterfront to play basketball, and one of the students (a man who works at some kind of proofreading service, and whose name I forget) brought his shiny motorcycle. He said that he had brought it to teach some of the boys to ride, but the boys were all playing basketball so he ended up with four girls to teach instead. I got it up to third gear and zoomed down the waterfront path! It was SO COOL!

Later, I met up with the Seoul Explorers' Club again.

It was a smaller group this time, but we still had loads of fun. We went to Hongdae, which is apparently where the university students go to party. It's a part of town crammed with restaurants, coffee shops, bars and pubs, clubs, and noraebang.

Oh yeah, and there was a guy in a chicken suit. Don't ask me, because I do not know.

Yes, there is a place called the "Ho Bar." We didn't go in, so I can't tell you if it was truth in advertising.

This is a cute little place called "Coffee Prince." Jillian, the girl in the photo, was very excited to see it. They had to explain to me that "Coffee Prince" is the name of a Korean drama whose setting was inspired by this coffee shop. Apparently it's kind of famous, so of course we had to get coffee there.

We had dinner at an Italian restaurant. Again, everything tasted great, but the pasta was undercooked. What is it with Koreans and an inability to properly boil pasta? We also got some red wine. I've noticed a new trend with me and alcohol: when I'm around people who I disagree with on political and social issues, the drunker I get the less I am able to resist getting on my liberal soapbox. Turns out Friedhelm is a pastor, a conservative, and a person who sometimes says problematic things about women, so I was having a hard time holding back a few epic rants. Jillian valiantly ran interference to keep it from devolving into an argument.

We went to a noraebang after dinner! Don't worry, this was not my idea. I didn't drag anyone here. When the idea of going to a noraebang came up in conversation, I simply spun around with a rapturous expression on my face and declared my love of karaoke. What?

This was definitely the best noraebang I've been to (and at $30 an hour, it had better be!). The room was gorgeous, maracas and tambourines were provided so non-singers could supply backup, and there was a stage! Best of all, the echo effect could be turned almost all the way off. I had so much fun!

I've noticed that the song selection at each noraebang is kind of a crap shoot. I was happy to find all my favorite Pink songs at this one, because the ones I'd been to before didn't have "So What." This place also had Beyonce's "Single Ladies" and Radiohead's "Creep." However, I have yet to find a noraebang that plays Carrie Underwood songs, and what is up with a place that doesn't have "Boys of Summer" but does have...

...the Neon Genesis Evangelion version of "Fly me to the Moon?" brb, lolling forever.