Koreans LOVE singing. They teach it in school, taxi drivers sing whilst driving you, they sing in shopping malls...or anywhere there is a microphone. And seeing as microphones are fitted into coaches, private karaoke rooms, public shopping areas and even into taxis, there is a lot of singing in Korea. And actually, Koreans are pretty amazing at it (which is lucky). But the best way of singing in Korea is in the Noraebang......the private karaoke rooms that are just about everywhere, open 24 hours, and even come equipped with their own tambourines.
Seeing as it was Matt's last night in Korea he couldn't leave without one final Noraebang. Even in the smaller cities, such as my Siheung, you can stroll in at any time with any amount of people, and with lots of beers stashed in your bags. Westerners tend to take the Noraebangs a little less seriously than the Koreans - 80's power ballads and Beatles classics with a little bit of Bohemian Rhapsody thrown in is standard. Koreans can take it a little more seriously. Seeing as they can actually sing, it's less about the disco anthems and more about the emotional solos. A friend of mine once mistakenly joined in a Korean lady's solo only to have her drink thrown over him and her storm out. Ooops. But for us, it was Queen, Neil Diamond and the final farewell to Matt - 'Hello Goodbye'. At the time, we all thought we sounded amazing. And because there's no evidence to prove otherwise, I'm gonna say that we did.
The rest of the week was pretty quiet until I remembered it had been ages since I'd gone to a Jjimjilbang - the Korean sauna. Like the Noraebang, these are pretty much everywhere, open 24 hours, and very cheap. Unlike the Noraebang, this is for same-sex only, which is good...because you must be naked. Eeeeek. Coming from England and not being used to stripping off and strolling around, at first, I wasn't too keen. But after the first one - where I travelled 3 hours to get there on the promise that you could wear bikinis, just to get inside, pay, and be told that that was a lie....I was hooked. Hot baths, really hot baths, ice cold baths, saunas, steam rooms....these sauna's are amazing! Best of all is the ajima scrub-down, where you are literally scrubbed, with a brillo-pad equivalent, from neck to foot by an old lady wearing nothing but her knickers. Sounds bad.....but feels good.....
Sauna's are dual purpose too, as you can sleep there for a really low price. You are given pyjamas and then sleep on the floor in a communal room with everyone else sleeping there. Doesn't sound appealing? Well it seems that the people who use these the most are business men who literally don't have enough time off from work to go home and sleep....so they crash at the nearest jjimjilbang. Similarly, as most Koreans live in one-floor apartments with their family, sauna's provide women with the welcome privacy needed to properly relax. Seeing as I have followed suit and now live in a one-room apartment with my boyfriend...I think i'll be spending more time at here too.... only joking lee........ ;-)
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