Let's Get It On

So this weekend I seemed to accomplish little more than getting too drunk, doing unwise things, and then waking up with a raging hangover, that 'oh no..I didn't do that did I?' feeling, and a desperate need for pizza. On the bright side, I did manage to have my first real catchup with John since I left last year...even if it did include a loud duet of Cliff Richard (which somehow we both knew all the words to). So the next day was pretty much reserved for the alco munchies, drinking lots of water, watching Frasier on repeat, and wondering why I ever do this to myself. Again. I'm going to blame soju.

Thankfully, Sunday was hangover free and open to adventure! Ignoring the blistering cold and raging snowstorm, we braved the bus to Bucheon with the intention of going ice-skating in Seoul. Once we got to Bucheon and the snow-storm was still raging we realised this was stupid. Quick, give me shelter!

So shelter took the form of a DVD bang. To my friends in Korea...this was an innocent visit to a DVD bang with my boyfriend :-) To my friends back home, I should explain....

Korea is still quite a conservative country. My friend claims it's 'the most conservative non-muslim country in the world'...although I don't think I'd go that far. Actually, it's becoming more and more liberal at an incredible speed.  But it's true to say that almost all young people still live at home with their parents until they marry. And by home, I mean, quite small apartment. So that's privacy out the window. And there are lots of reasons why you would want privacy, and Korea seems to have created a 'bang' (private room) to accomodate them all.

 A gossip with your girlfriends? Head to a Jjimjibang (sauna). You want to play computer games with your school buddies? Drop into a PC bang (computer room). You want to sing to your hearts content? Visit a Noraebang (singing room). Kids birthday party? Go jump around at a bhangbang. You wanna go get some 'privacy' with your boyfriend? Head to a DVD bang (DVD room).....

DVD bangs are small private rooms, just large enough to fit in a bed, a large screen, surround sound....and some ....er....tissues. Actually these rooms are great to watch films! They are absolutely everywhere, boast hundreds of films to choose from, and are an amazing option if you find yourself stuck somwhere for a few hours in a snowstorm. Lots of people go there to watch films. But there's no denying the real reason that most people frequent these rooms. The wipe-down mattresses say it all...... 

Actually, given how conservative Korea suppposedly is about sex, there are a lot of avenues for getting some or having some. Love Motels are practically everywhere and can be paid for by the hour or by the night. They range in seediness, from being generally quite wholesome (with just a few free condoms in the corner) to schnazzy circular beds and mirrors on the ceiling, to downright seedy with sex toy vending machines in the hallways. 

Korea still hosts many 'booking' clubs, in which a girl from the street can enter and drink for free, as long as she sits with a chosen table of men. Watch out what singing room you enter too, as some of them have stand-in girls waiting to be your 'company' for the evening for a fair price. In my first year of Korea I accidently took my father and step-mother to a sexy 'Noraebang', not realising until I turned around to notice naked girls writhing all over the screens. It was one of those times I really wished they weren't reverands.

So yes, sex is everywhere in Korea....except the public eye it seems. I guess that's what happens when you try and supress something...it pops up in the seediest of places. Doesn't help that all those places end with the word bang.

So after all that, it seems rather boring to say that Lee and I watched Avatar, enjoyed the electric heated matress for its heat as opposed to it's plastic texture, and then went and played some pool. Oh well, at least it had stopped snowing when we got outside.