This weekend was a musical one. Some people we knew were playing their last gig in Korea, and some other people we knew were playing their first gig in Korea... at the same venue and with the same drummer. The bands had very different styles, and both were really good, especially when the coolest of cool Korean saxophonist started effortlessly bluesing his way through the songs of Dodge n the Bullitz. Looking forward to more of where that came from. Alas, all good things come to an end, and a too-cheesy band took centre stage. It's amazing how loud music is incredible if it's good, and bleedin' terrible if it's bad. So with this shift from incredible to terrible I ran away, ate kebab, and then realised my phone had died and I didn't know where anyone was now. Schoolboy error Michelle!
But heyho, it was now Saturday and I was hangover free. Lexi and I were decided - we wanted to go for lunch, but not Korean food. We wanted home comforts. Unfortunatly, living away from Seoul makes that pretty difficult unless your willing to stoop to Mcdonalds or Greasy Pizza. Bah Humbug. Secretly, I was mentally licking my lips at a Big Mac, and about to start saying 'Dammit, I suppose we'll just have to go for a burger' until we passed an 'Italian' Restaurant. Ooo la la. Bueno, even. A lovely girly chat and a Koreanised version of Italian food later, and it was time to start getting muscial again.
We met Will and his wife Yungjong for drinks before heading to a Norabang to belt out some classics. Lee and Will screamed System of a Down whilst alternating between Yungjong's Korean ballads and my Soul Solos. We spent a long time harmonising on the kareoke machine before deciding we were amazing and the norabang wasn't cutting it anymore. We needed instruments. We headed back to our apartment (after a 7-11 booze stop of course) and impressed eachother with our guitar and singing talents. Actually, Will and Lee were too drunk to remember how to play, and I'm not even that good on the guitar, but our verions of Dylan, Dolly Parton, Stevie Nicks and Jonny Cash were incredible. At least..... they were at the time.
Somehow, by the love of God, I wasn't hungover the next day. Maybe last weekend's two day hangover had convinced alcohol karma to give me a break. Anyway, I was spritely.....and it's a good thing too....we were off to see Eric Clapton in Seoul. Clapton was incredible, of course. He didn't play a single song like any version I'd heard him do before. The only time I felt uncomfortable was remembering belting out my own version of Layla at the Norabang the night before, so Yungjong could 'know who he was'. Probably a good thing she wasn't here to hear the real version and realise the whole thing isn't done with a tambourine.
It all ended in cocaine. OK, Korea is a strictly drug-free country. You're not facing the death penalty if you're caught with drugs, but you are facing a long long time in imprisonment with even the smallest of evidence, and so I've not even come across a whiff of weed since being in Korea. A far cry from England. From my experience, Korean's have no want for drugs, there is no real market for it, and it's generally quite frowned upon, even by students (gasp). So when Clapton ended it all with his classic 'Cocaine' I didn't expect the whole audience to jump to their feet, storm the stage, and start hollering 'COCAINE' at the top of their voices. Maybe I'm wrong. There's a market for it afterall.
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