Turning 23

Well this past week was my birthday! I don't have the best track record with birthdays. I always get quite wrapped up in everyone else's enjoyment, and don't usually have the best time myself. Thankfully, that was only partially accurate for this year as well.

I invited everyone from work to go out on Friday night to celebrate. I wanted us to go to a nicer place for makgeolli (Korean rice wine) and sides, then out to the bars/clubs. With the assistance of one of my kind Korean coworkers, Erica, I was able to get us a reservation at a place in Hongdae (one of the big university areas in Seoul) called Wolhyang. It is known for its flavored makgeolli. Additionally, as most makgeolli in Korea is 6-7% alcohol, this place's is around 15%... So, if that gives you any idea of how the night went...

Well, we had to get there at 930 to get our reserved table, so Sean, Tanya, and I went at 9pm (only 45 minutes after getting home from work). We managed to find the place without too much difficulty, but only because I did my homework and knew what to look for. We knew the others would have trouble. As soon as we arrived, I had to go to the subway to pick up a couchsurfer friend who was going to join us, William from Sweeden. Maybe 30 minutes later, I went back to the subway to collect 3 of my coworkers, Davi, Meg, and Courtney (3 new morning teachers). Finally, around 15 minutes after them, the other 3 (Meghan, Jamie, and Molly) arrived.

We tried many flavors of makgeolli including original, chestnut (not a fan), strawberry (delicious), pomegranate (excellent), peach, and maybe one other I am forgetting. We also got some sides, but I'm not sure exactly what any of it was. We had a great time conversing and drinking for a few hours. It was nice because the afternoon teachers hadn't really gotten much chance to get to know the new morning teachers. So, this was the first time we all got together!

Afternoon teachers represent. 

All the teachers!

After we left there, we wandered around. This is where my stress came out. I am always worried if other people are having fun, and since we didn't really have a plan and we looked for a good bar for a while, I was stressed that people weren't having fun. We finally found a hiphop club and settled in there for a bit. This is when my sweet and thoughtful coworkers started buying me shots...

The bar also gave me a flaming shot (not sure what it was exactly), but after this, I was pretty much done for the night. I took a cab home a bit later, and left everyone else to enjoy the rest of the night.

Well, that's about the extent of my birthday celebrations...