Day 3 - Key Club, Soju, and Drinking Games

I had my first Korean class today--four hours of Korean reading/writing/speaking/listening, all taught in very quickly spoken Korean. I've never taken a Korean class taught in Korean, so I was really thrown into the deep end. After a while, I was able to shut off all non-essential portions of my brain and just concentrate on what the heck the teachers were saying. I maybe understood 30%. Maybe.

I met the executive director. She gave a speech. That's about it for that.

I met Key Club! The meeting tonight was a lot of fun. We were placed into small groups with the club members and we were supposed to be discussing topic questions about our dreams and goals in life. Instead we really just chatted informally. Since they don't always get to speak with foreigners, I think this was fine because they had to deal with American accents and conversational rhythms. Then afterwards we were invited out to the bars with them!

We went up to the 4th or 5th floor of the building to a private room. It wasn't just drinking--there was maybe a bottle of soju for each pair. It was fun to practice pouring for each other and sharing that piece of culture with kids my age. There was so much food too! For 5000W (about $5) we all got half a bottle of soju and a ton of food. There was fruit, a stew, chicken, fried food, and small dishes of crackers, Korean-style pancakes, and more. It was FANTASTIC. After a few shots of soju we started loosening up and the awkwardness eased. The KNU students were more comfortable with their Korean, and we were more comfortable in the environment. So we discussed drinking games.

I learned a bunch of them. Korean drinking games don't use many props. By that I mean American games use playing cards, plastic cups, ping pong balls, etc. Korean games use the caps on the soju bottles, or nothing at all.

Baskin Robbins 31:
The goal is to NOT be the one to say 31. If you are forced to say 31, then you must drink. Each person playing counts up to 31. They can say one number, two numbers, or three numbers. For example Player 1 = "1, 2, 3"; Player 2 = "4, 5"; Player 3 = "6, 7, 8"; Player 4 = "9" until someone is forced to say 31.

"Guess Game" (that's what they called it at least...):
Players count off sequential numbers, however no two people can say a number at the same time. For example, Player 1 starts by saying "One". Then other players must continue by saying "Two" but you can't say it if somebody else says it at the same time. It makes for a fun game because there's long pauses where you just look around at everybody else, ready to say a number but not wanting to say it if somebody else is about to say it, too. The loser has to drink.

Soju Cap Game:
Soju caps are made of an aluminum-type foil. When you open a bottle, there's a long strip of foil left on the cap, barely attached to it. Each person passes the cap, flicking the strip once per turn to try to break it off the cap (kind of like wiggling a soda can tab until it falls off). Losers must drink, such as women must drink if the men break it off, or Americans must drink if Koreans break it off, etc.

So it was a pretty great day, even if I had to stay up until 1am doing homework. I made some great new friends that I hope to see again soon, especially Song Il and Henry, who sat on either side of me at the bar. After they taught me their drinking games, we played quarters and I told them about flip cup. Now, I need to go find plastic cups for Friday's Key Club Mixer so we can play!

[pictures/short video to follow tomorrow, i.e. when it's not 1am...]