Lately i've been going out way too often! It's just nice to blow the steam off a little after work, and my friends are so nice and hilarious!! But i'm old now and I can't go to bed at 4am and feel good the next day... takes at least 2 days to recover :p
Anyway, my point is that during those long and lovely nights, i've seen a lot of interesting things. Whatsmore, i've witnessed them both in Seoul and Jejudo so I think it's safe to say that it concerns Koreans.
One night, we bumped into 5 guys who were totally drunk. One of them was unconscious and the others were holding him up but he was quite heavy and they fell on the ground. They were laughing hysterically, while the guy was probably in a coma. And probably hurt.
I've often seen drunk guys trying to walk on a street, that sad and confused look in their eyes, sometimes making a quick stop to throw up.
But most of the time, it's old Korean man that get hammered.... before 11pm! Apparently they just get off of work, go for dinner and get drunk on soju. It's quite common to see them leaning against a good friend (usually not drunk) and trying to look ok while talking nonsense. Just last night, I saw two of them in the subway around 10:15pm. Uuuuh but what about their wife and family?
You also see them in bars - they're at the next table, either trying to stand up, or being served another drink by the waiter. So I wonder what's the deeper explanation for such a habit?
To be sure, we drink a lot in America and, as most teenagers, i've been drunk in public quite a few times but never to the point that i couldn' walk or even hold my head! As for adults, we do see drunk people on the streets but I believe they're usually homeless. I really gota look more into this.
Actually tonight I met my friends at a Noraebang (karaoke, even though I was exhausted) and... well first of all may I say that noraebangs are just amazing! You get this private room for you and your friends with a big screen and you pick the songs and have a blast! We can usually drink and smoke in those rooms. I've gone with a lot of people at once and it's so fun! Last night we were at a very classy one in Hongdae, I definitely recommend it.
Anyway, we headed to a nice lounge around 1am. And there at the entrance, this beautiful girl in a black dress, totally drunk, could barely walk, not laughing at all, her head swaying. She was with a couple of other people, one of them trying to hold her up but he was just having the giggles and couldn't seem to stop it. I probably looked shocked because he gave me a big smile and said "ok ok"
I'm trying to imagine what happened to her when she got home. Or even on her way home. Or did she even get home? Maybe Koreans are more into having a good time without taking advantage of the situtation.
But about two months ago, a girl working at my school got drunk and took a cab at night. The cab driver took her to a hotel and tried to rape her. But then again, many Korean cab drivers are former criminals who got this job because it's so easy. Thus we can't generalize here either.
A lot of Occidentals have a tendency to either be mean, look for trouble or become hypersexual when they're under the influence of alcohol. They also have car accidents that can be fatal. Koreans I have seen seem to be overly happy and not at all threatening. I don't know about road kills here... uuuuuh yeah, I gota stop speculating and get facts :)
