Clubbing My First Day in South Korea: Black Women Showed Me the Ropes
Going to South Korea has always been a dream for me. I knew that it would happen someday. I just didn't think it could happen so soon. I have always had a general interest, knowledge, and love for East Asia (mainly China, South Korea, and Japan), or at least since middle school. After graduating from college in 2016, I moved to Changsha, China where I taught English for two years. Given that I not only lived in China, but also visited the country multiple times before living there, I was ready for a fresh change. I get bored if I stay in one place too long. Naturally, it was time to embark on a new journey.
Leaving China
The day after my contract ended at the training school (which are private after school lessons) I was teaching at in China, I flew with 3 heavy suitcases to Hong Kong to obtain my visa to Korea. Back in January of 2018, I was in and out of the hospital for a month. My teaching job in China was exhausting. Foreign teachers at training schools often teach English through games. I was literally running around with kids all day. My body was exhausted and I started feeling like a clown. I got sick with tonsillitis, the worst flu I've ever had, and myocarditis (an infection that affects the functioning of one's liver and heart). The parents at these private institutions are very intrusive so of course they were wondering when I would return to my classes. My boss came to visit me at the hospital asking if I'd like to switch to being part time or leave the training school. They said if I decided to leave there would be no hard feelings and that they would write me a good recommendation letter. I sighed in relief. HELL YEAH I WANTED TO LEAVE! This was great because normally the breachment of contract fee can be hefty, which I wouldn't have to worry about. I started looking for other less exhausting teaching jobs in China while simultaneously applying to EPIK (English Program in Korea). The next available starting date was for the Fall term, starting in September. I figured I could stick it out in China another half a year until then. I applied the year before and got in but decided to wait until the next year as the only available positions at the time were in the country side. I'm a city girl. So it's safe to say my application process was a breeze. The interview was basically, "Can you come now?" I was ecstatic. I applied for the Fall term in September, but they still needed teachers for the then current Spring term. I was going home to the States soon anyway because winter break was coming up for the teachers.
Paperwork
I planned to go to Thailand with my best friend from college (who was also in China with me working for the same school) during that time, but I was still recovering from being sick. Besides, anyone who knows what it's like to obtain paperwork to work abroad know it's one of the most tedious, annoying things you could ever do in life. It can sometimes take up to a few months to get documents apostilled, an FBI background check conducted, and the visa itself. I live in Southern Maryland, so right outside of Washington D.C, meaning I lived in the most convenient place in the world to get such paper work done in the fastest possible time. While home I was able to do everything except obtaining the actual visa all within 3 weeks. I returned to my job in China where I had about 2 more weeks of work, packed up and was on my way to Hong Kong to obtain the visa. I was in Hong Kong for 9 days. It normally takes about 6 days to get a visa but I arrived on a Thursday, the weekend doesn't count and Monday was a holiday so having no choice but to be in one of the most expensive cities in the world, my wallet was surely crying by the end of my stay.
Arriving: Where's the Party At?
Finally here in Korea, I was in awe as I arrived in Busan, a beautiful coastal, urban city, (the second largest city in Korea) with gorgeous mountains and beaches for days. This would be my home for the next two years. Being that I was admitted to come teach last minute, I arrived March 23rd, the end of the first month of the school year in Korea. All of the other teachers in the program (there are thousands hired by the EPIK program every year and a few hundred in Busan alone) already met and knew each other. I needed to catch up. Luckily the program hooked us up with info on how to join the current year's private group chat to meet people. Being that most people had been settled for a month, most people already found their cliques. There wasn't''t much activity happening in the chat. I arrived to Busan two days early on a Saturday so I found a cheap hostel to stay at, and sent my first message in the group chat. "I'm new here and arrived late. Do you guys get together on the weekends? Anything happening tonight?" I got three different responses. Guess who they were from.
Black girl magic always comes through. I got a message from Ernestine, a tall woman with long curly hair who was a veteran compared to most of us. She had been in Korea a few years. She doesn't normally club but we still met later. Aisha, a well established queen and big sister from New York City said she was going with some girls to a club too far from where I was staying. Lastly, Alexia a Canadian girl with Jamaican roots and a sick fashion sense was the last person to message me and the first person I hung out with in Korea. She actually invited me to meet her for dinner since her apartment was located in the clubbing area downtown and she was planning on going dancing with a group later. My first meal was dakgalbi. Pan fried rice and chicken with cheese and a spicy red gochujang sauce. The restaurant was literally next to one of the clubs that would become a staple for foreigners in Busan my two years there. Non Morde (which I believe translates to 'No Bite' in French) was on the 8th floor of a neon lit building. Korean cities tend to have the habit of having one building with 30 stores in one. You really have to be paying attention to find where you need to go, even when using gps. Seomyeon, the main clubbing/shopping/eating district of downtown went on like that for blocks. Rows and rows of small streets with medium sized buildings, 4 to 8 stories each with restaurants, bars, and shops all clustered together. It's like a maze and easy to get lost if you don't know your way around.
Finally! Clubs with Hip Hop Music!
We had a late dinner so it was probably around 10:00 when Alexia's friends met us outside the club. There were maybe 8 of us, a diverse group too. Americans, Canadians, South African's, Black, White, Asian and so on. Everyone seemed pretty cool. Korea is a small country, so buildings tend to to be compact. There wasn't a lot of space to move since the club was packed. But with no entrance fee, hip hop music, (FINALLY! Since most of the clubs I went to in China played techno music) drinks, and a good time I wasn't complaining. We danced our asses off all night. I vaguely remember dancing with some white guy in our group. He came on a little too strong so I dodged and started dancing with Alexia, and one of her close friends, who by the way was gorgeous. I ended up having a small crush on her later. We danced in that way that women do where it's okay for us to grind on each other without people questioning it when we're tired of the men being stupid. I dressed more feminine/tomboyish then so that dynamic changed later, the way I danced with women that is. Funny how gender presentation changes the way people interact with you. But they'll be more on that later.
Market Day
The next day I decided to spend time with myself and did a little bit of site seeing at the Nampo/Jagalchi markets. Both markets are on opposites sides of the street. Jagalchi market is one the biggest seafood markets of Asia. Seafood, crab specifically is my favorite food so I had to treat myself. Nampo market is a huge shopping area with famous expensive brand name stores mixed in with cheap markets where you can haggle for knock off Supreme, Nike, Adidas and everything else. There's also tons of themed cafes, restaurants, and street food stalls everywhere. It was a nice day. I had some amazing steamed crab legs, tried some street food, and bought a knockoff Nike pair of sweatpants, which is still my favorite most comfortable pair of sweatpants. I headed back to my hostel, located across from the main high speed train (called the KTX) station, stuffed in between Texas Street and Chinatown, which I later found out was also the red light district. I treated myself again to some amazing Korean BBQ, something I would later come to eat once a week and went to sleep excited to go to my school and see my apartment on Monday.
Note
I wish I had blogged about my experience as it was happening in real time. But better late than never. I'm recalling everything from memory so bare with me if some dates or minor details are off. Nonetheless I never want to forget such an important time in my life, a time that really shaped who I am as a person today. Enjoy and please leave comments or questions. Here are some images below of things I mentioned in this blog post.
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