Growing up in a close familly, specifically with a grandma whose birthday was only sepparated by two days from mine, birthdays have always featured prominantly in my life. I've missed not celebrating my special day WITH someone else in recent years, but thankfully I was able to continue that tradition this year with my boyfriend Ryno. One of the strangest and coolest thing about my boyfriend, Ryno is that we nearly share the same birthday (with the addition of two years) but still... His birthday is June 9th and mine is June 10th if you can believe it?! Possibly this is what makes us such a good couple; we are both wacky Geminis. To celebrate our 26th and 28th birthdays respectively, we decided to get out and see the broadway production of "Wicked" which is curently touring in Seoul with an ENGLISHEEE cast!! Dressed to impress, we set out on our b-day adventure with big smiles and even bigger sunglasses.
English performance quality is something that is not that easily found in Korea and it seemed like the perfect opportunity to splurge and do something that we would otherwise not have done or spent our money on. I was happy to do something that not only reminded me of how awesome home is, but that pushed me to do something I haven't yet done in Korea (see a musical, lol). The Bluesquare Samsung Electronics Hall in Yongsan gu, was a great venue that featured a wonderful restaurant and a modern environment. It was surprising to me, that such a cool place could be hidden just off beside Itaewon. I'd never been to that area before and appart from the Theatre, there were mostly foreign embassies and International schools.
The performance was in all respects "WICKED!" The singing, the dancing, the acting, the humor... it all reminded me of not only how much I enjoy the arts, but also how much I miss curently about growing up and living in Canada; where sarcasm and skirts that cover your ass are not completely odd notions. I sat straight up in my seat, smiling from ear to ear and thought how magical and wonderful it was that I could afford and enjoy such forms of entertainment surrounded by good people and in the mutual company of someone I love. It was a good birthday present and a good birthday realization.
It was 3 hours of joy that lead us to the conclusion that Broadway, while exciting is also exhausting to watch. We took a couple hours to chill before heading off to Hongdae to meet up with a bunch of our friends for dinner and drinks. What a to do!! The meet up went well enough, but trying to get 16 foreigners seated and served in any restaurant in Korea is a major production that saw us turned away from our originally chosen restaurant and then when we found another venue, they managed to NOT even serve us drinks after 40 minutes, so off we went again in search of somewhere that would.
Finally we found a restaurant that would accommodate us as a group, however, getting served was another ordeal and from this entire shmozel I've learnt to ONLY make large party plans at restaurants that in fact WILL take reservations on weekends. Fortunately, everyone was very good natured about it and we managed to get some food and beers into us before the night was too far gone!
After dinner, we decided to tone it down a notch and so head over to the hippy bar 500 (Obeg) for some great cocktails and a hooka! I love bringing people to Obeg, because every time I do, people are always impressed by it's cool vibe and chill DJs. I hadn't been in ages and while the drinks have increased somewhat in price, it's still the same fab, relaxed place I always loved in my first year in Korea.
I was so happy to share a second birthday in a row with some of my good friends; Lindsay, Dara and Jesse! I've been really lucky with the friends that I have made in the past couple of years here. I was pleased to be joined by a bunch of new friends as well whose company I have come to enojoy and really appreciate recently. It's always hard to be away from ones family on birthdays and special holidays, but being surrounded by good people and good friends does go a long way to make up for the lack of close family on these kinds of occations. Thanks to all of my friends who made my birthday and make my life in Korea a much better experience!
A special thanks to my honey bunny, who has become my best friend these last 6 months and whose company I hope to enjoy for much longer. A birthday to remember for all of the good times that were had and enjoyed and all of the liquor that was ingested (responsibly of course!) Till next year!
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