Korean Shit #1: 노래방/Noraebang

I'm starting a series of installments entitled "Korean Shit". It's for people who have no connection whatsoever to the Korean culture or country. Basically I'll show you all the ridiculous/awesome/unique/disgusting/incredible things you can find in no other place but Seoul.

For those of you who aren't familiar with 노래방/Noraebang, I feel as though I should explain it. Because I'm going to write about it. A lot.

It's like karaoke, but don't call it that. "Karaoke" is a Japanese word, and Koreans hate their eastern neighbors. Besides, karaoke is what you do on a stage in front of strangers. But even that is called "Norae Bar" and not "Karaoke" in South Korea.

In Korean, 노래(norae) is "sing", and 방(bang) is "room".

Take your typical karaoke setup, and shove it in a private room with couches, a coffee table, some ashtrays and a couple of tambourines. Rotating disco lights come standard. You can order beer, juice, tea, soda and water. They don't sell soju, but you always sneak a couple bottles of it in your bag. I recently discovered Koreans don't do this, and were flabbergasted at the notion of me or my friends doing it. It had never crossed her mind to do such a thing. Leave it to us foreigners to wreck shop on etiquette. I was kind of shocked to hear this; Koreans are always looking for an excuse to drink. My kind of people.

Whatever you do in SoKo, there's bound to be drinking. An easy way to describe any activity here is "drinking with __________." In this case, a brief definition of noraebang is "drinking with microphones". For 15,000 Korean Won an hour ($12USD/hr), you can sing off-key with your friends and/or co-workers, and be plastered enough not to care.

In South Korea, and in any Koreatown in the world, you are bound to find a bevy of noraebangs on every street. In Seoul & Anyang, the number of noraebangs in any given 500-foot radius easily outnumber your fingers and toes. For example, I've circled in yellow the noraebangs on my old street:



Many have themed interiors, whether it's to look like a medieval castle or a spaceship. My favorite has an entrance shaped like the mouth of a demon.

As a living testament to what it's like inside a noraebang, here's a (really) rough excerpt from a recent noraebang excursion. Bear in mind this is after 5 bottles of soju, a bottle of wine and a handle of Jack.



It's highly addictive. You've been warned.