The Beautiful Sounds of Korea

Oh rainy day. There were tentative plans to go to the arboretum today or on a bike ride to a waterfall, however, the torrential downpour that started at ten last night has put an end to those plans. That's okay because it leaves more time for blogging.

Tuesday was the Korean memorial day, so Scott, Allison and I went to Suwon and walked around an old Korean wall. For some reason seeing old walls is supposed to be rewarding. Suwon is the old capital of Korea and thusly there are some old things there: old temples, old fortresses, old people. Actually it is was a good time. We saw a monstrously tall golden Buddha statue and Scott and I got to ring a giant bell. I guess besides having old things Suwon has big things too. You know the day is good when you get to ring a giant bell.

Speaking of harmonious and beautiful sounds, a few weeks ago I had my first noh-ree-bong experience. A noh-ree-bong is a place where you and your friends rent out a karaoke room, sneak in some beer and sing your hearts out. At first I was hesitant. On a pleasure scale, I equate singing karaoke to showing up in a public place in my underwear or falling down in front of a large crowd of people. It's stress invoking and embarrassing. The great thing about the noh-ree-bong though is it's just you and your friends, and all my friends already know what an ass I can make of myself. Singing a few badly tuned songs wasn't going to hurt anything. By the end of the night you couldn't get the microphone out of my hand. Check back with me in a couple of months. I'll probably be one of those guys who gets dressed up in a rhinestone jumpsuit just to rent out a noh-ree-bong room all to myself. Yes folks, a star is born.