...is to come up with a creative resolution by December 31, 2014. I can't remember the last time I made a New Year's resolution. I think I just prefer to commit to things at random times of the year.
I worked on New Year's Eve, much as I do every other day. Emily and I headed to Gangnam after work to meet up with some friends and ring in the new year in
Gangnam style (I couldn't resist).
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| "Brilliant" Countdown |
We passed around a bottle of makkoli (alcoholic drink made from wheat and rice that has a milky color), and waited for midnight. Some guy was handing out flashing bunny ear headbands to everyone in the crowd. We all had too big of heads, leading to warped ears. Stupid foreigners.
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Sorry there are no pictures of me, I was always the one taking them...
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| A random Korean singer |
Earlier, Emily and I had gone to a market to find champagne, thinking that no New Year's celebration is complete without some bubbly. She ended up buying a disgusting $5 bottle of "sparkling wine," which we ceremoniously opened after midnight. Meanwhile, some of our friends were at a wine bar, where they met some French flight attendants. Later, most of the employees of Air France it seemed met up with us in Gangnam. It turns out the Frenchies were classy (as French people tend to be) and brought with them several bottles of champagne (actually from Champagne, France), including Moet & Chandon and Veuve Clicquot. So we ended up getting our champagne after all!
We were hungry after awhile and went to a Korean fast-food place
called Jaws, which specializes in a few bunsik dishes and is known for
being very spicy. Probably the most common street food in Korea is
called
떡볶이 (tteokbokki), which is soft rice cake and
fish cake in a red chili pepper sauce. We ordered tteokbokki with twigim
(like tempura) and soup. It was oh so delicious and super spicy!
Then
we went to a 노래방 (noraebang) to kill some time before sunrise. It is a
tradition in Korea to watch the first sunrise of the new year, and a few
of us were set on doing just that. After a few hours of singing and a
Taco Bell run, it was close to 5:30am and we still had two hours to stay
awake. It was pretty much torture at this point, but Emily, Wally, and I
decided to suck it up and head to Namsan Tower. We planned on taking
the gondola up to the top of the hill, but the taxi driver dropped us
off in some random location. We ended up walking like zombies in a
procession of Koreans all the way up the hill.
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| Must...Sleep...Taking the subway to Myeongdong |
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| The trek up the hill |
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We didn't realize half of Seoul would be there
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And finally...the sunrise over the mountains
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Right around 7:45am, the sun appeared over the mountains. While every person in sight aimed their camera at the view, we were guzzling grape juice and dozing off at a restaurant table. I don't know if it was worth it, but I am glad I can say I was among the first people in the world (being in the eastern-most time zone) to behold 2014.
