Ulsan Gone Wild

Greetings

Having spent a combined 11 years or so at university (sigh) we have spent our fair share of nights at small bars listening to local bands and downing watered-down drinks. As such we have generally avoided the local pub scene here as it basically only offers two options: 1) the Korean pubs that mostly serve beverages we don't care for, or 2) the three or four foreigner pubs that appear to be exact replicas of the college pubs we have grown tired of.

But last night one of the pubs was celebrating its birthday and had a lineup of bands scheduled all night long. Our friend Adamo was playing a set and in the end the desire to hear good music battled the desire to avoid pubs, and before we knew it we were on or way across town in search of the establishment.

It was about a quarter the size of the pub back at my university but it seemed to have twice as many people in it as I ever saw at the one back home. It was pretty nuts as it was hardly bigger than my apartment but filled with what seemed like thousands of people.

It was also owned by a Canadian and decorated with all things Canada. It was nice to be surrounded by the maple leaf and English-speaking people for a few hours.

I don't think that I caught the name of any of the bands but this one was pretty good. The lead singer was Canadian and although he won't be challenging Pavarotti in a sing-off any time soon he had did a good job building the energy in the room. The highlight of the set was a rendition of the Beastie Boy's "You Gotta Fight" which sung by 200 drunken people actually sounded better than the original version.


Hmmm, I don't actually remember anything about this band other than that they weren't from Ulsan. The second guitarist in the red shirt (in the background) actually recognized Jo and walked up to our table to ask if she was indeed Joanna Groves. It seems he went to UVIC when Jo was chair of the Students' Union. He was a little intoxicated and went off about how she was famous. I was too busy being jealous to really pick up the rest of the conversation though. The low point came when I stood up and told him that I too used to be someone and was willing to give him an autograph. Although it scared him away and frightened both Jo and our friends I think the rest of the bar was excited to know that the actual ABE rep from the 2003 OUCSAK executive was in the room with them.



This is our friend Adamo rocking a cover of Snoop Dog's "Gin and Juice" while wearing an appropriate hat. His was by far the best set and he treated us to some of the most creative covers I had heard on an acoustic guitar in a long time. The set list included Prince's "When Doves Cry", Outkast's "Hey Ya", and several classics by Nirvana and the Foo Fighters.

Adamo is only the second person I have ever met that actually saw Nirvana play live. That alone makes him cool (the hat just adds to it).


Ahh there's nothing quite as Canadian as Poutine. Well, maybe Anne Murray, but that's a post for a different day.

For anyone reading who isn't Canadian, Poutine is french fries covered in cheese curds and gravy.

I was really excited when I found out the pub had Poutine on the menu. Gravy is really rare here and I didn't think that you could even buy cheese curd anywhere in the Republic. It turns out that you can't as the poutine came covered in regular cheese. Although it wouldn't even be good enough to be sold at a 7-11 in Canada, I must say it was the best Poutine I have had in Korea.

As a side note, my friend Harman once ate a giant plate of Poutine 5 nights in a row. I think he's still recovering at some hospital in Quebec. It was simultaneously the stupidest and bravest act I have ever witnessed.


Here's a photo of our friend's Kate and Adamo. He's from Australia and she's from Scotland and they met in Japan. I'm trying to convince them to settle in Canada as it's a nice middle ground option for where to live.

After a few hours of drinks and live music we started to notice a change in the air. No it wasn't the smoke (which, by the way, was unbearable) or even the smell from all of the people in an un-airconditoned room.

It was that people were becoming...hmmm...shall we say...more friendly.

At first it was a few catcalls, but then clothes started flying off and people started to get a little crazy.

A few minutes more and it became clear that we were witnessing a scene from "ULSAN GONE WILD."

( I used my super duper Paint Skills to block out all identities)

Here's a group of guys after taking their shirts off and singing some strange song about the women they like. It seems that frats exist everywhere in the world, although I think these guys might have been in a rugby team.



Here's another photo of the night's festivities. Although I managed to keep all of my clothes on I did manage to get a nice photo of Jo streaking across the street in the front of the pub leading a group of people to the Quads.

Anyway, that was our night at the pub. Jo and I are kind of lame these days and prefer to hang out with a small group of friends at home rather then going out and drinking, so who knows when we will go back.

The music was great though. Maybe I can just pay one of the bands to play in our living room as that would solve the problem.

Cheers

Shayne