Instead of checking out a new place this week (which I did anyway – I’ll blog about that later), I thought about checking a place I’d been before at a different time. Welcome to Hongik University / the Hongdae area – the night life edition.

The night started around 8pm with getting to Hongik University / the Hongdae area. A pretty simple subway ride, although there are multiple exits on multiple lines to be in the general area. The one I took (Sangsu) put me about 3 minutes from the club I had heard about. Jane’s Groove is a foreigner-friendly bar with a small dance floor facing a stage. By foreigner I mean many different nationalities – I sat at a table with several people from Austraila, New Zealand; I danced with a few Americans, and quite a few other nationalities were represented. Unlike other bars / clubs that play techno or remixes of top-40 hits, they play hard rock and lots of it. I saw an ad on Facebook offering free cover and a free drink – and on a Saturday night no less! Needless to say, I had to check that out.

The party had already started by the time I arrived. Unlike American bars which might get warmed up until 10 or 11, this place was easily on its way towards getting full as early as 8:30. Although I didn’t know it, a couple live bands were scheduled to perform, and the first one – Wiretap in my ear (link goes to some of their music videos) – was quite good. They started around 10:30pm – ON TIME!!! – sang and spoke in Korean, but the language of music is international.

About 11:00 the main band came on. The Yoon Do Hyun Band (better known as YB – lyrics or videos of theirs are online) played both some hard rock and laid-back R&B songs – almost entirely in English 🙂 Even though it’s still nearly impossible to understand the lyrics at a live show, it’s still nice to know they’re singing English…

After the live shows ended and the crowd began to settle, it was time for the ‘club’ to start. Again, loud hard rock ruled the speakers – definitely a fun time. I left when my ears began to ring, although the parties around here don’t stop until 5am – that’s either when the law says ‘last call’ or when there’s no one left to party!

After leaving, I noticed the crowd – almost entirely Koreans of college-age or twentysomethings – seemed quite content to walk the streets, go to another bar / club down the street, or otherwise mill around. If you were done with the bar / club scene, one can always walk the street, window shop, visit a street vendor, or pop into a 24-hour convenience store or restaurant. Quite a few restaurants were packed – at 3:30am!

For awhile, I took a break from walking and sat on a bench by a small flat area. Evidence of it being a Saturday night was definitely around – flyers or cards advertising a given club or bar, beer bottles, empty cigarette packs… I pity the cleanup crew(s). A few Koreans were trying skateboard tricks or riding their bikes. It seems fairly common to be up late for these students, even if you’re not necessarily drinking or clubbing. I felt at peace, and yet somewhat out of place. It’s been several years since I was in college – and my college experience was nothing like this at all…

Despite it being a major club / bar zone, I noticed no fights, only a couple of people needing help to walk (and their friends were doing a good job with them), and people generally behaving themselves. Part of Korean culture is keeping and maintaining harmonious relationships with others – in other words, Koreans tend to stop before they get too drunk or wasted.

One note about the night life: The subways shut down around midnight (and some stops have no subways after around 11pm) on the weekends, but reopen around 5:30am. It’s somewhat common with the partying ‘community’ to walk / stagger home, take a taxi, or simply party until the subways start up again… If you’re further than walking distance from home, one can still have a great time before having to rush for the subway – otherwise, be prepared to pay for a taxi. They add a 20% premium for the night life crowd (between midnight to 4am) – thankfully, they’re everywhere and flagging one down is rarely a problem.

Hongik University is on line 2. If you hear of anyone talk about the Hongdae area, it’s the same area as the University. So far I’ve learned locations based on the name of the subway station!