Seoulscapade

This was the start of the 2004 St. Patrick’s parade passing through a theatre and arts district in Seoul. It doesn’t look like much here, and it didn’t look like much as it’s passed by, either. But there were some interesting moments. These involved groups of people who mistakenly stumbled into the wrong parade, or so it would appear. Take this group of lasses below.

I’m no expert, but do they look Irish? I mean, is that traditional Irish dress? It looks like a Scottish marching band to me, especially with those bagpipes. The theme here is definitely Scottish. Some questions arise however, like what are these Korean girls doing in a Scottish marching band? Is it the chance to wear a kilt or squeeze on a bag that attracted them to it? Who would start a club like that and for what reason? Equally perplexing is the group of people below.

No, I’m stumped. No green anywhere, no hint of Irishness at all. No, I’m definitely detecting a Spanish theme here. Those guys are like cheap matadors. But the Basso suit bag that girl is carrying, with something other than a suit in it, is far from settling my mind on what is going on. It also very, very annoying that it’s hiding her legs.

OK, this is just getting weird. I think from the look of them that they are Mongols. It’s just a guess. This group would constitute the most distant, out of all groups in the St. Patrick’s parade, from anything Irish, including in terms of presumed geographical origination. But not to worry, some Irishmen at last. Nice to see you could make it.

The most anticipated event for me of St. Patrick’s Day for me was a function on at The Western Chosun Hotel in downtown Seoul. Tickets were 50, 000 won or around $50 per person for a buffet dinner and as much Guinness as you could possibly drink. How could anyone pass up an invitation like that! The Western Chosun is one of the few places in Seoul where you can get Guinness on tap. I got there early.

It’s hard to see much but the place was really jumping after the buffet. They had a couple of bands on and the atmosphere was friendly and relaxed. It was wall to wall foreigners. For my part, I lost count of the amount of Guinness I drank, in the interest of getting my money’s worth. Actually, to tell you the truth, I would have got my money’s worth at around two or three Guinesses because Guinness is usually outrageously expensive in Seoul, way beyond my budget.

All up it was a good night. Towards the end I could still hold a camera still despite the amount of Guinness I had had. This is Sunah, my girlfriend, starting to look weary. She’d drunk her money’s worth as well, but why not, it was St. Patrick’s Day in Seoul.