Austin native Rebecca Rosenberg has been living in South Korea teaching English, and she wants to share her experiences abroad with all of Austin. Austinist believes that we could all use some Korean culture.

Before coming, and even when you first arrive here, it’s easy to worry that South Korea is nothing more than an abyss of karaoke (here called norae bong), and watered down imitations of Western culture…and many times it is exactly that. But once you’re on the path to one cool thing, the party possibilities just spiral out of control, leaving you ensconced in a scene built for weiguks, by weiguks (foreigners). While I’d hate to be an ethno-centrist in a strange land, it IS nice to have a taste of the underground in a country where a plaid shirt and striped leggings can go so perfectly with a paisley multi ruffled skirt topped off by a poofy sequined rose belt….are you dizzy yet? The Korean fashion philosophy is that once you have on eighty accessories, then you only need ten more and you’re ready to go.

So, one of these refreshing gatherings I speak of is the Seoul Sounds launch party, recently thrown by the collective of the same name (duh). It’s a group of DJ’s and artists dedicated to bringing Seoul citizens a “fast-paced journey through the underground sounds of Seoul”… and they did it up right with a three-story, multi DJ bash in the hood of Hyewha. Way north but way worth it, as we so rarely have to chance to say in Austin. Cover charge was man-won (10 bucks) which got you a free drink and access to records-a-spinnin’ upstairs and downstairs, with the middle ground as a lounge area. The concrete patio outside was decked out with gold embroidered couches casually draping its edge, and a low fountain, which was a screaming invitation for some drunken “swimming”. Inside, the layout was a cozy and cool two story setup, with the wooden bar serving two dollar Jaeger shots and four dollar G n T’s (my personal fave)…they just couldn’t keep up with the crowd though, and by the end of the night they were running out of pretty much everything. While climbing up the staircase to the second floor was a death-defying feat even for sober people, it was basically a rock-out with your you-know-what out dance party. Meanwhile the downstairs dungeon (part of the club next door rented out for the night) featured dub and drum n’ bass on the tables, and a lot more space to groove.

What made this party a success though, was not the lack of Korean ballads or old drunk men trying to practice their “Engrish” on you. Nor was it even the mags and flyers strewn about to keep us up on the party DL…it was the communal vibe demonstrated by random whiteys on the street sharing alcohol from paper cups and cheers-ing each other with the hearty Korean “gombe!” People came all the way from the southern city of Busan to check it out, meet peeps, and partake of the yummy BBQ being sold and even given away there…who IS this collective anyway????? Perhaps a bunch of anonymous angels trying to keep us all together and sane here in K-land.