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.

Well people, I don’t know just where to begin, but I can say that life in and around Seoul just keeps getting better. A few weeks ago I headed to Hongdae for the usual Saturday night debauchery, and got quite a treat of a show. OK so maybe I AM a little hard up for shows these days, however, I saw three bands that got me dancing up a storm and who each had quite an original feel.

Club DGBD is still known by its former name of Club Drug, and it’s among the three or four most regular nooks to catch a good band on a regular basis. Also there are SPOT bar, Skunk Hell, and Club FF (Funky Funky).

First up was KINGSTON RUDIESKA (pictured right). I think this was my fave because, well, when else in your life are you gonna see a ten-man all-Korean ska band!? The four-man horn section was like our very own Korean Groove Line. People were actually skankin! (Under normal circumstances that would probably be cheesy, but here it was actually quite refreshing). They play classics as well as original material. So the guys are decked out in old school suits, tams, and the spry little singer in his brown fedora was doing the chicken shake accent thingy with his mouth! I’m still trying to figure that one out.

Next up was a local icon, The Rock Tigers. These guys have a big following in Seoul and are pure rockabilly goodness, with the Korean Gwen Stefani (pictured left)on vocals. They play quite regularly at Club Drug; with a huge stand up bass, lots of energy, and an adorable singer with black roots poking out of bleach blonde hair and wing tattoos on her tiny back, they always make for a good time.

The last band was the reason I went to Drug that night, and though I’m not really a rocka-psycho-billy-chicky, I wanted to check out this Texas group with a twenty year career under their belt, who is showing up in Seoul for a two night run!? What? Yes, it’s true. The Dallas based Phantom Rockers (pictured below) are actually a mix of two Londoners and two Texans, who passed through Korea on a tour that also included Japan and Spain. This crew is all leather pants and lightning fast drums, a rockabilly sound with ruffian vocals. Highlights include personalized covers of “Tainted Love” and Dead or Alive’s “You Spin Me Round (Like a Record).” The most fun though, was talking to the band about their impressions here in the land of contradictions, their experiences with Soju-a-plenty (Soju is the Korean vodka, if you will, which runs about 95 cents a bottle), and of course, the Texas connection.

Houstonite Scotty (drums) was more than happy to talk to an English speaker about touring, the incomparable Korean hospitality, and of course, Texas! These guys claim to have played with the Fuckemos on a regular basis back in the day, and Scotty had quite an appreciation for the newer Red River district. The other Texan is a Brownsville valley guy, and was seemingly MIA before and after the show. The Londoners, however, lived up to their rep of schmoozing, boozing, and cruising for chicks. After only a few days in Seoul they were clearly in the know, as they asked us if we were headed to the park after the show.

One thing about Korea that will always have one up on the States, is drinkin’ in the park! Lax public consumption laws lead to some great makeshift parties in the street (see An Austin Translation 1 for puke references). The park in Hongdae is an infamous spot for before, after, and in-between show “meetings” of all kinds. On this particular night there was actually a DJ, (though not very good, you gotta give a guy props for randomly setting up tables in the park on a Saturday) and some brilliant entrepreneur dragging a wooden cart piled high with bottles of makoli (mah-koh-lee)! I realize this means nothing to most of you, but makoli is a milky, fermented rice wine best served icy cold out of a teapot and clay bowls. Yet there it was, in plastic bottles ready to be swigged from for three dollars a pop. As I have said so many times in the last ten months, I’ll say it again: “Only in Korea!”

So, where, oh where, can a night like this end? Well, nowhere else but the lovely, the utterly euphoric and yet equally destructive drink cart! A testament to the panache of Korea and its commitment to all drunk, all the time, the drink cart serves two fifty and three dollar cocktails, ALL THE TIME! Hera’s drink cart was a new discovery for me, and I imagine it will become a regular stop for many nights to come. If not, may it at least serve as a good place to listen to Latin music, loiter on the curb and hey, it makes a great story to tell 50 times in a row over a hangover meal the next day.