Noraebang!

Noraebang in Seoul!

I was never really crazy about karaoke in the States. Call me boring, but standing in front of an audience of total strangers while my voice cracks like a choirboy going through puberty is just not my idea of a good time. Nevertheless, when I heard about the popularity of karaoke in South Korea, I decided to give it a whirl. Maybe my hoarse and raspy vocal stylings would sound delightful in Korean! (Side note: they don't.)

After a tasty Thai dinner, a group of friends and I went out for some noraebang, which literally means "singing room" in Korean. While the idea of frightening away all my friends wasn't particularly appealing, at least my humiliation would be in private. We checked into our private room and all my inhibitions immediately flew out the door... it was awesome! It was karaoke on steroids; big screen TV, strobe lights, disco balls, tambourines... you name it! One interesting addition was that the TV/karaoke machine had all these random silent movie clips in the background of the song lyrics; everything from Korean ministers preaching to a sappy love scene with a boy and girl running through a field and then crying. It really added a certain... something.

While I'm fairly certain I did, in fact, frighten everyone else present, I had a great time! I sang (read: croaked/shouted) until I practically lost my voice. I'm hooked.

My friend Monica rockin' the tambourine!

Yes, we were singing Kris Kross "Jump"...