Thursday, Friday, Saturday.  Where to begin??  It was an intense few days but the most fun I've had out in the party scene in a while.  We had our usual Thursday event at Serein, which went really well, despite having started extremely slow.  The event seems to gain momentum later and later with each passing week, but when it was 11:40 and there were still only about thirty people there, some of us were pretty convinced we had completely bombed.  Not only were we throwing a party, but the guys of HSK/Nodus were hosting a big party at the new Club Heaven and Tutti Matti also had a Thursday event.  We knew that there would be some competition for numbers but I was still kind of surprised how empty our party was.

However, around midnight, people flooded in.  It was absolutely packed like it was the last time and the cops didn't have to come and issue us a warning.  Actually, it felt like the perfect amount of people.  You could walk around without worrying about stepping on any toes or being rude by pushing past people, but there were still tons of new faces to meet.  We broke out the bottles of Vodka and did many rounds of shots for our party people.  Interestingly, all of us Cardelta guys were in a pretty good mood (things have seemed kind of serious and tense in the past month) and I was, too.  So instead of packing up and going home at 1 AM, like I should have, we all headed over to Club Heaven to support our friends of HSK and Nodus. 

I will Heaven a little more credit now.  The first two times I went, it was opening weekend and it felt really empty and characterless.  Thursday was a surprisingly good night, though.  It seemed like everyone was out.  Dean and I didn't go home until 4:30.  I got about two hours of sleep, dragged myself out of bed, didn't bother showering (I know, gross), grabbed a double shot on my way to work, and then ran through the motions of first and second period.  After that, I was finished until sixth period.  I basically lay around in pathetic heap at my desk in the English Zone, occasionally swatting at mosquitoes and jolting up whenever a student popped in to offer greetings.

I wasn't super keen on going on on Friday, but Ben and James--two of our Cardelta boys--were having a launch party for their brand.  They'd rented out a rooftop bar close to Rodeo Street for their event, aiming to have a high-scale but chill event.  I went with a bunch of girls and Michael, didn't drink much, took some pictures, and then went to Club Naked for about...thirty minutes.  I was too weary to be a total socializer, too lazy to drink. 

Last night, Sarah of White Noize threw a party at Club Mansion in Hongdae.  It was weird to have the Apgujeong crowd in a place like Hongdae, but I loved it.  The idea of drinking in my favorite district and then partying with all my friends at this new club put me in a great mood again.  Dean, Michael, and I went to one of my favorite small bars, Indie Bar, to pre-game on cheap house wine before meeting up with some other friends and heading over to Mansion. 

This venue feels kind of like a more rustic and urban Club Answer.  Owned by the same manager (as hinted at by the same Da Vinci portraits hanging up in the entrance way), it still has an upscale feeling compared to most of the places in Hongdae, but the dark brick walls and antiquated chandeliers give it a less polished but more hipster vibe.  The DJs from Answer were performing, so the music was--of course--great.  When we arrived, I already had a good wine buzz (from just two glasses.  I'm a cheap date) and we then bought a vodka set.  We downed that pretty quickly before we were invited over to another table of our friends'.  We ended up drinking and dancing with some backup dancers, who were incredibly energetic and friendly. 

Around 4:00 AM, I was feeling like the night could go two ways: 1) it could completely spin out of control and make me sick or 2) it could be balanced and neutralized as long as I got some food in my body.  Making our signature "nom nom" hand to mouth motion to Dean and Michael, we walked down the block until we found a rotisserie chicken restaurant that was open.  The great thing about Hongdae is that things are ALWAYS open late at night.  There are still thousands of drunk people running around, the music is pumping into the streets from the hundreds of bars and clubs, the lights are still flashing, traffic is everywhere.  Hongdae's vibe is just so, so different from that of Apgujeong, and I will always prefer the former.

Anyway, we ordered a chicken and a pot of kimchi jiggae.  The chicken was great but the jiggae was incredibly spicy.  I still ate a lot, knowing that if I ate, I would start sobering up quickly--enough to take a taxi home, at least.  But for some reason, it didn't work last night.  Eventually, the three of us grabbed a taxi.  I felt so defeated and weird--why didn't it work?  Why did I still feel crazy?  The entire taxi ride went like this: *sleep* "I feel...why do I still feel this way?" *sleep* "What is wrong with us?"  *sleep*

By the time we got home, it was 5 AM and we had severely been ripped off by our taxi driver.  That's what we get for all of us falling asleep, I guess.  I was too out of it to muster the energy to try to call him dishonest and to haggle the price down. 

So here I am.  It's 2:47 PM on a Sunday afternoon.  Dean is watching "Jumper" on OCN.  I'm still in my pajamas.  I just finished uploading all my pictures to facebook.  It's kind of amazing but embarrassing how many times I meet people now who say, "Hey, I know you.  I've seen all your pictures on facebook."  What was the party scene like before facebook? It's kind of hard to imagine it.  So much of the party scene revolves around sharing photos, updating events, facebook statuses regarding what people are up to, etc. 

I think next week might be a little crazy, too.  Since I don't have any classes (exam week followed by Chuseok holiday), I think my friends and I will go out a lot.  I still have to show up on Monday through Thursday, but I won't be teaching any classes.  I'll sit in the office from 8:30 AM to 11:45 and then go home.  Piece of cake.

Here come the pictures.  To compensate with my recent lack of photos in my post, there are a LOT.

1.  Soma @ Serein no.V


Me with the Cardelta boys and a friend.  James is the token white guy.


Kurt doing his DJ thing.  His latest single is really, really fantastic.


Me with this chick.  Someone said she was in the music duo called Foxy? 


Feeling a little crazy...


Preparing the shots.


This girl is a model for Maxim Korea, but she was wearing a shirt that said "minimalism."  We jokingly gave her hell for it all night since we always rag on minimalism music. 


Finishing his set.

2.  HSK/Nodus @ Heaven


Toasting with Voga champagne.


James and the ladies.


Michael and S.L. 


She feels like a DJ.


Benefit was one of the sponsors, so there were makeup tables everywhere.  We also got a little goody bag of samples as we were leaving.


Vogue-ing at the makeup station.


DJ Didier Yoo looking really holy and iconic.


Using a wide angle lens in a thin hallway = good for ridiculous photos.

3. Eclipse @ Sky Bar


We kind of had the same fashion sensibilities that night.


Jiyoung, Jungjae, and Candace



DJ Yupp, the main DJ of the evening


More party people.

4. White Noize @ Mansion


Party host, Sarah Kate, on the left with Jungjae (wearing a shirt that said 'BEANS"!) on the right


Chad of the xoxokids photo blog was taking pictures last night.


Jacinta with her best diva "get away" face


I found a pair of purple hearts in Sinsa last week and had to buy them.  So now, I have 2 in pink (diff styles), white, red, blue, and purple.


Probably the craziest outfit of the evening. 


Dean is his hat that he bought while we were walking to the party.


With the dancers at their table.


Sarah with Chad.


Hosoong dances around in her ripped tights.

5.  Extra and School


Pregaming with Michael at Indie Bar.  I love this place even though some would say there is nothing remarkable about it.  It's pretty small so sometimes we come and can't stay because there is no room, but it has a good vibe.  They usually play good music, the lighting is low and warm, and the drinks are moderately priced.  My kind of place.


The 7th grade girls checking out the soccer boys during lunch.


Three boys of class 304.  They made the one in the middle ("Mr. Du") kneel down while they stood on their tiptoes.  One of the tallest kids in the year, he's around 6'1" or 6'2".


Two sweet graduates came back to visit the school.  They now go to a nearby all girls technical high school.

This title is The List by Metric.

All dressed down to catch a whiff of the buzz
Smells like the death of the last great cause
But you & I we've been through that and that is not our fate
Give my face to the back of your head
Loyal in your shadow
Yeah yeah yeah
Broken accidental stars

Do lawyers have lawyers?
Do landlords have landlords? we're wondering
One more cheap suit in the loop, more chlorine in the pool
The blonde dolls smiling behind us
Says one day you'll be just like us