Karaoke

For those who don't know, Koreans love Karaoke, big time. It is one of the most popular pastimes of Koreans young and old. In Korea, there are "Karaoke rooms" which are buildings with several rooms equipped with huge screens, speakers, and crazy lights. When you go to a Noraebang (karaoke), you pay to use a room to sing per hour. It is always loud and tons of fun singing with a large group songs you recognize and songs you can't even understand the language. You could completely butcher a song and it wouldn't matter, Noraebang is about spending time with friends. Coming from America, where you can only find Karaoke in bars, I was excited to see how much Koreans get into Karaoke.

Today was my friend Savonne's 21st birthday. She is from Cambodia and speaks Korean really well. She is such a sweetheart and always has a huge infectous smile on her face. Dyra planned a surprise party for her, and boy was she surprised! We bought her a cake and some kimchi chicken (fried chicken sauted in kimchi, a popular takeout dish). After celebrating in her suite, we went to a Noraebang to sing Karaoke. The Karaoke group included Savonne, Dyra, Sinath (from Cambodia), Sovannarith (from Cambodia), Elena (from Uzbekistan), and two Korean students from one of Savonne's classes. We went to a Noraebang near campus and belted out Korean and English songs. When you sing Karaoke in Korea, you can't help but conjure your inner pop star. It is so much fun, especially singing with a large group that is belting out songs even when you don't know all the words. Dyra has a great voice, her voice reminds me of Maraih Carey. I told her I am expecting to hear an album from her in five years. After about an hour and a half of singing and dancing, we left the Noraebang, laughing all the way back to campus about our Karaoke party.