Halloween SoKo Style

Saturday, October 31st was Halloween.  Koreans don't really celebrate Halloween the way we do in the US but because of the influx of American English teachers in South Korea, more and more Koreans are beginning to grasp the concept.  They don't go trick-or-treating and they don't even really dress up and eat massive amounts of candy.

Some areas of Seoul (and Korea in general) are known for having a higher ratio of foreigners than others.  Those areas, such as Itaewon (where the Yongsan US army base is located) and Hongdae (where Hongik University is located) which is known for having bars and  nightclubs with fewer army personnel, cater to the crowd and hold big Halloween events.

I met up with Mali at her apartment in the southern part of Seoul (near Seoul National University) to get ready for the night.  Mali planned ahead and had her mother send her a costume from the States.  (Although there are a few costume stores in Seoul, they can be hard to find.)  I decided to go as Robin and pieced together my own costume made from clothes I already had, green tights I purchased at a Subway station a few weeks ago in preparation for Halloween, and a skirt and yellow belt from the American Apparel store in Myongdong).

Up up and Away, Robin!

Robin fights crime with Batgirl

The bar scene in Hongdae was out of control.  I had been there once before with the Hagwon kids from Maetan but I still could not have predicted how wild this was going to be.  There were costumes of all kind and everyone was drunk and raring to go.

By the end of the night the streets were littered with trash, broken bottles, costume parts that had fallen off during the mayhem, and so forth.  It was 6am when I finally made it back to Mali's apartment to crash for the night.

Without the candy corn, pumpkins, and jack-o-lanterns it didn't ever really feel like Halloween, but it sure was a good time.