What to Do on New Year's in Seoul/Korea

Taking it easy on this post. Got an email to my VTmail from a poor soul who is not in Seoul (he's in Gwang-ju, a smaller city in Korea) it reads:

hi...i've been seeing your pages...very informative indeed...need a quick suggestion if possible...i'm a student down here in gwangju...planning to go to seoul on 31st evening for some new year fun...do u have ne places to suggest which have the best to offer? secondly, iz it worth going all the way? cuz gwangju wuz pretty boring last year.

thanks
guy

my reply:

Guy!

Hmmm...I'm actually in Vancouver this New Year's, but I know that there are tons of places with special nights planned (I'm assuming you like frolicking and drinking into the wee hours). Wei-gook-in Central (Itaewon) has the 3-Alley Pub and many other watering holes that will likely be full of English-speakers. The major hotels (Hyatt, Westin) probably have black or white-tie events if that's your style. Me? I'd go down to Hongdae around O-hoo and catch the action down there...or maybe Dae-hang-ro (aka dae-hak-lo). My favorite haunt (The Outsider) may have something special too (tell them I sent you!).

Basically, solar new year's isn't as big a thing in Korea as the West (they do a lunar thing, as you know). Even when they do 'celebrate' they usually do it in their own cliches or at home (the traditional thing is to eat long noodles on New Year's Day (longer the noodle, longer the life). This is also done on birthdays, but in Korea since everyone gets a year older together on New Year's Day they eat noodles at this time as well.

But, since Seoul has a ton more foreigners than Gwang-ju you're a heckuva lot more likely to find inspired and inebriated sorts who can speak your language in the Big Smog.

Hope you have a great New Year's and new year!

JB

Got a new book to read: Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes and How to Correct Them. Pretty interesting; got through 100 pages in a day or so...which is normal for me. Not the 100 pages, but finishing half the book. Now all I have to do is get the rest done. I don't know why, but I usually start them full-throttle but after a while (at least with books) I think I start to wonder if the author is filling pages or really giving me the goods (I hardly read any fiction, so things are pretty factual). Leafing through it again I am starting to think that I know the conclusions they're gunning for in it already. Oh well, I'm on the train today (going downtown for a bit) so maybe I can knock off the rest of it during the trip (I read about a page a minute...30 mintues on either end...actually 90 pages to go...I could do it).