just returned from a class party to celebrate the end of the semester. It really went very well. As this group is composed of some older students who are near 30 years old, like some worldly guys who have been in the army and traveled abroad, I decided that it would be appropriate to enjoy the festivities in a local pub near the campus. Besides, it was my last class of the week, happening on Friday afternoon, and enough of them communicate well enough in English for me to party with them. Drinking with bar snacks on a Friday after work or class is a normal thing to do, a very Korean thing. They were therefore most enthusiastic about the prospect, so all ten of this group turned up. After some weeks with some tension among the competitive alpha males in this particular class, this party today established some lasting solidarity among them. It was good to see.

 

I have never invited a class to go to a tavern before. I usually take a class to a café and treat them to some cake and whatnot if we go off campus. With respect to the other classes, actually, I only played a classic comical film and fed them some popcorn in class. I had already treated many of these students to café treats once before, and many of them joined me to see film festival fare in October during this semester. These are generally happy occasions about which students generally feel excited and glad to be with me. I have gone out for a meal with some students, and bought food for them if the group has been small enough. Mostly, though, I have only dined with the civic employees classes, not the regular students. I have never gone out with students expressly to drink.

 

This outing turned out to work perfectly well. It was a lot of fun. I paid for two 3,000cc sized pitchers of local lager, plus two plates of French fries. The students continued to order pitchers of beer, and bought some dried fish and squid, a common bar food that I like. I think there were probably five or six pitchers of Cass brand beer consumed in all, and it came with some corn chips, popcorn and cheese crisps. They surprised me by bringing in a birthday cake for me from a bakery down the street. (I had wondered where two of them had disappeared to.) It was a light cake with fruit. They sang “happy birthday” to me after presenting it, and we all made several toasts throughout the affair.

 

 

We also played some drinking number and word games, where sequences of numbers or words are made, and anyone who makes a mistake has to drink at least half a glass worth of brew. I cannot do that, though. When I fumbled, I only took a few gulps. Once, I passed the task onto another person, in exchange for a favour. They asked me to sing. That was an easy thing. I have a few songs up my sleeve from the old days.

 

We stayed well beyond the normal class period and did not break it up until 5:45. They went on to carry on drinking, but I cannot keep up with that so I said “good night” and went home (across the street). They each wanted a hug from me. That was sweet—the icing on the cake!

By now, I can still feel a buzz. I had around five six-ounce glasses of beer. I am starting to feel sleepy already, but I am having a little red wine regardless.