The Ringing of the Gong

Happy New Year, or as they say in Korean, "Say-hay-bok-mani-ba-du-say-yo" (and of course that is nowhere near the correct way to spell it, but it's phonetic at least)! A friend invited me to join him and his friends downtown for the Ringing of the Bell ceremony. Of course it was packed (probably not quite like Times Square, but pretty close), and naturally it was the coldest night we've had in a while. My friend searched all over the city for a bottle of decent champagne, so at least we welcomed the new year in style. Although, it may not have been that classy as we were drinking it out of the bottle. No fluted glasses, I'm afraid. At the ceremony there was some traditional drumming, some singing (a Korean version of "I Can Hear The Bells" from Hairspray), and some dancing little girls in matching dresses sans mittens. Then at the stroke of midnight, the ringing of the bell began. The name is a smidge deceiving, though. The bell was more like a gong. They rang the gong 31 times (once for each day in December, I believe), and that was followed by a spectacular fireworks display from the roof of the building behind us. Well done, Daegu. We lit some sparklers, and then we headed down to Communes, a popular foreigners bar. It's usually a very laid back, low key kind of place, but last night it was packed. I had a wee glass of Bailey's, chatted with some other MK teachers, met some new people, and shipped myself home and off to bed. Not a bad way to spend New Year's Eve in a foreign country, if I do say so myself. Best wishes to everyone at home for health and happiness in the new year!