Halloween In Yeongtong (Trick or Drink?)

My fellow expat friends and I love Halloween. Like, a lot. So regardless of living in a country that neither celebrates nor even recognises (aside from Hagwons) the spooky holiday, we still managed to have a great night out in Yeongtong!

As we couldn't partake in the traditional trick or treating associated with Halloween in our home countries, we got a little creative and some intelligent person came up with the idea of a "Trick or Drink" in which the main idea would be to dress up in random costumes and go from convenience store to convenience store around Yeongtong where we would freak out the store clerk and have a beer or some soju outside.

Needless to say, the night went off without a hitch. We gathered in the park at around 10 PM and made our way to the nearest Family Mart (for those who live in countries where it is illegal to consume alcohol in the street I should let you know that this is not the case in Korea) and from there made our way all around Yeongtong to the various convenience stores- Buy The Way, Family Mart, GS 25, and so on- where we got high fives, strange looks, shouts of adoration and in general, a LOT of attention from the Koreans who happened upon us.

When we tired of the trick or drinking (or at least the tricking part) we moved en masse toward Now Bar, where many of us lost memory of the rest of the night. It was terrifying! Oh, and I apparently won a costume prize. Good ol' Mrs. C knows what every Panda needs- a black, lacy thong to go with my black and white panda fur. Thanks, Mrs. C!

Grace, Lindsay and Rachael- aka, Rock, Paper and Scissors. Don't worry, this is just the beginning of the amazing costumes...

Happy Panda! This suit was hot and stuffy and it smelled like feet, but it was a hit.

The man I came second to in the costume contest. When the Hulk won, he ripped off his shirt. The crowd gasped.

MJ, aka Jeremy Ruiters of South Africa. He's got some mad skills.

Superman, Sheep (?), MJ and Aidan the Mummy (all in character, of course).

Amy Winehouse, booze in hand. I wouldn't expect anything less.

Koreans kept stopping me in the street for pictures. Here are some of the many drunk business men we consorted with that night!

Paul was a ghost. Boooooo.

Luke used wire to hold his tie up in the air like that. He's such a creative soul.

Aidan enjoyed frightening the locals.

Michelle the hippy, Veronica the Soju bottle, and Kim the GoGo Dancer.

Jesse was an unhappy, deflated won. The exchange rate is not so good at the moment.

Here's the whole crew inside our first convenience store of the night. The clerk was pretty great about all of us parading around his store

Outside our second stop. The won is so low the pandas are dying!

Best friends: pandas and soju.

Betcha didn't know pandas can dance. I would show the video but it is too embarrassing.

Last but not least: the risque love affair between Jesus and panda. They make a surprisingly good couple!