On Saturday, while still recovering from my night before at Now Bar, I took the subway into Seoul for the annual St. Patrick's Day parade as well as to meet up with some Acadia people (some of whom I haven't seen in ages). I managed to down a lot of gatorade and was feeling pretty ok when I got to my final stop, near City Hall in the centre of the city where the parade was being held. When I got there, my friends somehow found me and we made our way to the square where the famous, beautifully restored Cheonggye Stream runs through the city (sorry, no pictures today...someday, though....). We thought we had missed the parade altogether as we were all running late, but we totes lucked out and it came back through the same way it started!
It was interesting: there were lots of drunk Irish people, drunk Koreans, Koreans on big motorbikes, Korean academics (as per usual, the academics were the drunkest), random Koreans dressed in costumes that had nothing to do with the holiday, four different marching bands (including one traditional Korean marching band), and many, many blow up guinnesses and leprechauns. 'Twas marvelous. Enjoy the pics.
The square was absolutely packed with Koreans and non-Koreans alike. Music was blaring and there were television cameras everywhere. In fact, one television camera started to interview some of us, but Tristan dropped the F-bomb and the cameraman walked away in disgust. Way to go, Tristan!
Some people were more creative with their St. Paddy's Day dress than others. 
I thought this was a dragon and couldn't figure out why everyone was saying "No, Janine. It's an effing snake." I was like, "We're in Korea, it's a DRAGON." I now realize my friends were correct. Excuse ME for forgetting that St. Patrick drove all the snakes out of Ireland. Can you say blonde moment?
One of the many marching bands. At one point Tristan whipsered in my ear "Hey...Janine... do you, like.... REALLY like marching bands?", to which I replied "....no.... why?", to which HE replied "Aw, crap. I really am the lamest person I know."
This guy was all riled up. As were many.
So yeah... a prime example of "Why are you dressed as an anime character on St Patrick's Day?"
After the parade: the line up at the Seven Eleven was the largest I've ever seen. Everyone was buying beer to drink in the street. While waiting in line we had some great discussions as to what exactly the "Sound of Vitality" is and why it would be the slogan of a beer such as Cass.
Acadia reunion! Except for the guy in the back. Who is he anyway? Left to right: James McBain, Tristan (double fisting), Scott Hearn, Genevieve Allen, and moi.
We eventually made our way to a Western bar across the street where we ordered some lovely fried food and pitchers of beer. We also got into balloon fights with the other table.
Mine.
At this point James, Tristan and I decided it would be a great idea to call my brother in Canada. It was approximately 4AM where he lives. He was so happy to hear from us; especially what Tristan had to say: "You complete me. I love you. Ok, bye."
Super serial faces.
More super serial faces. As you can see, Tristan hasn't quite grasped the concept.
"This is my drunk face."
Dear Tristan: It is 6 PM. I love you. Thank you for telling me I should star in a full motion picture. Don't worry, I won't put any of the videos of you on my blog.
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