Nori Bong (Spelled ‘Bang’ but pronounced ‘Bong’)

Jo finding her inner Nori during her visit

I think it’s  time I finally posted about Korea’s favourite past-time: Nori Bong.   First of all,  I should say that to fully understand Nori Bong you have to participate.  I’ll do my best to describe it for you here, but it’s  really something you have to experience, with Koreans present, to really understand.    Nori Bong translates literally into English as  ‘Singing Room.’  It’s basically Karaoke, but instead of a bar, you sing in private rooms with only your group.   So instead of one person/group making an ass of themselves in front of a bar, you get to make an ass of yourself in front of your friends from the luxury of a room with a few leather couches, a mini-stage and usually some kind of coloured-disco ball/light effects.

Some Nori Bongs are decorated with Alien themes including life size replicas. (This just might be my favourite picture of me ever)

As you can probably guess from that description, Nori Bong usually takes place towards the end of a long night of drinking,  because really,  most people wouldn’t do this sober.   Before you ask, yes, they have a lot of English songs in their catalogue.  Although their collection is pretty random but I guess that’s to be expected.   

There are Nori Bong places all over, especially near universities etc.  It seems to be very popular with students, but people of all ages love to get their Nori on.  It’s pretty much the national past time here.  My first Nori Bong experience was with the nurse at my school and her 3/4 deaf friend.  Now believe me when I tell you: you have not heard “Hey Jude” until you’ve heard a  mostly deaf Korean sing it in broken English.    The great thing is she had a blast the whole time, and that’s the best part about Nori Bong, Koreans don’t care how bad they sound, they’re just there to burn off some steam and have some fun.   Nori Bong  is a huge part of the Korean night life scene and to be honest… it’s pretty fun.

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