Quick Guide to Halloween in Korea

I. Love. Halloween.

Halloween is my favorite holiday. And when I say favorite, I mean it. 

I spend the months before Halloween dreaming of costume possibilities. Then I spend the weeks after scouring/trolling the Internet for great ideas for the next year. Unfortunately, Halloween isn't a big holiday in Korea. Giant seasonal costume stores don't pop up in empty storefronts and the grocery stores have a pitifully small section of Halloween items. It's basically all witch hats and cat ears. 

But, don't let yourself get discouraged, fellow expats in Korea -- you won't miss out on getting to celebrate. Here's a glimpse into what I got up to last year, as well as some events I'm eyeing for this year...

Comin' to getcha.

Last year's Halloween, like this year's, fell in the middle of the week. Luckily, everyone is completely into partying the weekend before the actual holiday, so there are always plenty of events to choose from.

Before hitting the town last All Hallows' Eve weekend, we attended an organized event called the Seoul Zombie Walk, which brought us to Hongdae. The awesome part, however, was the fact that we started off at Seoul Forest, meaning we had to take the subway to get over to Hongdae. As zombies. Imagine a hundred or so zombies, stumbling around subway stations and cars, just... being undead. For information about this year's event, click here. We had a lot of fun last year, so I highly recommend it! 

Ready for some braaaaaiiiins!  

Zombies as far as the eye can see...

Zombies take public transportation too, y'all. And no one cares.

So many pictures were taken with strangers -- all zombies were wonderfully obliging, though.

Then, on actual Halloween day, I was pleased to hear that the expat bars in my area Incheon were having their own events. (Definitely something to remember for your respective areas.) And hey, even if there isn't something organized, if you and your friends want to dress up on the actual day of Halloween, just start your own party.

One spot was even having a costume contest, which my friend and I handily took first place in for our stellar Dia de los Muertos makeup. (We were celebrating that particular holiday a day early, technically, but it was a lot of fun to do the makeup.) Our prize? A bottle of vodka, to be kept behind the bar for us. Not bad, eh?

We win!

The costume contest participants!

Finding an actual costume is definitely more difficult in Korea than it is back home, since there's a lack of proper costume stores, but that doesn't mean it's impossible. The internet is always at your service, including Korea's Ebay/Amazon-type site, GMarket. In addition, there are a handful of Halloween supply stores scattered about, one of which got a great write up in Serg's recent blog entry on the Aclipse Blog -- I checked this same store out last year and it really is a good resource. I have also heard rumors of a pretty decent on in Bupyeong. The times they are a-changin.' 

As for me, I'm going full DIY and taking inspiration from some pictures on Pinterest... Not going to give my costume away just yet, but keep an eye on my Twitter and Instagram feeds for pictures of my Halloween celebrations this year. I'll do my best to document the madness.

This year, we're planning to head back to the Hongdae area. Last year it was packed full of people dressed up for the occasion, and I can only imagine that this year it will be even more popular. There seem to be plenty of events being advertised on Facebook, such at this booze cruise and this dance party. Even better, most of the events I've come across seem to include a drink in the admission price, as well as some incentives for being in costume. (Read: free shots.)

Also, here are some super useful links with extensive lists of events this weekend for Korea's two biggest cities:

• Chincha: "Halloween Events in Seoul 2013"
• Busan Haps: "Halloween Guide 2013"
  
  

So, it's time. Start planning your costume(s), watch "Hocus Pocus," eat a lot of candy since you're too old for trick-or-treating, and get excited. 

Let's get weird, y'all. Happy (Almost) Halloween!


What are your Halloween plans this year? Do you know of anything awesome happening this weekend? Leave a comment below! 

Rainy Season Activity: Hongdae's Mustoy Cafe

This blog entry was originally published on the Aclipse Blog, which is produced by current Chungdahm Learning teachers in Korea. The blog features entries on current events around Korea, advice for incoming teachers, and the best spots sightseeing, shopping, and eating. The original entry can be viewed here. It has been edited slightly for content. For more information about Aclipse and Chungdahm Learning, click here. 

Right now, Korea is smack in the middle of the infamous monsoon season. While it can make walking to work a little less than pleasant, you can’t let it hamper your free time, especially your weekends. Since the out of doors is particularly damp, hot, and muggy, finding indoors activities is a top priority. Luckily, Seoul has a wide range of things to keep you both dry and busy. You can go the normal route like museums and movies, or you can track down some of the more unusual activities. A good weekend diversion? The Mustoy Café in Seoul... 

Mustoy, as I’d read on the Korea Tourism site, is a café in the Hongdae area of Seoul that includes a unique art project: for ₩15,000 (a little less than $15 USD), you're given a ceramic doll and markers to color in however you want. The price also includes a drink of your choice: coffee, juice, or tea. After seeing a few pictures online and scanning through various blog entries, I was sold. As a belated celebration of my birthday, I gathered up my fellow CDI teacher friends and we headed off to Hongdae.

The outside of the cafe. Check the end of the post for directions!

The café itself is quite tiny, and when the six of us walked in, nearly every table was occupied, save the larger table that conveniently seats six people. The cafe is adorable, with a definite artsy vibe, mostly due the countless colorful Mustoy dolls that people have left behind for display on the shelves lining the walls.

Other customers hard at work. 

A tiny selection of the Mustoy dolls on display.

We were enthusiastically greeted by the café’s employees, ushered to the table, and then the explanation of how this whole thing worked began. There are two main types of dolls: the mussky and the musppy. Some are big, some are small, some are white, some are different colors. There's even one that looks like a cat and another that doubles as a pen holder. Examples of each of these were placed before us so we could carefully make this crucial decision.

Some of our options...

Most cost the standard ₩15,000, with a couple special dolls being a little pricier at ₩20,000. After telling the kind woman who works in (and possibly owns?) the café which dolls we each wanted to decorate, our selections were brought out to us along with a small card for a practice drawing and all the permanent markers we could want.

I went with the "Musppy," the "happy girl." 

We were told not to worry about making mistakes on our dolls because each basket came with q-tips and rubbing alcohol, making it easy to carefully erase anything deemed unsatisfactory. I found this very useful because drawing on a ceramic, round object is actually much more difficult than you would anticipate...

The "Zannah's really busy concentrating on drawing" face that I've made my entire life...

Our lovely hostess, making conversation with us as we worked. 

One thing that impressed me about this cafe, besides the opportunity to be creative and artistic, was the staff. The woman who helped us was extremely friendly and interested in talking with us. I imagine she gets a lot of foreigners in the café, and she was happy to chat with us about our lives here and where/what we taught. She actually knew a thing or two about Chungdahm -- I believe she said her son attended one of our locations for a bit! Her English was great and she seemed quite curious about what we were drawing -- she firmly believes that what you draw on your Mustoy speaks for your inner character and personality.

My finished doll! 

When she saw my doll, she said people who draw like this are usually very mathematical, scientific, and logical. When I told her that I hate math and science, she frowned and started laughing. After thinking about it, I realized she was probably right. While I preferred art, ballet, acting, and reading, I can't say that I'm bad at math or science. She nodded wisely, with a "I knew I was right" expression, and teased me that it's a shame I'm not putting my detailed, mathematical mind to use in a related field.

Our finished dolls! We had a little photoshoot to show off our artwork.

Our Mustoys were carefully bubblewrapped and boxed up once we were ready to go, guaranteeing they would survive the rest of the day's activities in Seoul. While I waited on everyone else to pay, I carefully examined the dolls on display a little more and found some really remarkable ones:

Someone has some serious art skills, as seen here in these portraits of last year's presidential candidates, with current President Park Geun-Hye in the middle.

So good! I wish I could say these were mine...

We all really enjoyed our weekend afternoon at the Mustoy Café, and it was a perfect activity to beat this dreary patch of weather. Between its convenient Hongdae location and its proximity to lots of other great Seoul activities, I highly recommend spending a couple hours sipping on some coffee and decorating a little figurine. Not only will it keep you dry, but it's an offbeat way to relax from a week of teaching, and it comes with its own souvenir! I'm really looking forward to going back, actually. I'm feeling inspired by some of the impressive Mustoys I saw on the shelves... Next time you're in Hongdae and have time to kill, check it out!

Directions:

Take the subway to Hongik University (Hongdae) Station, which is on Seoul Metro Line 2, the Airport Express Line, and the Gyeongui Line. Take exit 9, then make an immediate left into the street. You’ll take a right on the last possible street and follow that until you come to a large intersection. Once you reach the busy street, you’ll make a left, which is near a glasses store. You’ll pass a KB Bank as you walk up the hill, and then when you see a restaurant called Nolita, make a left. Walk straight up the hill, which will jag to the left a little, and keep an eye out for the sign, which will be on your right!

Have you been to Mustoy Café? Do you have any indoors rainy day activities to help us get through this monsoon season? Leave a comment below!