It's hard to believe that 2011 has ended. For the last seven years, I have celebrated New Year's in a different city, so it was cool to continue this trend. Some of my friends and I went up to Seoul to celebrate the new year. We had a few drinks, walked around the city, and went to one of the largest gatherings in Korea. Many events were going on that night. There were 3 main events going on that night: the Highlight Countdown Party, the DJs Ministry of Sound, and the Bosingak Bell Ceremony. Since it was still early in the day when arrived in Seoul, we decided to checked out all three events. The Highlight and DJ party featured American and European acts, but it cost $80 minimum for the featured performers! We didn't stay very long since the steep cost was for mediocre talent at best. Later on that night we went to Bosingak Bell Ceremony.
We were shocked by the huge crowd that was present. Last year several people were injured during and after the event, so the city brought in a massive amount of law enforcement this year. We had to stand outside for almost two hours for the official ringing of the bell, but the large crowd kept us from getting cold! It was an interesting cultural experience for sure.
There were a few K-pop artists performing and some other local entertainment, which was decent. The music performances continued after the bell ceremony, but we wanted to avoid the "pedestrian jam" by leaving early. Unfortunately, many people were thinking the same thing (haha). We had to also walk much farther to take the subway since all of the nearby stops were closed off and barricaded by the police. It was entertaining to see some of the people try to sneak behind the police by jumping over the barricades to the closet subway stops (which they failed to do). The wait time was long, the temperature was cold, all of the stores and bars near the bell were closed, and the walk back to our hostels took over two hours. We eventually went into a bar in the hostel area. Even though some things didn't work out as planned, I had a good time. Here a short video of the countdown and ring of the Bosingak Bell.
