Noribang redux!

I realize that I've mixed my languages a bit in the title, but what fun is language if you can't play with it?

So Noribang (pronounced "No-re-bong") is the Korean word for Karaoke. My first trip to a Karaoke bar was with a large group of Americans who pronounced the word in such a way that i thought I was going to be introduced to some sort of seaweed/pot-smoking apparatus. I ended up in a room full of couches complete with disco ball, tambourines, multiple microphones, and a wall of television sets. So in the end, it was a bit psychedelic, and we mostly sang classic rock because those are the only songs everyone knows the words to. We went after a wedding reception, so the group was already a bit rowdy, and the "singing" probably would have put cats in heat. I fit right in and screeched the night away.

I had my second nori-bang experience this evening with two Korean vocalists. I learned that the bong part is pronounced somewhere between bong and bang, and that bang means "room." I'm guessing that Nore means singing or music. I went with a friend of mine who sings opera and a friend from work who has a gorgeous choir voice. I was way out of my league vocally, and I think the Koreans take recreational singing much more seriously than we do, but they put up with me as I belted out my Elvis and Madonna. I clapped along as they sang songs in Korean, and then we sang Christmas carols in both languages at the same time. It was awesome.