Well, I might as well start this blog with an interesting topic. Today was, just like many other Saturdays in South Korea, an epic Saturday. Why you ask? It was a day dedicated to the true epitome of female anatomy; the Vagina.
The Vagina Monologues are being performed this weekend in Seoul. When a friend suggested going, I jumped on the opportunity. I had yet to see this empowering performance that has made it's way across the world and I had been meaning to see it for quite some time.
With a trip to Seoul always comes the debate on what to eat. While Cheongju has a wide variety of foreign food available, the plethora of flavours in Seoul make it hard to decide-usually. Today was a quick decision-Greek. Aside from the two times I have made myself Greek Salad, I had yet to eat at the actual Greek restaurant. I know some may find it shocking since the Greek delivery man knew Steph and I by name at our apartment together in Ottawa.
As it was a day for Vaginas, Shaina and I had to go all out on a four course meal at Santorini's. I must say this restaurant is hit and miss. The sheer excitement for Greek food dissipated when I learned that first off, there were no side Greek salads (the only Greek salad was 14,000). We learned this after two tablespoons of shredded lettuce with a piece of cucumber on top were brought to our table. "Where are the olives and the feta cheese?" I asked. "This is a Greek side garden salad" was the reply I received. Well hell, if I wanted a garden salad I'd go anywhere. I wanted a Greek salad...at a Greek restaurant. Clearly I'm too high maintenance. We also had meatball soup and eggplant spread for appetizers. Both were tasty.
Next came the main courses. The selection was somewhat decent, however the average price for a plate was 18,000 won. Shaina was smart and opted for chicken souvlaki. It was apparently delicious. It also came with rice and pita bread. The lemon chicken looked decent in the picture and although it didn't come with the watery tzatziki sauce, I ordered that for 1,500 more. What I hadn't realized was the chicken was not grilled and I was paying 18,000 for a TV dinner! The portion was decent but I do not recommend this dish to anyone. Thankfully, wine and baklava make the world better. Overall, dinner was rather tasty as it should be for a combined total of 75,350. Onward to the Vagina Monologues!
I must tell you, if you have not seen the Vagina Monologues, do so. The girls who performed were also wonderful and had great energy. The performance was at Roofers in Itaewon and sold out 30 minutes before showtime with definitely no standing room left. It was a thoroughly enjoyable two hours listening to hilarious and horrifying stories about women and their vaginas. Even the men in the audience laughed and cheered (and yes, there were quite a few of them). This is truly a show for everyone to see. I have to give special props for the girl who recounted a sex worker's account of the ways women orgasm. If there's ever a girl who could fake it and make a man think she saw stars, it would be her.
I know this post is becoming a novel but on a serious note, the monologues were performed in honour of V-Day. V-Day is a global movement to end violence against women and girls. As armed conflict levels have risen in the 21st century, violence against women and children has as well. When you think of Bosnia, Darfur, Rwanda and Haiti just to name a few, do you think of the women and girls who were beaten, raped and left for dead? Just like with any horrific situation, it won't happen to you until it does or it does to someone you know. For more info check out the V Day website.
Proceeds from the show went to The House of Sharing. For those of you who don't know what it is, it is both a museum and a home for women who are survivors of sexual slavery by the Japanese during the Asia-Pacific War. 50,000-200,000 women from surrounding countries were forced into sexual slavery by the Japanese army during this time. These women have had 800 protests trying to gain an apology from the Japanese government. As they are between the ages of 70 and 90, they would like this to happen before they leave this Earth. To learn more, click here!
Overall, a day for Vaginas was a great girls' day out. It was only topped with trading dirty words with our cab driver and essentially having "phone" sex with him in the back of the taxi. He tried to steal the I love vagina pins from the show and was a great sport about making sexual gestures to Shaina's video recording. It was just another epic Saturday in Korea.
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