The best holiday, hands down

Fact: St. Patrick's day is the greatest holiday ever, far surpassing the sluttery that has become Halloween, and the commercialism that has taken hold of Christmas, and the lameness that is Valentine's Day.

St. Patrick's Day does not pretend to be what it is not.  It is wholly pure in all its intentions.  And if you want to drink to oblivion on this day, cheers to you mate!

After all, what other holiday allows you to have silly tiny leprechauns painted on your face; wear outlandish green clothing on your body and outrageous accessories in your hair; allows you to drink green beer until you get a healthy green mustache; dance the Irish step-dance where everyone is good so long as they have knees to bend and legs to kick with; have FREE GUINNESS, which is arguably the most expensive and delicious and smooth beer out there; and what other holiday cultivates international friendships better than the Day of St. Patrick's when one can drink until morning, slamming pints of lager together harmoniously while engaging in enjoyable banter with strangers from all around in a respectable display of drunken camaraderie.

This year, I attended the St. Patrick's Day festivities in Cheonggyecheon, Seoul.  It was uncomfortably chilly out but there were so many people frolicking about with happy friendly smiles.  There was a lot of screaming and a lot of laughter. Of course, drinking was permitted and definitely encouraged.  The festival ended unofficially around 6 pm.  Well, the Free Guinness ran out at about 5:30 pm so the parade quickly dispersed afterwards to nearby bars and restaurants.  There was a stage, live music, Irish dancers, three Guinness mascots, two clowns on stilts, raffles, and face painters.  Green was the colour of the day.

Before I arrived to the parade, which was at about 4 PM, I had taken the train to Jamsil Station, southeast Seoul, and I rented a bike (for free) and rode along the Han River for, get this, 24.5 km.  It took about an hour and a half.  I initially went with a group of people but because the weather was dreadfully cold and it started to drizzle, the entire group abandoned the plan for a warmer activity--watching Shutter Island at the mall-- but I had woken up at 6 am and taken the three hour long commute to get on a bike and ride it until exhaustion, so I was not easily dissuaded to throw in the towel for a bit of rain.  I met someone in the group who also did a bit of traveling. He commuted an hour and a half from Incheon (where the airport is) to go biking, so the two of us, feeling a little entitled, decided to defect from the group and ride anyways.  We are young and fairly healthy,  is a little rain and fog and wind and fucking cold weather really going to stop us?   So we took a map from one of the other group members, kicked up our kick stands, and pedaled our hearts out. 

I am not going to lie, the weather sucked.  I wasn't going home either that night, but was headed straight to the parade and than to Itaewon and then to a jimjilbang (an overnight spa for 10 CDN) so I was wearing heels and a lot of makeup.  The rain did not help this.  Anyways, the ride to the end of the path was nice, but when we had to return, we got lost, and by that time, we were hungry, and the muscles in my thighs had no juice left in them to pump any further.  It was hard.  But, happily, we met a fisherman along the river who directed us the best he could back in the right direction so we could find the place where we rented the free bikes, return them, grab a much deserved lunch in Lotte World, and then head off to City Hall for St. Patrick's Day where I felt like a free Guinness was my much needed reward! Whoa yea!

I hope everyone enjoyed their St. Patrick's Day weekend.