The Korean Fighting Match

We had quite an adventure the other night which resulted in one of the funniest conversations I have had here in Korea.

It was a quiet evening at our house. Mathew was sitting outside on his computer and I was inside reading. All of the sudden Mathew comes running into the house and says " Do you want to see a fight? , I am going downstairs"
I was confused but of course threw my shoes on and went running out the door. I went to our balcony to look over. (Mathew was on his way downstairs)
What I saw when I looked over was ....astonishing. There were 3 women and about 6 men fighting. Women screaming,slapping and pulling their husbands to the ground, men trying to throw punches, wives holding their husbands back and children running around crying probably in shock. ( or maybe not as fighting in Korea seems to be somewhat normal)

I watched for a while from the 6th floor, Mathew watched from....well...the middle of the fight. At the beginning he was trying to figure out who was fighting who....it was a mess of faces and arms and sometimes legs...hahaha

I know I am painting this picture as if Mathew were also in the fight but he was an innocent bystander who was making sure that the women were not getting hurt as they were screaming quite loudly.
All of the sudden Mathew looked up to the 6th floor and gestured for me to call the police.
First thought " Oh my god ....this should be fun"
Second thought " I hope they speak English"

Here is how the conversation went.
Kara: ahhhh 왜구긴 입니다! ( waegukin imnida ) - Hey its me! A Foreigner
Police: ㅇ렁니러냘내럴닐ㄴㄷㄱ -( I have no idea what they said )
Kara: 십자 빌딩 ( Ship Ja Building) - Hey I live at Ship Ja Building
Kara: 도 명 남자 밖에 싸음 ( du myoung namja bakkeh saum) - two people men outside fighting

( let me interject here in the middle of this conversation and tell you that I am sitting on my couch dictionary in hand, arms making gestures as if it will help him understand me any better)

Police: ( in Korean) You are Kara and Mathew?
Kara: 네 (yes) - yes
Kara : 도 명 남자 밖에 싸음 ( du myoung namja bakkeh saum) - two people men outside fighting
Police : 십자 빌딩, 6? ( Ship Ja Building 6th ) -
Kara: 네, 밖에 (neh bakkeh) - Yes outside
Kara: 도 명 남자 밖에 싸음 ( du myoung namja bakkeh saum) - two people men outside fighting
Police: 네 (neh) - Yes
Kara: 컵나함니다 ( komsahamnida) - Thank you

And I hung up...ran back outside to await the arrival of the police....ahhhh..

5 minutes goes by and I start wondering....mmmm are they coming? everything else comes quickly in Korea.....where are they?

So while the Gong show is going on downstairs, women are screaming, men are yelling, Mathew standing in the middle holding people away from others....I am upstairs trying to figure out what to do next.....

Eventually the police show up, two men are pushed into the police car by their wives and all order is restored to our tiny neighbourhood. An hour later the cool night wind is blowing, there is peace in the air and Mathew and I sit outside wondering if what we had just witness was a dream....Then we remembered....it was Tuesday night.....lol


Side note: Tuesday nights in Korea are like our Wednesday ( hump day) it seems that every Tuesday tons of men are out drinking, laughing, carrying on and walking arm in arm with their buddies from bar to bar....this was just another one of those Tuesdays.