Why Karaoke ROCKS

Background

Originally I was planned to arrive on time for the first day of CIEE orientation, but due to an overbooked flight, I would ultimately arrive in Korea a day later than anticipated. Worried I would miss out on opportunities to meet new people, I coordinated in the group chat a meet up where I would get a chance to talk. But alas, I would find myself presented with another issue that day, we were simply strangers to one another. We didn't know each others interests, nor were we capable of divulging that personal information at this stage of conversation, so most of the talking points were about names, majors, and so forth. How does one overcome their own personal insecurities to a group of unknown persons? How does one break the ice? The way I am writing this blog post up until this point, it's very formal. How does one going about acting more...

...casual?

Karaoke Nights

There were a variety of factors that helped me get closer to other students. One was talking about superhero movies, another was sharing difficulties adapting to Korea, but the main reason behind what shattered the boundaries between us, were the KARAOKE NIGHTS. Let me dial the language back a little. It was bad singing that caused my friend group to become even closer. You may think I'm kidding, but I'm not. Here's a clear example of how that happened. Literally on our first night, I attempted to perform the most emotional song from my middle school days. Yes, you guessed it, In the End by the amazing LINKIN PARK was my solo and I killed it. Or my friends eardrums. One of the two. Doesn't even matter. The point is, this song revealed a part of me that I didn't realize was there. I love songs that require you to lose your speaking ability for the rest of the night. And I guess my friends love to laugh at that fact too. But don't worry, they have also had their fair share of songs stemming from artists like Taylor Swift, Kelly Clarkson, Adele, and others. Each and every outing, we'd spend hours on end doing Karaoke, maybe too much for our own good. Nah. To quote Kylo Ren, my only regret while doing Karaoke was that we didn't do "MORE!"

Deep Meaningful Relationships

Over the course of my time spent in Korea, I have been thinking a lot about what it means to have a relationship with others. Subconsciously, I have felt friendships should be about supporting one another to a personal success. Or that it is to help someone in a time of need. While both may be true, there has been another aspect of being a friend that I often forget about. It's the ability to make mistakes together and laugh about it. Our flaws make up a huge part of ourselves, they make us vulnerable yes, but they also allow us to understand others. My tone deaf singing may have received an unanimous NO on America's Got Talent, but when I was with my friends, it showed them I was willing to go out of my way to both embarrass myself and have fun with them. And to them, seeing my integrity shot first hand, they would decide to go on and reciprocate that. This is what I believe to be the crux of finding good friends, or people you could vibe with. The choice to put yourself out there, with flaws included, and encourage a very human part of ourselves to become less patronized and more celebrated is what can go on to form the deep meaningful relationships we all need.