Perfect bodies β diamante-trimmed thongs β contortionist-like moves. This was the initial visual picture that my mind generated when I heard about the 7 Club in Korea β a Russian strip club. The room salons where men can go to drink soju , sing and have sex , the Russian bars, love motels, barber shops offering more than a shave, coffee girls who have the reputation for delivering more than just coffee - is an industry that, unlike Amsterdam, tries to hide itself.
Instead, we did what we could without removing any articles of clothing. We paid a visit to the renowned Russian 7 Club. On entering, we immediately felt welcome and sat at the bar. What we witnessed was not an exotic, naked strip-show, but something much tamer. The girls were wearing a lot more than what my friends and I used to wear to regular clubs in Ireland.
They were merely sitting, chatting with guys and drinking those drinks which cost, when bought by these men, almost triple the price of a regular one. I felt that I could do better myself especially during that period when my friends and I drank copious amounts of tequila and sambucca. That was the extent of the entertainment. We sat and chatted with the girls during an obviously slow night.
Anna had just come from Seoul and had been in Korea for over a year. She informed me that for about one thousand per month, her job consisted of being in the club every night, dancing, talking and being polite to men. If she did want to go further with any of the clientele, she would have been able to buy a new pair of knee-high boots.
It was both an educational and a liberating night. Perhaps it was because of the strong liquor, the atmosphere or maybe a need for self-expression, but I developed a strong attraction to the pole. I may have been wearing too many clothes to truly feel what those girls felt, but I have to say that it was a little difficult to leave. I felt sexy, fun, free, feminine and in control. Since I came to Ulsan, Korea to teach six months ago, my beliefs in independence and equality have strengthened.
