I went to Macau over the weekend to see Ferry Corsten in an attempt to escape from the reality of exams and possible failure.
It was pretty amazing, we stood in front and just jumped around. Completely sober, but drunk on lights, although by the end my legs were shaking and I felt like I'd been running a marathon.
The only downside was that the concert was at a club, a club that just opened a few weeks ago. I guess I'm the type of person who overthinks things or feels self-conscious at the wrong times, but clubbing has always seemed a bit of a bizarre concept.
It's sort of similar to the feeling about house parties. slow realization - yes we are standing around awkwardly. We are attempting to talk to each other over loud music. We are drinking out of plastic cups. yes and we are in a house.
But try feeling hyper aware at a club. Hrm... We are standing in a room with lights and music. Males and females are going to rub up against each other rhythmically in a socially accepted imitation of fornication. (This is usually in my head in a National Geographic voice. The male ascertains a female's intentions by her attire. The female's high heels limit her mobility, but give her an exaggerated posture while the pigment which stains her lips red mimics arousal... The female then accepts the male's attempt at courtship.)
In Korea they've had a specific type of clubbing for awhile, it's called "booking". Guys pay a fee for tables at a club, and girls get in for free, but in return they are brought to the guys' table by "booking" waiters. If the guys don't like the girls they can ask for a new rotation, and vice versa. The girls drink, they talk to the guys etc, and perhaps afterward if things go well, they can move to the hotel upstairs where there is a discount rate. It's like getting a ticket validation. Booking waiters who are particularly good at matching people will receive a tip.
When people hear about this they tend to react in shock, how crass.. etc. but actually it's just very efficient. It cuts all the extraneous bits and eliminates the formality of 'hey do you want a drink?' and then the customary 10 minutes of 'dancing' that is expected in exchange.
Something that's always made me uncomfortable about clubbing in the U.S. is the way that guys dance at asian clubs. I know that it's unfair to generalize and it's a stereotype .. these are unclear statistics and as my mother would say, is this the correct sample size? But many asian guys at clubs seem to approach dancing like one would a ride at an amusement park. A group of guys will approach the 'ride' (girls who are dancing) and then surround them in a sort of semi circle and watch. They wait their turn one by one to hop on a girl and latch on until a) they are shaken off or b)are allowed to grope and grind.
if it's a) and they're shaken off, then they shrug their shoulders and leave to approach another ride, while another one of their peers decide to try doing the same.
I suppose it's necessary to recognize that it's difficult to approach a girl and it's unfair that a male is expected to make the first move and still deal with rejection. It must be crushing to tap a girl on the shoulder and ask her to dance only to be ignored or rejected.
Maybe hopping on is the only way.
But anyway in Macau at this trance concert, I realized that that approach was actually not so bad.
In Macau guys will do this watching and waiting, but they do it individually, spread out within the crowd. The worst part is, they will creep up behind a female and then stand there pretending that they are doing anything but trying to get the female to bump into their crotch. They will look at their phone, adjust their shirts, look pensively in the distance, all the while creeping towards so that one's hand or body bumps against them. And if a girl finally turns to realize that there is some creeper behind them, the guy pulls out his phone, acts like he's mortally offended but still keeps standing there.
It's disgusting and offensive... it was crass.
