Monday, October 13, 2008

A Weekend to Forget


I got off the phone with the fam today and was reeling from the imagined thanksgiving smells wafting around the room.. I could feel the warm glow of an 8 hour oven tan I usually get from staring through the window checking on the bird. I think today was my first bout with any real homesickness. Thanksgiving is a big deal for me as it has been the one staple tradition where my merry band of west coast migrant brothers and sisters get together to feast. I miss you all.

As my mind is elsewhere, here is some fodder I have noticed/love/hate about being over seas:

  • Koreans walk on the left and pass on the right...or is it walk on the right and pass on the left...ah frig...its actually a free for all where I constantly have to zig or zag or stop and shoulder check

  • Scooter men will be the death of me- sidewalks/crosswalks/allies...they are EVERYWHERE. I hear the sound of electric scooters coming up on me in my sleep!
  • No it is not OK that you and your 4 family members are all on the same scooter (get that baby a helmet)
  • Small dried sardines are not good breakfast food...EVER!

  • Thumping dance music on the street does not make me want to come into your store and buy stuff...

  • Hey Korean dude sitting with his pals! I can hear you saying "Wae-gook" (foreigner) ...I know you are talking about me...jackass

  • My dish soap smells like a gin and tonic
  • Small dogs in shoulder bags are pets...large dogs in alleys are dinner
  • When drinking..."one shot" does not mean ONE shot...
  • Bars sell the hard stuff by the bottle...our work party tally for Friday night was 2x26ers Absolut...1x 26er of whiskey...about 7-teen bottles of soju....5 jugs of beer...then I blacked out
  • Koreans are fluent in English when drunk....but won't speak it at all at work in an English school
Anyway, We woke up Saturday afternoon wondering how we made it home. I vaguely remember spending some "quality time" curled up on the tile floor of my bathroom..... but it could have been a dream. The girl who's birthday it was spent 36 hours in bed and woke up @ noon on Sunday.

Sunday we went to a fall festival at the World Cup Stadium Skypark... it was mellow and a peaceful change to the thumping in my brain all day Saturday...the whole park was covered in 6 foot tall grass and really different. We found a barefoot path for reflexology/foot massage and took a stroll..our faces tell all.






Our new friends took us there..Sung-he Works at Avalon and her husband Henry is an English teacher too... they are really cool


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