(no subject)
Greetings.
I've got some spare time once again, and I stumbled onto one hell of a time this weekend. So I thought I'd share.
Friday was a bust. I worked until 10, as always, went and had a couple pints at BeerSky afterwards, as always, then went to the 11:30 showing of the 400 with some coworkers. It was ok, but I was tired so I wasn't really into it. The movie experience over here is quite different. The sound levels border somewhere between painful and unbearable and the screens are probably 150 feet wide. They really shove the movie down your throught. I actually spent most of the time watching the movie pondering if the Korean audience understood the significance of Greek mythology, or if this was just some random story to them. My mind wanders when it's tired.
Saturday. Alex and I had both decided far earlier that we were going to go to Itaewon Saturday night and have a good time, we had both had enough of movie and board games with the fellow coworkers. That's great now and then, but now and then means now and then. So we headed down to Itaewon about 4:00. Arrived at 5. Alex phoned his friend Taran to see if she wanted to join us. She did, but not until around 7. So Alex and I figured we'd go to a pub, grab some food, have a few beers and then see where the night took us. One thing it's difficult to rememeber when youre living in a 100% Korean neighborhood. Purely western holidays-St. Patricks day for example. We quickly remembered once we hit Itaewon though. Westerners everywhere, all decked out in Green. And here I am in my usual Black and Blue attire. Sad me.
We decided to grab some food at Gecko's, which is a place Alex had been to before that was rather cheap and low key. It was about 5:30 when we got in...and the place was packed. Standing room on the terrace only. This worried us at first, but we were quickly dissarmed when a table of two clearly military guys called us over to join their table. Coz from Montana and Sam from West Virginia. Both very nice guys(and already considerably drunk). They had their weekend passes and were out to Itaewon to get the true Korean feel. They were dissapointed when I told them that Itaewon was where I went to get closer to home, and that they were actually not even close to true Seoul. They decided to ponder this over more drink. They bought a round and some chicken wings. We discussed teaching and money and air force and all things civil.
Then another group arrived. These were teachers from Inchon. Sam, feeling quite friendly, invited them out on the terrace to join the party as well. They obliged but were a little standoffish. Sam decided to disarm them by buying a round of Irish Car Bombs(A shot of Baileys Irish dropped into a pint of Guiness for you squares-they're leathal). Well a round meant 7, at $10 a piece. Sam was a generous man, and I think his alcohol level had something to do with it. Anyway, the carbombs lightened the mood and loosened the tounges. Soon I was talking to San Diego, LA, and French Canadian.(This was much easier than remembering names. I was St. Louis for the night). I started to wander around the terrace meeting a couple of Irish folks who were happy to buy another round of car bombs-because it was the Irish way. They toasted "On St. Patty's day we go to mass and then drink till we're drunk. No it's not a holiday it's just like every other day" and down went another round of car bombs. It was about 6:30 at this point. Along with these car bombs came rounds of beer as well. Korean beer-Cass-but of course green. I decided to go inside(it was getting cold as the sun went down) and mingle. I ended up spending most of the rest of the night at a big table with Blackhawk(because he flew blackhawk helicopters), London and her friend visiting from home Nottingham, New Zealand-who had dread locks and talked exclusively of pot, Queens, The Irish, and Atlanta the huge Air Force guy. This was pretty much my dream of a perfect evening. Everyone discussing where they've been, where they are, what they do, etc. My only gripe of the night was that I kept meeting more Canadians than anyone else. Damn Canadians.
Anyway, I was having a great time. Maybe too great of a time. If I learned one thing more than any other it's that military guys on weekend pass are all too happy to purchase liquor for fellow americans. I kept getting car bombs and green pints put in front of me, and by god they were coming from american military service men, who was I to refuse. This continued until about 10. Around that time I went back to where Alex and Taran were chatting with some people and talked with them for awhile. Alex helped me make the executive decision at that point however that it was probably time for me to make my way back to Nowon. I agreed.
Looking back, it was a poorly judged mix-I haven't had much to drink at all in 3 months, I hadn't eaten dinner that night, and free carbombs(probably about 6 in total), are not a good idea.
So I was in bed by 11 saturday night, but I had more fun by then than I had in a long long time.
And really, it beats last St. Patricks day when I was down for the count by 1 PM. Next weekend we're going back, and I'm avoid those vile, over generous, Air Force men like the black plague. Pure heathens they are, and damn nice guys too.
Sunday I read and rested mostly. Went to an italian resturaunt in Nowon which was good.(I can only take so much Kim Bop, Kimchi, and Udong. I need food that feels normal to me too.
I'd like to try to be more adventurous, but at this point I'm hampered by sticking to places that have menus in English, or at the very least pictures. Pointing is the language of the world.
So that was my weekend. I hope that turns out to be an average weekend-only with more sobriety on my part. If it does Ill be a happy happy man. There's few things I enjoy more than gathering the stories and life experiences of people from all over the globe. I'm simply facinated by the differences of experiences, stories, and viewpoints, and yet everyone seems to have strong threads of similarity.
This is C&P'd from my other blog because I know youre all too damn lazy to click over.
Quick rounds of Carbombs can mess you up. I passed out on the subride home, and just happened to wake up just before pulling up to my stop. That was a matter of devine intervention. Drunk and lost in the second busiest city in the world could have been disaster. But what a story it would have made.
That is all.
I've got some spare time once again, and I stumbled onto one hell of a time this weekend. So I thought I'd share.
Friday was a bust. I worked until 10, as always, went and had a couple pints at BeerSky afterwards, as always, then went to the 11:30 showing of the 400 with some coworkers. It was ok, but I was tired so I wasn't really into it. The movie experience over here is quite different. The sound levels border somewhere between painful and unbearable and the screens are probably 150 feet wide. They really shove the movie down your throught. I actually spent most of the time watching the movie pondering if the Korean audience understood the significance of Greek mythology, or if this was just some random story to them. My mind wanders when it's tired.
Saturday. Alex and I had both decided far earlier that we were going to go to Itaewon Saturday night and have a good time, we had both had enough of movie and board games with the fellow coworkers. That's great now and then, but now and then means now and then. So we headed down to Itaewon about 4:00. Arrived at 5. Alex phoned his friend Taran to see if she wanted to join us. She did, but not until around 7. So Alex and I figured we'd go to a pub, grab some food, have a few beers and then see where the night took us. One thing it's difficult to rememeber when youre living in a 100% Korean neighborhood. Purely western holidays-St. Patricks day for example. We quickly remembered once we hit Itaewon though. Westerners everywhere, all decked out in Green. And here I am in my usual Black and Blue attire. Sad me.
We decided to grab some food at Gecko's, which is a place Alex had been to before that was rather cheap and low key. It was about 5:30 when we got in...and the place was packed. Standing room on the terrace only. This worried us at first, but we were quickly dissarmed when a table of two clearly military guys called us over to join their table. Coz from Montana and Sam from West Virginia. Both very nice guys(and already considerably drunk). They had their weekend passes and were out to Itaewon to get the true Korean feel. They were dissapointed when I told them that Itaewon was where I went to get closer to home, and that they were actually not even close to true Seoul. They decided to ponder this over more drink. They bought a round and some chicken wings. We discussed teaching and money and air force and all things civil.
Then another group arrived. These were teachers from Inchon. Sam, feeling quite friendly, invited them out on the terrace to join the party as well. They obliged but were a little standoffish. Sam decided to disarm them by buying a round of Irish Car Bombs(A shot of Baileys Irish dropped into a pint of Guiness for you squares-they're leathal). Well a round meant 7, at $10 a piece. Sam was a generous man, and I think his alcohol level had something to do with it. Anyway, the carbombs lightened the mood and loosened the tounges. Soon I was talking to San Diego, LA, and French Canadian.(This was much easier than remembering names. I was St. Louis for the night). I started to wander around the terrace meeting a couple of Irish folks who were happy to buy another round of car bombs-because it was the Irish way. They toasted "On St. Patty's day we go to mass and then drink till we're drunk. No it's not a holiday it's just like every other day" and down went another round of car bombs. It was about 6:30 at this point. Along with these car bombs came rounds of beer as well. Korean beer-Cass-but of course green. I decided to go inside(it was getting cold as the sun went down) and mingle. I ended up spending most of the rest of the night at a big table with Blackhawk(because he flew blackhawk helicopters), London and her friend visiting from home Nottingham, New Zealand-who had dread locks and talked exclusively of pot, Queens, The Irish, and Atlanta the huge Air Force guy. This was pretty much my dream of a perfect evening. Everyone discussing where they've been, where they are, what they do, etc. My only gripe of the night was that I kept meeting more Canadians than anyone else. Damn Canadians.
Anyway, I was having a great time. Maybe too great of a time. If I learned one thing more than any other it's that military guys on weekend pass are all too happy to purchase liquor for fellow americans. I kept getting car bombs and green pints put in front of me, and by god they were coming from american military service men, who was I to refuse. This continued until about 10. Around that time I went back to where Alex and Taran were chatting with some people and talked with them for awhile. Alex helped me make the executive decision at that point however that it was probably time for me to make my way back to Nowon. I agreed.
Looking back, it was a poorly judged mix-I haven't had much to drink at all in 3 months, I hadn't eaten dinner that night, and free carbombs(probably about 6 in total), are not a good idea.
So I was in bed by 11 saturday night, but I had more fun by then than I had in a long long time.
And really, it beats last St. Patricks day when I was down for the count by 1 PM. Next weekend we're going back, and I'm avoid those vile, over generous, Air Force men like the black plague. Pure heathens they are, and damn nice guys too.
Sunday I read and rested mostly. Went to an italian resturaunt in Nowon which was good.(I can only take so much Kim Bop, Kimchi, and Udong. I need food that feels normal to me too.
I'd like to try to be more adventurous, but at this point I'm hampered by sticking to places that have menus in English, or at the very least pictures. Pointing is the language of the world.
So that was my weekend. I hope that turns out to be an average weekend-only with more sobriety on my part. If it does Ill be a happy happy man. There's few things I enjoy more than gathering the stories and life experiences of people from all over the globe. I'm simply facinated by the differences of experiences, stories, and viewpoints, and yet everyone seems to have strong threads of similarity.
This is C&P'd from my other blog because I know youre all too damn lazy to click over.
Quick rounds of Carbombs can mess you up. I passed out on the subride home, and just happened to wake up just before pulling up to my stop. That was a matter of devine intervention. Drunk and lost in the second busiest city in the world could have been disaster. But what a story it would have made.
That is all.