you can't walk in your sleep

deery-lou.
while sitting in the park today i saw a little girl riding a bright red bike. as she rode passed she was singing to herself. it reminded me of the days when i use to play chips on my bike. i was always jon. hehe.

this past weekend we had an office retreat. the destination was stone story in incheon. stone story is a korean style hostel located in the middle of nowwhere surrounded by rice fields. the road to get there was quite narrow and i'm sure that if there was major rain its be flooded.

stone story sign & rice field

we left friday after work and got there around 10ish. jk's friend who also happens to be an investor in our school was there too with his company. they were already there when we arrived and had the bbq going in full force. we dropped off our bags into the room and went down to eat. there were plates after plates of various meats, shrimp, and kimchi. there was also plenty of beer and soju flowing. i ate until i could eat no longer. we sat around mingling and drinking until it was time for the games to begin. yes we had games. this retreat was well organized thanks to jk's pal. the first game was yut [four sticks game] where you threw four sticks and depending on how they landed was how many spaces you moved. the first team to successfully move all four of their games pieces around the board won. we were divided into 4 teams of five. we were each giving 50,000 won. before playing each player gave 20,000 won for the pot. the winning team would divide the money among the players. my team lost in round one. after the dice game was over there was a another game to play. earlier in the evening we all wrote down our name on a specific date on a calendar. originally i went for 30 but was told that the numbers stop at 23 or i opted for 22. exactly how the game was played i'm not really sure. all i know that when they got to our number they went to another piece of paper and followed some maze until they got to a prize. so basically everyone was a winner. gotta love games like that. my prize was a 70,000 won gift certificate to lotte department store. which i believe i can also use at lotte mart. score!! once the games were finished we went back outside for more drinking and eating. at 3am jk decided to have our staff meeting. it was chaos because most of the staff was drunk and not listening very well. it was during this time that jk announced to the staff that i was promoted to head teacher. yes, i kid you not. after thinking about it for some time i decided to accept the offer. not really sure why because i really don't want all that extra responsibilty but jk and christine insist that it won't interfere with my regular work. it basically means that i have to check all of the teachers' lesson plans and be the point person for any complaints or request. should be easier enough. i finally decided to go to bed around 4:30am. when i got to the sleeping room it was already pretty full so i grabbed a space in the corner and tried to sleep. didn't really get much that night. beside the room being extremely warm there a constant snoring that was louder than anything i heard before. i woke up numberous times throughout the night to find a pair of feet in my face. oh, the joy. i found it hard to function on saturday. besides the lack of sleep i couldn't cool myself down. it was like being in a sauna. we packed up and headed to a school where they had a kick ball game organized for the day. i'm still amazed at how the koreans can drink all night then get up and play sports like nothing happened. i opted out of the game. i wasn't in any condition to be running around a field. after the game we grabbed some lunch. the restaurant was across from the beach so afterwards we took a little walk to the ocean's edge.

group shot

we got back to ansan around 4pm. i spent the rest of the day in bed in my aircondtioned apartment watching project runway. good times.

be well…

photos from stone story retreat

soundtrack of my life

deery-lou.
so here i sit at school way earlier than i need to be. completely bored!!! i was suppose to have taekwondo this morning but my master is m.i.a. i couldn't work on my computer at home cuz the batteried died and my ac adapter was at school. by the time i finished two mangas it was only 10:30 am. so i decided i came here. ordered some brunch and checked my emails. now its 12:40pm. my class doesn't start to 2pm. i think i need a nap. tonight my school is going off on a mini-retreat. i'm not quite sure where cuz they never tell us those things. all i do know is that we will be back saturday evening.

on myspace there was a "soundtrack" survey posted by chen. since i had sooo much spare time i decided to fill it out. normally what i do on myspace stays on myspace but today i felt like sharing it to those of you who don't use myspace. i know. you're probably thinking, "aren't we lucky". feel free to completely skip this post. it won't hurt my feelings. honestly i won't even know. anyway, on with the bulletin:

if you're life was a movie, what would the soundtrack be?
so, here's how it works:
1. opemyour itunes, ipod, etc.
2. place it on shuffle.
3. Press play.
4. for every question type the song that's playing.
5. for every new question advance to the next song. [no cheating. you must write down the song the is next. don't skip it even if you don't like it]
you are now ready to begin. enjoy!

jethan's sountrack
opening credits:
driving death valley ~ mark lanegan band

waking up:
paint the silence ~ south

falling in love:
my enemy ~ the otherside

fight song:
cowbell ~ tapes 'n tapes

breaking up:
steve & edie ~ dramarama

make-up:
wastin' my time ~ eagles of death metal

life's okay:
the hand that feeds ~ nine inch nails

mental breakdown:
princess of the queens (the lost generation) ~ my life with the thrill kill kult

driving:
good is me ~ stereolab

flashback:
no sense ~ cat power

happy dance:
like a soldier ~ johnny cash

regretting:
let the cool goddess rust away ~ clap your heads say yeah

final battle:
doors of your heart ~ english beat

death scene:
oh my golly ~ frank black

make-out scene:
insincere because i ~ the dandy warhols

ending credits:
names ~ cat power

for those of you interested in receiving a copy of my soundtrack [yes, i mean an actual cd with the songs] let me know.

be well...

orange crush

deery-lou.
i got a crush. she's in ben's class. ben told me she was asking questions about me. last night when i left school she was with her friends waiting for the elevator. i took the stairs as i normally do. as i was descending i could hear the thumping of shoes coming down behind me at a quick pace. this was followed by the sound of giggling girls. i didn't need to turn around. i knew who it was. outside i gradually did a turnback and sure enough it was her. they were picking up their pace. eventually they caught up to me just as i was turning around. she looked at me and smiled. then she said "hello" and ran to the bus. girls are funny that way.

be well…

b-complex

nap time
Originally uploaded by nightwing.

deery-lou.
every day like clockwork around noon the workers take a break. i can see them from my little balcony that serves as a home to my washer. most of the time they are shirtless and napping. on some occasions they are just sitting there smoking cigs and talking either on their cell phones or to each other. yesterday while i was on the balcony i actually busted one of them taking a piss. sure enough there he was standing in a corner or what might be a corner when they are finished taking a leak. this lead to me to think about my new apartment and to question how much piss is mixed into the foundation here. it makes you wonder.

another odd scene witnessed by bc and myself took place on sunday. we had just left the hotel and were walking down the street. in an alley like street to our right was a man in a sort of push up like position with his back way arched. there was another man standing next to him with a hose who was giving him a bath. yes, i shit you not. he was getting hosed down in the middle of the street. bc and i looked at each other in pure amazement. we both wanted to whip out our cameras but neither of us did. its these moments that make my life here so enjoyable.

be well…

broken chairs

deery-lou.
thanks to misty, every time i put on my deordorant i now think of sweat. that was the comment she made about it when i was in sf. i guess the gig is up. i will now have to replace it with something a little more aroma friendly. sigh…

this weekend i found myself venturing back into seoul. the first time since coming back from vacation. my first stop for the evening was a rooftop gathering at chen's to celebrate her birthday. saw a lot of peeps i haven't seen in awhile. it was very chill. the weather was awesome. it was nice to be outside sipping cocktails, smoking cigs, and nibbling on little weiners. i mingled about the roof for a few hours and then made my way to the twon where i was meeting jen and astrid for saturday part deux. astrid is leaving on thursday so this would be my last chance to say goodbye. its sad to see people, especially peeps you really like. we started off at queens where the drinks were two for one. definitely can't beat that. at the table next to us this k-guy sat staring at us the entire time. perhaps he was interested and wanted to say hi. although he never did. that's the strange thing about this place. the k-guys never seem to initiate conversation. from queens we headed to soho who's drink specials were still happening til midnight. score! everytime i step into that bar the decor is different. there's a new owner. it actually looks a lot better than before. feels less stuffy and more inviting. the cocktails continued to flow there throughout the night. we met "princess" who seemed to be floating about the bar sipping everyones drinks, dancing, fixing his hair, and kissing people. he did this the whole time. a couple of times he asked me if i "liked to dance". i replied simply by saying sometimes. a kabob and more drinks later we decided to dance some of the alcohol away. so off to del disco. the last time i was there it was extremely packed. however that was not the case saturday night. at point i found myself mezmorized as i stood on the dance floor staring into what can best be described as a lazer-light tunnel. it was tron-esque and a little trippy. the evening came to a close around three. when astrid reached the point of being unable to see. we had hit our peak for the evening. before heading back we stopped for egg sandwiches. what a way to end the evening.

sunday was another nice day in seoul. i lunched with the girls then made my way to insadong to meet up with bc who invited me for a swim. the rooftop swim and jacuzzi was just what i needed to feel refreshed. we sat poolside where bc read an interview with paris hilton from britans gq. poor paris. thats all i'm gonna say on that. before leaving insadong to head to hyehwa i stopped in at the gallery to pick up my art from the exhibit. bc took me to the filipino market at hyehwa. now i know where to go if i want some deordorant. they seem to have it all there from phone cards to beanie weanies. oh my!! we spent the rest of the afternoon shopping around hyehwa. however, bc is not a big fan of my "purposeless" shopping. i love checking out all those stationary type stores. buying things that i really don't need. i gave her a hard time about it but she was a good sport. i actually only bought things i needed. what was that about. must go back for the zombie keychain i saw. one is just not enough.

be well...

mess with time

deery-lou.
settling in. that's what i've been doing for the past four days. last saturday i moved into a new apartment. it was probably the quickest move i've ever done. which was a good thing too since it was extremely hot outside. jk and young both helped making the process that much faster. i'm going on year three here in korea and so far i've had three apartments. but i must confess that this one actually feels the most homey. my apartment building faces a park which is so nice. i can get a glimpse of it from my little porch. all of my appliances are brand new. yet another score. i can't tell you have nice that is. although the space seems a little smaller than my last place i somehow managed to arrange it so that i could fit a bookcase in it. i went out on sunday to buy one. the man ended up giving me a $1 discount. how nice was that. there's something to be said about a new place. it give you a new prospective on life. i wake up these days feeling happy and content. once i put the final touch to my pad i'll post some pictures. i just got a few more things to hang. i've decided to take a more simplistic approach to hanging these. there's no need to put up every single poster i accumulated over the past two years. i'll save them for when i return home. tomorrow the prodigal son will return to taekwondo. it feels like ages ago since i last stepped foot in there. here's hoping i haven't forgotten everything i ever learned.

yesterday was a holiday. it was liberation day. korea's time to celebrate its independence from japan. i spent the day at home watching sex and the city and unpacking more boxes. on monday night my school went out to dinner to welcome the new teachers. we have two new foreign teachers and one korean teacher. we went to the second floor for some chicken and porridge. it was just as good as the last time we went there. the chicken just falls right off the bone. so delicious. after we head to the german bar for beer, fruit, and snails. there was a semi-cute waiter there you had some funky hair according to korean standards. it was kind of mullet-esque. on one side he had three braids and in the back a long beaded tail. if only my camera was working. sigh… a few hours were spent there then we went next door to the norebang. the two new foreign teachers like to sing. the rest of the evening was spent singing, singing, singing. here's my set list [at least what i remember]:

1. love hurts
2. fake plastic trees
3. stairway to heaven
4. beautiful [with young]
5. zombie [misty's favorite song ever!!]

be well…

hot, hot, heat

deery-lou.
can i just say how freakin HOT it is here. now i know what hell must feel like. its been extremely difficult to readjust, especially after coming back from a chilly-cool sf. i'm starting to remember why i left florida all those years ago. there's nothing like stepping outside and getting smacked in the face with heat. hi, instanst sweat. since i've returned from vacation i've been waking up at 6am every morning. which means by 9pm i end up passing out. i haven't returned to taekwondo yet. so not looking forward to practicing in this heat. it looks like i'm going to return next thursday. they don't have class on monday and tuesday is a holiday. oh, and on top of it all i'm moving this saturday. i have mixed feeling about it even though i was the one that asked to move. the new place is slightly smaller and all the appliances are NEW so thats a major plus. the down side is moving in this heat. grin and bear it i guess. i spent most of thursday morning packing so i'm all ready to go. at least the new place is only a few blocks away. i'm close to a park, too. so thats cool. i was hoping my apartment would be either a rooftop apartment or facing the park. unfortunately there's only one apartment in the building left and it has neither option. at least its in the building i wanted to be in. i'm just going to keep a positive attitude about it. the part of moving i do like is the redecorating. thats always fun. yesterday i rearranged my classroom. i needed to have my desk under the aircon. this month starts a new schedule at our school. i'm slightly sad about this because i lost a lot of my good classes. these were the students i've been teaching since day one. now i'm gonna have to start anew. change is good. so most likely my weekend will be spent fixing up my new place and catching up on much needed sleep. i still don't quite feel like myself. perhaps i'll even get into seoul to see some peeps. i'm not sure when i'll have internet connection again so i might be gone for a few days. see ya soon.

be well…

stencil erotica

deery-lou.
while hanging around seoul with ms. bonnie conquest i couldn't help but notice her strange fascination for stencil art. so when i saw some erotic stencil art on the sidewalk in front of the lexington club i knew i had to document it just for her. this is for you bc.

slap it

lap it

wrap it

be well…

the fabulous photo adventures of jethan in sf

deery-lou.
the san francisco photos are up and ready for your enjoyment. not many sites since i'd lived there for 5 years. its mostly me and my peeps. here's a sneak peak. enjoy!

golden gate bridge through car window

d, misty, and e reunited

sf photos here

be well…

family reunion pix

deery-lou.
family reunion pix [which seem mostly to be my nieces and nephew] are uploaded. here's a sampling. enjoy!

with my sister

my nieces & nephew

fam reunion pix

be well…

sf: the final days

deery-lou.
friday, august 4
finally got motivated to leave d's apartment around 2pm. spent most of the morning watching bad tv and working on my blog. as i was heading out the door d came home unexpectedly. he left work earlier. yeah! the two of us headed down to stroll along the 'stro. a few of my old haunts were gone and there were a couple of new places like a comic book store. score! but for the most part the 'stro was pretty much the same. we stopped off at quickly, a asian inspired icey/smoothie/juice place. i got a blueberry snow [kind of like a smoothie]. then i got a chocolate fudge cookie at hot cookie. hi, delicious!! we ventured down to the mission to walk along valencia street. that too, has pretty much remained unchanged. that night we went over to pevil's who was hosting a dinner party for lord jethan. pevil's and ms. b's pad is quite sweet and very homey. on the menu was veggie patties [that would later be dubbed lesbian patties], martha's mac and cheese, and salad. it was all quite yummy. the usual suspects were in attendence: adawg, misty, d and his beau john, pevil, ms. b, and hez. misty brought along some cupcakes that were a sugar explosion. cupcakes are g.o.o.d! after dinner it was off to the eagle where i had organized a little gathering to see people. my favorite bartender no longer works there since he moved. bummer. it still felt good though to be back at a bar i spent so much time in when i lived there. it didn't take long for the coctails to start flowing. thanks misty. drink of choice: vodka tonic. of course being the "freak" magnet i am, i had a new friend for the first part of the evening. everytime i was trying to catch up with a friend he kept butting in. hi, excuse me. talking to friends here. i finally had to move to the other side of the bar to get away. i think he got the hint then. the drinks were flowing all night. it was really great to see everyone. i've got some really great friends. usually the eagle plays good indie rock, however; like the crowd that night the music was lacking. oh well! it was all about hanging with friends anyway and it didn't stop us from having fun. by 1am we decided to head over to lucky 13. there were some peeps [willo and ali] that misty wanted me to meet. i didn't get to spend much time chatting with them but them seem like cool peeps. plus it was cool to finally meet them after hearing so much about them. lucky 13 usually attracts a rocker crowd and is often not that crowded. now it looks like its become the hipster hangout for the young sf crowd. it was packed. my how things change. we had a drink then decided to bail and call it a night. we were all pretty tired. that night i had major bed spins. i forgot what that was like. eventually though i was able to drift off to a deep, deep sleep.

saturday, aug 5
saturday started off with a mixture of a hangover and jet lag that still hadn't gone away. i felt like the walking dead for most of the morning. it didn't help much that i was up super early. why was it that i've been getting up so early? its like i forgot how to sleep late. i use to be a master at that. ted and misty came to get me around noon. we were heading to fairfax, which is just over the golden gate bridge. thats where kate lives and she was hosting a bbq. over in fairfax we stopped at java hut, a drive through coffee place. once i got my ice coffee in me it was all good. the day was spent having a most fabulous cookout. kate's place is adorable. its soo her. it was great to be able to see her in her space. she seems quite happy there. and its so spacious. she one lucky gal. besides the four of us, d, john, hez, adawg, and jimmy were all there, too. we even got a surprise visit from big mama and the bunny. they use to be my neighbors when i lived in the haight. seeing the two of them was wonderful. when i first met the bunny he was a mere baby. now he's heading into the third grade. he looked so grown up with his long hair. big mama has done a excellent job raising him. there were all kinds of yummy food that day. misty and kate decided to have a lot of "sides" in honor of korea. i ate so much i thought i was going to explode. we walked in the town of fairfax and i decided to do a mini-tour of it. it was cute little town. we got back to the city around 9ish. at d's i finished packing then hit "the houston" [his couch] to get some much needed sleep. although prior to going to bed d shared with me his story of the headless grandma ghost that once haunted his apartment. of course i had a nightmare that night. d's apartment is rad. lots of nucks and crannies. i want a place like that when i return. all my friends seems to have great places.

sunday, august 5
the day of reckoning. had breakfast with misty, ted, d, and john at savory in noe valley. the food was quite good. however, i felt nervous all though breakfast and couldn't eat that much. the day you have to leave is always the hardest. i didn't want to have to say goodbye to these guys. it felt like i had just gotten there and wasn't quite ready to leave yet. adawg met up with us after breakfast then we all headed back to d's house to chill before i had to head out for the airport. kate met us there and her and i hung out on the porch for awhile talking. i wish i would've been able to spend a little more time with her, especially since she going through a rough time right now. a friend of hers got some really bad news and kate's been a big support to her. kate's such an amazing person. she's strong, a great friend, and has an amazing soul. i love her dearly. its amazing to see how much she has changed and for the better. you can really tell she's happy. goodbyes were said on the sidewalk. that was the hardest, ever. especially when it comes to saying bye to misty. it was all i could do not to cry. these guys are like my family. they know my dreams, secrets, and myself. probably even know more about me than my family does. i will definitely miss them. even more so this time. john, d, and kate took me to the airport. i was feeling quite nervous and anxious but kate has this way of making me feel calms so all was good. final goodbyes were said again and i made my way through secruity. no sooner was i though when i heard an announcement for the final boarding call for my flight. i basically sprinted all the way to the gate. after a two hour bus ride and what seemed like an hour walk in the heat i got home around 9pm. i immediately crashed. bags still packed. contacts still in. clothes still on. good times! my vacation seemed to fly by. i had a great time though. got to see family, friends, etc. see you all soon…real soon. i miss and love you all.

movies i saw on the plane [for kate]:
kinky boots
she's the man
over the hedge
the sentinel
also watched the sitcom hanna montana [kill me! kill me now!]

be well…

a family reunion & more

deery-lou.
i had to say goodbye to the cheerful fawn. her plastic wrapping was starting to fall apart exposing my money in all its nakedness.sigh…you've definitely been good to me. and now on to the real business…

i'm on my 8th day of vacation. where has the time gone. it feels like i just got here yesterday. coming back to sf has definitely been heartfelt. its such a great city and i have such great friends that its going to be hard to say goodbye on sunday. more on that later. its been a week or so since i've last posted so i figured i'd do a bit of catch up. let's go back in time. the date is july 27 and i had just arrived in atlanta after a 10 hours flight from seoul to sf ,then a 4 hour flight from sf to atlanta.

atlanta, ga
my uncle, who happens to be my dads twin, picked me up at the airport and took to their house. i hadn't seen my aunt and uncle for three years so it was nice to play catch up. my parents arrived shortly after from arkansas. i stayed up til 3 am talking to my mom and aunt. the next day my sister and her family came over. they were staying at my sister's friend house who lived about 20 minutes away. i couldn't belive how big my nieces and nephew had gotten. the twins [paige and davis] are now 3 1/2 and baby morgan is 18 months. we sat around the house talking and playing with the little ones. midafternoon we packed up and headed for the pool where we spent the rest day frockling in the sun and water. the children loved the pool. later that night some cousins stopped by after dinner. i didn't last long since jetlag was finally getting to me. i passed out around 10:30 pm. this boy was T.I.R.E.D.

saturday was our big family reunion at the pool. i got to meet cousins i didn't even know existed. we bbqed, swam, and just relalx. it was great. you often forget how nice it is to be with with family. i think my living abroad has made me appreciate the time i spend with my family now. i got to learn some interesting informaton about my family. my great-grandfather iwan duranowicz came to america in 1910. my grandfather bogdaw came in 1913 with the rest of the family. he was only 7 years old. upon arriving in america they changed their name from duranowicz to duran. they were originally from uhryniw [or uhrynow], galicia. at the time it was considered part of austria. it definitely great to learn this information. when i get back im definitley going to research it a bit more.

saturday night i met up with an old high school pal sherri. she lives about 45 minutes from my aunt and uncle. we went to downtown atlanta over to a section called east atlanta. we hit a few bars in that hood doing a vodka tonic tour. 3 bars, 3 different tastes, and 3 different prices. the most expensive drink happened to be the worst tasting one. we opted to go back to the first br which had the best best vts. you know that there would be such a difference. they were having scary-oake there so we found a place to sit upstairs and made fun of the talent. i'm telling you some of the song choices were B.A.D.

on sunday the family gathered again at my aunt and uncles. the day was hanging around sitting pizza, etc. i helped my nephew and cousin build a linkcoin log house. it lasted a whole 30 seconds before my nephew decided to play godzilla and destroyed the whole the thing. hat night my sister and i went out for some one on one time. we went to the 3 dollar cafe for dinner and beers. it gret to be able some time with her. its hard when you're only back for a short period of time. parts of you feel guilty for not getting alot of time together but thats life. i'm just happy we got to spend some time together. i think we both really needed that. i will say this though. my sister is doing an excellent job raising her children. i'm so proud of her. her children are absolutely fantastic and adorable. and i'm not just saying this because i'm their uncle. well maybe i'm a little biased but i can be. on monday everyone started to head out. first my sister and her family left for florida. then my parents heading back to arkansas. lastly, i was taken to the airport to head off to san francisco. it was a great 5 days. there's even talk about having another get together next year. we'll see…

san francisco, ca
i arrived in sf shortly after midnight. my whole time schedule by this point is completely wacked. it doesn't help much that i've kept my watch set on korean time. thats enough to make one go crazy but at least my ability to do math is getting better. misty, derek, pevil, and ted were all there to greet me. what a great welcoming. trying to leave the airport turned into a seinfeild moment. we couldn't find misty's car. we end up in garage g at the international parking then realized we needed to be in domestic parking. we tried to get on the red train to parking but it was closed. we treked over to the blue drive where we waited and waited and waited. no sooner were we on the escalator heading out when a train was approaching. we quickly ran down the escalator that was going up and jumped onto the train. it was liek the gods were against us. for awhile i thought i might be spending my vacation in the actual airport. alas we made out and before i knew it i was in misty's apartment gettting reacquainted with the kitty i left behind. i was so happy to see my little princess. she looked healthy and happy which made me feel good. its always hard leaving behind friends, pets, family, etc. i had a hard time leaving my cat behind but i knew she'd be taking care of and she is.

on tuesday morning kate, misty, and i grabbed some lunch in misty's hood. i forget where we went but it was quite yummy. misty lives on clement street which is like a "mini" chinatown. so before we actually had lunch we stopped for some pork buns. after lunch we went to target so that i could stock up on supplies. then it was dinner at happy garden for some delicious chinese food. later that night i met my friend adwag for some drinks at the pilsner. i love adawg. she makes me laugh. we chilled there for quite a bit then i jumped in a cab and headed back to misty's. wednesday was filled with more errands. before heading the my storage unit, mist and i stopped in at taqueria el buen sabor on 18th and valencia for ground beef burritos. oh how i missed thee. i use to go here on a regular basis. let me tell you its still out of this freakin world delicious. with full bellies we headed to the storage unit to take care of business then it was off to haight street. we spent most of our time in giant robot. hi! t-shirts and toys! what more could a boy want. then we popped into kidrobot for more toys. what a perfect day. around 4 pm misty dropped me off at the bart station. i was heading to concord to see my friend scott and his twin boys. what cuties they are. they about 6 months old and i just wanted to squeeze their little chubby checks. i was lucky enough to have one of them spit up on me. the must have liked me. i got to expereince being a parent for the evening by bathing one of the boys. i couldn't believe how well behaved these boys were. they harldy cried at all and slept through the night. kudos to scott and heather for being fab parents. once the boys were in bed scott and i sat on his deck eating pizza and drinking cocktails. my friends are amazing. it was great seeing scott, especially now as a dad. i'm so happy for the both of them and wish them all the best. i have a feeling their uncle e with spoil those two boys.

i took the bart from concord into sf earlier on thursday morning. i got to the city by 9 am. this was by the far the earliest i had been up and about. mmisty met up with me around 10:30 am or so and the two of us spent the day shopping. we were out of control. everytime i turned around we were both buying something. it was just like the good old days. we had lunch at betty boop diner. they actually had a betty boop character outside waving to people. from there we went to chinatown and then back to misty's pad. around 6ish we met up with pevil and ms. b at the zeitquiest for vodka tonic pints. yes, i said pints. i spent a birthday there once getting completely ripped on vt pints. its bad. after two pints we picked up d and made our way to rayko photo center. my friend rebecca was part of an exhibit being held there called three cubed in sf. she's currently working on a series of photos of independent movie theaters in sf called left in the dark. the work was amazing. so different from her stuff in the past. i was quite impressed with it and with her. after browsing the gallery and having some photos made in a old time black and white photo booth we all headed to the lexington club to end the evening. i use to visit the lex alot with my co-workers when i worked at j.a.b. it was good to see that some things never change: the mission lesbians were still mission lesbians. got to love it.

its now friday. today i got a dinner at pevils then its off to the eagle where i told people to meet me. should be some good times tonight. i'll let you know how it goes…

to be continued…

be well.

p.s. pictures will be coming soon!

anticipation

deery-lou.
well the time has finally come. tomorrow i leave for the states. first stop hot-lanta. then on to san francisco. i'm so excited to be able to see family and friends. this week has flew by. i skipped taekwondo on monday and tuesday. oops. i'm sure my master is quite mad but i really can't seem to focus on anything but my trip. today i've decided to have a free in class. thats means we'll be watching superhero cartoons in most of my classes. hehe. i think for the older kids i'll show them an episode of charmed or buffy. haven't decided yet. not sure if i'll be blogging while i'm away. i'm gonna try but you never know. to all my peeps here in korean i'll see you upon my return which is on aug 7. all right. the bell is going to ring soon so i must prepare.

be well...

countdown to the states: 1 day

i heart my new key chain

deery-lou.
need i say more.

be well…

good morning charlie…

deery-lou.
well as most of you know i'm making a journey to the states in 6 days. the first part of my trip will be spent visiting family in hot-lanta. followed by 5 days in sf, the place i call home. the last time i went home i thought it would be best to stock up on books and dvds to bring back with me. of course i did the same for this upcoming trip. i've spent the last couple of days and today debating whether or not to purchase season 3 of charlie's angels plus 12 mangas. i know, most ridiculous. this is what happens when you're life is stress free. you start obsessing over the very minute things. this is whats going through my head: "do i really need all this stuff", "i'm i really going to watch it, i haven't even finished season 2 yet". "will i have room in my suitcase". "i haven't even read all the mangas i got here now". i even went so far as to ask misty about it via yahoo. how old am i? seriously. misty is my sounding board for everything. although it never fails that ethan + misty = just do it. when we're together its always trouble. fun trouble but still trouble. toys shop owners are always glad to see us coming. i love shopping with her. when we lived today we use to put on mini-fashion shows before going out for the night. its the little things in life that makes us happy. this is why i love her so much. my crazy collection obsession is all misty's fault. i remember the first time i went to her apartment in boston and saw the 90210 dolls ever so nicely displayed. i so wanted to steal the brenda doll. i knew then we'd be the best of friends. later that night i realized it didn't matter how old i was. if i wanted to buy toys and display i was going to do it. it didn't take long for me to unpack my star wars toys of my youth and proudly display them. and ever since then there's been no going back. stars wars, superheroes, action figures of all sorts, anime characters it didn't matter. they were mine. thanks for releasing the beast within, misty. you rock! in case you're wondering i went ahead with all of my purchase. yes, even the angles. sure i probably really don't need to be carting them clear across the country but thats what i do. plus it brings me joy. and who knows it might be time to introduce my kids to those lovely angels. wouldn't that be a trip.

be well…

toys, toys, toys

deery-lou.
the latest additions to my collection. these were my "i'm out of debt. presents for me" purchases. notice the shoes. toys make me happy.






be well...

big mama

big mama, originally uploaded by nightwing.

deery-lou.
this goes out to the one and only "real" big mama in sf. i sure do miss yur cookin'. will definitely check out this place in your honor. love you. miss you.

be well…

k-pez

deery-lou.
the pez was reunited ever so briefly this past weekend. its been years since their first outing to hawaii. not even the rain could stop these two from having a impromptu photo shoot…

cafe, scooter, and the rose

posing pez

pez-up!

bff!

smoke em if you got em

smiley forks

pez having a drink

caption

be well…

countdown to sf: 8 days

its like a monsoon v3.0

vitamin m

deery-lou.
seeing that both misty and bc beat me to the blog post and had the same title, i thought it best to keep it going. it was a very wet weekend filled with food, drinks, and lots of fun…

friday, july 14 [misty's arrival]
i met up misty at hotel seokyo around 11pm. we screamed. we jumped up and down. we stared at each other in awe as we realized "yes, this is REALLY happening". the two of played catch up sitting on the white beds of the seokyo hotel. around midnight we headed off to club funky funky [club ff]. it just so happened that the mustangs were playing that night. i was so excited that misty would get the opportunity to see them perform. the guy at the door recognized me from the weekend before as the guy with the smiths shirt. the w20,000 entrance fee was paid and we made our way down the darkened stairs where free cocktails were waiting for us. free cocktails all night is quite dangerous. misty and i claimed a section of the bar toward the back and started pounding the cocktails. well, at least i started pounding the cocktails. the mustang guys were roaming about the bar. misty got a great photo of mls napping on the stools near the woman's bathroom.


Mustangs singer naps before the show
Originally uploaded by mistylwhite.

four or maybe five cocktails later the first band finally finished. they weren't quite my thing hence the fast drinking. we moved closer to the front of the stage to get a better view of the mustangs. mls was sporting a new shorter hairstyle but still looked hot as hell. made me want to sing "he's so fine". mbs [mustang bass player] or nip as i was calling him that night had a ripped tee that exposed his right nipple ever so slightly. sigh… as always their set was amazing. at one point mls was rolling on the ground getting dirty while playing his guitar. shortly afterwards he was shirtless. once again misty was there with her camera to capture it.


Mustangs Lead Singer
Originally uploaded by mistylwhite.

during their set misty got approached by random k-girl who complimented her on her fancy new blythe watch. after they finished playing the same girl asked misty "what did you think of them. come on you can tell me." we decided not to stick around for dancing. on the way back to the hotel we stopped off for some street-side corndogs. yummy! misty didn't like the ketchup. back in the hotel room we chatted for a bit more until realizing we should probably get some sleep. i was out as soon as my head hit the pillow. throughout the night i had a dozen or so vignette-like dreams. the two that standout were: (1). me walking out into the hallway of seokyo hotel to see a group of my friends from the states standing there. they had all come to see my exhibition (2). mls and i were playing gin rummy. he laid down three cards [a five of hearts, a card with the letter t, and another 5], i told him he needed three 5s. he pointed to the "t" card and said "this card can be anything you want. thats how we play in korea".

saturday, july 15 [the exhibition]
misty and i awoke at 1:40 pm. i haven't slept in that late for ages. outside it was raining. the monsoon had begun. we motivated ourselves and went in search of food. the place i wanted to take misty to was closed so we ended up at oink. oink will probably become the good old standby in hongdae. before heading back to the hotel to change for the night a stop at tomodachi, my favorite character shop, was in order. yeah, i know. surprise, surprise. misty and i in a character shop = needless spending. there was a figure from the robot series i wanted. his name haneurino shownen. he's got black hair. he's shirtless but has black suspenders, black pants, 3/4 quarter black gloves, and black sunglasses. in his pants pocket he's got a knife. he's carrying a wooden cross and is smoking a cig. how could i resist!of course he's one of those figures that comes in the mystery box. there were only 4 boxes left. so i had a one and four chance, right. i was comparing each box by weight to determine if i could figure out which one was his. then misty decided she would buy two of them. that meant that i would just go ahead and buy the other two. it was hong kong all over again. we stood there laughing at how ridiculous we were. i'm sure the guy who worked there thought we were crazy. but at least my odds increased. at the hotel we wasted no time ripping into the boxes. my first attempt was unsuccessful. i got the non-color girl with motorcycle. boring! then misty just looked at me and i knew. it was like she had found the golden ticket in the wonka bar. the mission was a success. YEAH! it was time to get ready.

haneurino shownen

for the opening party i decided to wear my black zip pants with suspenders, a white button shirt with a pink/grey/white tie, and then a sleeveless undershirt over that. i have a thing for white things days. plus my photo frames were all white so there you go. i'm a dork. i know. whatever. [sidenote: my pal prattlepants sent me a song "my united states of whatever" sooo good. its my new theme song.] we got to galerie gaia around 6ish. we immediately went up to the third floor where my photos were hung. i had to get the anxiety over with. as i stood there staring at my pictures it felt so surreal. i've never had a show before so i didn't know what to expect. i knew one thing for sure. i was very glad to have misty there with me. it gave me the extra support and comfort i needed. i was quite please with how they looked on the wall.

my photo wall

misty and i at galerie

my photos and i

i'm proud of myself for having done it. it was such a great experience to be a part of something like especially with all these other talented artists. the whole exhibition looked really great. the turnout was amazing. chen did an awesome job organizing the whole thing. kudos to you miss chen. we spent the next 3 hours hanging either inside the galerie or out front. the rain had stopped for now. talked to a bunch of different peeps. met some of the other artist. got some good feedback from my work. saw some people carrying my postcard. saw one guy write down my name. drank lots of sangria. managed to wear some as well. so much for wearing white. misty and i had our photo taken with two random korean children. hi, what! then it was time to go back to the hotel so i could get out of my stained shirt and then head to seom for the after party.

on the way to seom it started to rain. misty, bc, and i decided to brave it without umbrellas. actually i had no choice since mine had gotten stolen at the galerie. we basically got around the corner of the hotel when the monsoon came back in full-force. drenced we jumped into the first corner store we saw and bought some very pricey mini-umbrellas. the journey to seom through flooded streets, slippery stairs, and umbrella madness seemed endless. we were soaked. we chilled at seom for quite a bit. i found comfort in a giant pink pig that i was using as an arm rest. it started to get too chilled so we decided to move on. outside it sounded like the rain had stopped. WRONG! before we even got to the door the mother of all monsoons was back on. we braved it anyway.

chen and i at seom

we stopped in at club aura for a cocktail. bc warned us that the guy with the sax was about to play but i said how bad could it be. VERY!! it was japanese experimental jazz band. it sounded like i was in a room full of cats in heat. cocktails were downed in record time. we debated going to club ff. once there the doorguy told us to check out club kys. they were having their opening party. we walked by but instead opted for club nabi. arie was working so i got to say hi. that's where i got to see thing 1 and thing 2 as i like to call them. they work there. they're the cutest boys ever. they have matching glasses. they were so animated as they bopped back and forth through the bar doing various things. thing 1 got all upset when a customer stepped into the reflecting pond and then placed his wet foot on the cushion. koreans have such an innocence about them which is great.

bc, misty, and i

when we got back to the hotel room misty noticed that the room was leaking. she didn't the front dest to tell them. instead she placed two glasses on the floor to collect the water. as i sat onthe bed talking to bc and misty i felt some drops hit my foot. we convinced misty to call the front desk. after she hung up with them she said watch them bring us two bottles of waters. we all laughed. then the power went out. there was a knock on our door. i opened it to the the front dest guy holding two bottle of water. i showed him the leaks then told him the power was out. apparently it was just our room. he said something then ran off. he returned in a few minutes with a key to a new room. this room was leak free and had power. a double plus.

sunday, july 16 [misty's last day]
not sure how i managed to be by 10:30 am after going to bed at 6 am but i was. outside the rain was still coming down. i noticed that the window from our room looked directly into the bathroom of the building across from us. the bathroom has giant windows too. which meant evertime i guy went in there to pee i could see him and vice versa. the urinals were facing the window. scary! before checking out misty and had a smoke mask fashion shoot.

from another planet

after lunch misty and i went to ordinary cafe for coffee. we also had a mini photo shoot with our pez there. he he. we hit a couple more stores then it was back to the hotel so misty could catch her bus. the bus appeared so suddenly that we barely had time to say bye! i watched the bus take off down the street. i then made my long wet journey home. on the subway i saw these two boys who were so cute together. couldn't really tell if they were a couple or just friends. sometimes its tough. they were very touchy-feely, smilely, and laughing the whole time. it was storybook cute. as i stood there i couldn't help but think that i want that some day…

monday, july 17 [holiday, no school]
and the rain is still coming. spent the day with bc and kitkat. what swell girls. we lunched. had coffee. chatted. walked around. and then before setting off for home bc and i had tea/rice drink in this cool cafe.

rice drink at cafe

an all around a nice chill day. i'm glad i had the motivation to get out. earlier in the day the weather was actually nice. felt like fall. that is until the rain came again. was approached by two random boys in the subway. i pretended i didn't know english and spoke spanish to them. at least the little bit that i know. as they were leaving they both told me that my hair was bravo. realized today that i need new glasses. the prescription is way to strong. so thats my next missing. korean glasses. oh the joy. saw a young couple napping on the train. they were all cuddled up. cute.

t-shirt of the day:
ditch the bunny get with the honey

poster of the day:

anti-smoking poster

whew! that took forever. i'll be posting some more pictures tomorrow. its 2am and i'm beat.

be well…

SHOT! article

deery-lou.
SHOT! had its opening wednesday night. according to miss chen things went smoothly. this saturday is the opening party. can't wait! much thanks to her for hanging my artwork. i only wish i could have been there to help. thats the problem with living out in the sticks. also on wednesday there was an article in the korea times. yours truly was mentioned. hehe!

be well…

nunchaku

deery-lou.
yesterday in taekwondo we practiced nunchaku. at the beginning of class my sahbumnim gave me the option of either kicking or nunchaku. ummm, hi...nunchaku, thanks. nunchaku is cool. its the one martial art weapon i so want to learn. after the student handed me a pair i started playing around with them. i felt all bruce lee like even though i didn't know what i was doing.


we spent the whole class practicing nunchaku. it was a blast. although i'm beginning to realize that i'm definitely lacking in cordination. note to self: must work on this. i did manage to get down the first half of what sahbumnim showed us. there are a few moves that i still haven't quite mastered. of course when we are doing it slow i have no problem. its when we have to do it fast that i start to feel like a spaz. although while looking around the class, i noticed i'm not the only one. there were lots of times when i got hit with the nunchaku. either on my back, hands, head, etc. it was something like this…



however, i'm determined to master this fine art. it gets me excited. i'm going to ask sahbumnim or kwanjangnim where i can buy some so i can practice at home. yesterday's class was exactly what i needed to inspire me once more. i just hope we get to do it more often. one of these days i'm going to look like this...

click here to see action

or perhaps become a ninja...




or even have my very own poster...


until then a boy can dream can't he...

be well...

this just in...

deery-lou.
not sure how i was lucky enough to make it onto this email list. i'm gonna have to be more careful. at least its going to an account i don't use too often. although it makes me wonder: is this for real? shoot me. shoot me now.

The ( fat ) white chicks party____________________________________________________________________

Sponsored by captain ahab

The details:

Where: World Cup Stadium

When: July 16-17th (during the mud festival)

All you can eat!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

______________________________________________________________________

Buffet Table (and more) : Porter House for 3, lobster rack, Salad Bar, Ribeye, Potatoes + more, "Desserts you design"]

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

*Buffet Opens at 8am and closes the next day at midnight.

Free cover charge for "drunk, skank type with anger management disorder and a 'boohoo' attitude, (less than 100lbs)."

Otherwise , you pay a 500won entrance fee (no exception)!

_____________________________________________________________________

Thanks,

Itaewonk Playground Management Staff


be well...

hong-ing it!

deery-lou.
koreans kill me! this weekend was spent witnessing first hand why i love it hear so much. meet up with bonnie conquest in hongdae after i dropped off my artwork at chen's pad. she was there with kit [not her real name but for some reason bc and i keep calling her that] who bc had just meet in person for the first time a few minutes before my arrival. shortly after that kit's friend arie, who works at nabi joined us. we had grub then went to flower[something] for drinks. according to the menu "its the groovy place for groovy people" or something like that. it was actually quite cute. the food looked quite tasty. the even post the calories on the menu for those of us who care. i don't but i'm sure some do. a couple of table had cocktail shakers filled with color liquids: green, red, pink. not really sure what they were drinking but must find out next time. we quickly downed our drinks and headed to club ff. there was a band playing that arie wanted to see. i'm not really sure i was actually in the flower place it went by soo fast. during the first band i thought i was going to pull my eyelashes out. however, i refrained and decided to pound down the drinks instead to get me through it. its was a k-band and they kind of sounded like a cross between tracy chapman and hootie and the blowfish. every song, except for the k-ballads they did, sounded like fast car and the theme song to friends. HI, shot me please! of course being a k-band night the crowd was mostly k which meant they were all sitting down. there was a big open space that noone dared stand in. once all the seats were taken along the side, in the back, and at the bar the new people coming in stood in the doorway on the stairs next to the men's room. let me just tell you that the men's room is probably in the top 5 most foul smelling bathrooms ever! HI, big open space being wasted. the best part though was when the lead singer stopped singing during his set to answer and talk on his cell phone. i looked at bc in complete disbelief. it also happened to be his birthday, so perhaps he was chatting with his granny. during one of their many k-ballads i lend over to bc and told her how everyone in the crowd looked like zombies. motionless and somewhat dead. we each picked out our favorite zombie. mine looked like he was about to drool at any second. later we discovered that mfz [my favorite zombie] was the drummer for the second band nunco cobain. which just so happened to be the band we were there to see. i would also discover on sunday when i purchased nunco cobain's cd that it was the same band i had seen at the warhol party. let me just say these guys are awesome! it was great to see mfz come to life during their set. the keyboard player for nunco cobain was so cute. she was was wearing a superman tee. hi, new best friend! during nunco's set people started getting wise and moved into the big open space. but of course they didn't stand. one couple even had little blow-up seat cushions. i thought they brought them their selves but discovered that the bar actually supplied them with it. i think i've actually seen it all now. it took kit and arie to start dancing in the center for people to realize "hey, i'm at a concert its ok to stand and dance."

the third band turned out to be another typical k-band with no unique sound to them. the lead singer was actually wearing flip-flops. kit, bc, and i decided to bolt. arie remained behind with her friends. kit went home to study while bc and i went to bricxx with chen for yet another cocktail. bc left after her cocktail. chen and i remained and were soon joined by "tool" and his k-girlfriend. "tool" completely rubbed me the wrong way. he kind of has this "i'm too cool for school" mentality. and when he talks to you he sounds very condescending. its a pretty safe bet we won't be buddy-buddy. we left bricxx and soon found ourselves at another bar. "tools" k-gf knew the owner or something. "tool" was complaining really loudly that it was taking soo long for our drinks to come. his gf looked completely bored with him. i engaged in conversation with these two k-guys that were sitting next to me. one was a performer bassist for a k-punk band. he told me he wanted to be a "rockstar". the other one had "live free or die" tattooed on his arm and above the image from motley crue's dr. feelgood. both of them were on a quest to pick of babes. obviously since they were in a bar with us at 3:30 am it was unsuccessful. before heading up to chen's apartment we stopped in at buy the way to stock up on late night/early morning snacks: hard boiled eggs, sandwiches, a burger, kimbop, danishes, and ice coffee for the morning. food was consumed then sleep took over...

sunday, july 9
met up with bc around 11:15. we spent the day shopping shopping in hongdae. i tried on a few button-down shirt but of course they didn't fit. bc got in trouble for trying on a t-shirt. its forbidden in korea. bc and i stumbled onto a movie set. our quest for food in the heat seemed endless with every place being closed or for fear of them not having a picture/english menu. finally found oink where we had kalbi, ice cold beer, and rice with fish eggs. who knew that fish eggs and rice would be so yummy. i bought a new watch. its white and has a scrolling message that reads "[heart] forever in love" check it out here! went to ordinary cafe for a blueberry frappe. sat in the window seat picking out cks. bc's not a good picker. noticed quite a few peeps wearing stocking caps and one guy actually in a turtle neck sweater. umm, last time i checked it was freakin summer. two girls waved to us while sitting at oc. they weren't twins but were dressed like it. all in all a pretty awesome day, especially seeing that i only had 5 hours of sleep.

random quotes and other things from the weekend"
1. rock on muther fuckers — bc, during the k-chapman/hootie set
2. what bands? — me in response to "tool" asking if i knew of his bands even though i did
3. what are you doing here? — motley crue tat guy from saturday night when he saw me and bc sitting on a stoop in hongdae on sunday
4. you're a dj? — the ex-bassist when i told him i was a teacher
5. girl holding up a mirror for her boyfriend in the coffee bean and tea leaf so he could put in his contacts
6. watching a young couple hit each other with giant stuffed flowers on the subway
7. seeing the leader singer of band number 3 in a phone booth on sunday in the same clothes
8. guy at ff coming up to me to ask if he can take the stool next to me then with stool in hand runs back to his friends giggling. obvioulsy he got the short end of the stick and had to talk to the foreigner
9. goth store that plays k-pop
10. charlie's "asian" angels

be well…

ode to the "s" key

deery-lou.
my little ibook is only 2 years old yet its already showing signs of age. about a month ago i realized that the "s" on the s-key is completely gone and the "d" is quickly following. with the "c" coming in third. i've tried writing an "s" in permanent marker but it only wears off in a matter of seconds. so much for being permanent. its a good thing i took typing back in sixth grade with mrs. barnes. i can still hear her saying "s-space, a-space, sa-space, etc." at least i will remember where the s-key is suppose to be. which leads me to ponder, what contributed to the s-keys demise? could it be all those late night chats while i'm sitting around in my boxers talking to strange boys and saying things like "suck it, baby, come on suck it". or is it simply due to the fact that the letter "s" is quite frequently used. whatever the case the "s" has vanished. now i'm doing my best to hold onto "d" and "c". i guess i'll have to stop typing "dick" and "cock" so much. what's a boy to do...

now for something completely different. today while looking at my profile on myspace, which i seldom do, i noticed that someone had changed my books. yes, notice i said someone cuz it sure as hell wasn't me. gone were the books i listed. in their place was one linked book the gospel of the flying spaghetti monster. i'm not even sure why i'm bothering to plug it here. it just seems so strange that someone would edit MY profile to add that stupid shit. what the fuck! does this mean they have access to my password and stuff. if so, how did that happen. i've since chanced my books back but i'll definitely be keeping a close eye on my account. has this happened to anyone else? perhaps its time to delete the profile. i'll have to think about that. until then here's another mystery for nancy and hardy boys to solve.

be well…

countdown to sf: 21 days

milkshake!

deery-lou.
hi, new favorite.
yummy…


i just kicked my student's ass
in cards. he owes me a milkshake now.
teaching is so great!

be well…

casper!

deery-lou.
for those of you who have spent many sleepless nights wondering what ever happened to casper the friendly ghost fear not. the friendly ghost we all knew and loved [and even hated] as a child has found new fame in korea. although not as glamorous as being a cartoon superstar, the ghost with the high pitched voice is now the mascot for ghost pizza.


if only his friends could see him now. and what's up with the hat? poor, poor casper. i was never really much of a fan myself. although i did dress up as casper one halloween. i insisted on my mom buying the plastic casper costume. she was angry. it was during her "i want to make all your halloween costumes phase". she let me wear the mask. as for the rest of my costume she made it herself. my sister was a gingerbreadman that year. my mom actually sewed real candy onto her costume. i can still see the gumdrops. needless to say my sister won a prize. no one appreciated the casper costume. go figure. well now we know where fallen cartoon heroes go—korea. i only hope i come across josie and pussycats one of these days.

watch toons. be well...

countdown to sf: 23 days

friday night live...

deery-lou.
taekwondo class consisted of jumping, jumping, and tumbling. me no like the tumbling. especially when having to do it backwards. i always feel somewhat dizzy. its funny to watch the kids though. they roll all over the place and seem to have a blast while doing so. from tumbling we went on to jumping. we practiced jumping hurdles then the long jumping. it was pretty fun. i crashed into the hurdles once. the hurdles were these foamy block things. they were quite soft so no injuries. the rest of the class was spent practicing kicking. kicking will be the death of me.

after class i headed to jungang-dong to meet up with a new peep, bonnie conquest, that i met via blogspot. i think she's been stalking me for some time. blogging has become the new way to meet people. i love it. we went to wa bar for some drinks. it was pretty packed when we got there so we had to sit at one of the drink bars. i call them drink bars cuz in the center is all sorts of bottled beer/drinks on ice. you simply just grab what you want. we opted for giant drafts. we tried to order a pitcher but for some reason got the old arm cross sign meaning "NO!" through the course of the evening we met a lovely "in love" korean couple. the girl so wanted to chat us up and vice versa but seeing that our korean was awful and her english not so good it never really took off. it sure was fun trying though.

here's what i learned friday night…
1. three giant beers on an empty stomach not so good
2. i sweat like a pig
3. some public bathrooms reek so bad its hard to pee
4. people really do eat kangeroo
5. everyone has a story to tell
6. don cas [breaded pork cutlet] with gravy rocks my world
7. "service" is the best thing ever [hi free peaches]
8. sometimes i think i talk too much
9. meeting strangers can be fun

on the way home it was raining. half way home i realized i actually HAD an umbrella in my bag. unfortunately it wasn't quite big enough to cover two. the rain died down to a drizzle and we decided to forget the umbrella all together. as we passed by the now closed restaurants there was an ajumma outside of one. she pointed to my umbrella, started talking to us, and motioned about the fallilng rain. i could tell she was wondering why we weren't using it. i smiled back shrugging my shoulders. she laughed. i'm sure she thought what fools we were. and perhaps we were but sometimes cold rain feels so good.

be well…