Sojourn in the East: Weekend Past

So, its been a fairly exciting last couple of weeks. The night with the girls went over really well, and we all had a blast. We hung out at my place and ate junk and played cards and goofed around for a couple of hours, then some went home and the rest of us went out to Mr. Yu's...That is our bar! The owner loves us and is so nice. It was a lot of fun, and little Jerry was there again, and he was very drunk, as usual, but still very funny. The poor guy went away to the army on the 10th. They have mandatory serving time here; two years he will be up along the norther border. Poor Bambino (my nickname for him, as he is only 20). Well, here are a couple of pics from that night.

We started off at my place...

Sahng-mi and Sunjung playing around...

The girls heading out to Mr. Yu's...

Laura and InHee glammin' it up for the camera...

Mr. Yu himself (aka Kevin) and Jerry (Bambino)...

That Saturday day, Jill, InHee and I all went to the Picasso exhibit. It was amazing! I still say he is not one of my favorite painters, but his work is incredible. He has this one painting called "Femme de fluer en gris" (I think that was it's name) that just captivated me. I seriously stood in front of this piece for about 20 minutes, just staring at the amazing depth it conveyed. I was in love! Unfortunately, I look like a giant troll in my only picture from the exhibit, so I am refusing to post it...just take my word for it...I went! LOL!

Last Saturday evening, Kevin (Mr. Yu) took Christie, Jill and I out for dinner. It was a lot of fun, and I enjoyed myself thoroughly. I was nervous at first about this older guy taking us to dinner, but seriously, he just enjoys our company, and practicing his english, so it is all kosher...for those of you with alarm bells going off! LOL!

This weekend, I did not go to the DMZ on Saturday, like originally planned. And no, it wasn't because of the whole missile catastrophe with the North...we all just decided that we had a lot going on this month, and in the interest of finances, we decided to put it off till September...plus, it will be all nice and cool then, August is supposedly a beotch here! What we did instead, was have a pretty crazy weekend. Friday night kicked it off with Jill dragging Christie's and my butts out for an evening on the town. I had really not wanted to go out that night, as I was incredibly tired from the week, but I was really glad I did, it was so much fun. We went to Sinchon, which is the next hood over from Songpa-gu (my hood). This is a prime people watching place, as it is where all of the young people go to do their drinking and partying. It is kind of like Mill Ave in Tempe, only with less hippies and lesbians! LOL! Anyways, Christie and Jill know the owner of a bar there, too, so we went to Crista's and were given the total VIP treatment. I mean, this table they gave us was beyond the best in the house. It was right at the front of the bar, in front of the big picture window that looked out over the street and all the goings-on down there. It also had a nice unobstructed view of the television which was showing, you guessed it, soccer! We ate this awesome chicken dish, and had marinated cuttlefish, and drank kiwi soju! All of these random people kept walking up and talking to us, as well. And it was just a ton of fun...We left about 12:30pm and took a cab back to our street. Then, cause we were all still talking, we sat at one of the little tables outside of our local convenience store (People do this a lot here, as you are allowed to drink in public, and these little stores all sell beer and food) and ate ice cream. And again, random people kept coming up to us and talking...they would ask to sit, join us for 10 or 15 minutes, and then leave again. It was so fun and interesting meeting all of these people. I love Korea so much! I didn't take any pictures of these things, unfortunately, but this next section has a ton!

Saturday day, Christie, Jill and I all went to COEX (big mall!) and went shopping. They insisted I take the following picture...I guess he is some big Korean Movie star. My face is way too big...I look like a bobble head! LOL!

Saturday night was absolutely CRAZY! We all went out for Christian's birthday (friend of Christie's). We went to the Hongik University area and had dinner. We had Duk Galbi, which I was not too keen on at first because it is incredibly spicy, but it was so good. I mean, it was definately spicy as all hell, but the flavor was incredible, once the fire went out! Then we went to this bar called The TinPan. Here was where the craziness started. At first, I really didn't like the place...it had a terribly seedy feel too it. You know how, in college, or younger days, we used to go to bars where the "frat boy" partied, and he would be incredibly drunk, and just hitting on anything lacking a penis? Well that is what this bar felt like, only they weren't frat boys, but the "western guy" and the girls were all these really dumb Korean girls...It seriously had the feeling of a "Me Love You Long Time" kind of place. The girls came here to be picked up by western guys, and the western guys came here to do the picking. It was a drunken meat market. But then I started gettting plastered, and really didn't care anymore. I was having a lot of fun with my friends, and guys are stupid everywhere (No offense to those of you who are not stupid!), so I just ignored the worst of them. There were a lot of fun western people there too. I met a couple of really nice girls in the bathroom. I can't remember their names, cause I was pretty loopy by then, but they were very nice! LOL! Anyways, we also met some really funny people that night...there was Chris from the UK, these two really cute Korean girls, one of whom we did get a picture of dancing with Jillian, the other I liked a lot...she was very sarcastic! And I got hit on by my first Korean guy. It was actually kind of hilarious...he walked up to me and said, "I want to tell you something, but you will get mad." And of course, I was all "What? Just tell me!" So he leans in real close, and whispers, "You have really big boobs...they are great! Korean girls all have no boobs. I like your boobs!" Ahahahahahhahaahaha! I just about died, right then and there! And he really did keep calling them "boobs." It was just too funny. I had joked about meeting a guy with a breast-fetish, and here he was! And he was kind of cute too...really good arms! LOL! Anyways, I talked to him for a little while, flirting, and trying out my "western game!" It was fun. We also met a very drunk guy from Boston who later got into a fight during ABBA's Dancing Queen (How do you get into a fight during that song? I mean, seriously?) and then, after we left the bar, we met two brother's from Ireland, whom I entertained by asking if they all knew how to dance the Riverdance (They laughed and said no, but Phillip did a wonderful impression of a Leprachun's side leap...nowhere near as good as Turk's though), and if they farmed potatoes (Yes I was drunk and very playfully mean). I also asked if they had see the movie "Darby O'Gill and the Little People!" They hadn't though. I was very disappointed. Anyways...the first of the brothers told us his name was Phillip (In the pic with me, wearing the red shirt and wristband), and I immediately blurted out that that was not a very Irish name, and shouldn't he be called Seamus or Lachlan or something of that nature, and his brother (the very cutest of all boys, whom we only got a side view of, but it shows his rather fabulous nose off to advantage) laughed and sheepishly told me that his name was Lachlan! I about fell over I was laughing so hard. Anyways, we were going Norebanging (Karyoke) and invited them to join. Lachlan wanted to go, but Phillip wanted to go to another bar. Lachlan and I were both a little disappointed...I will venture out on a crazy limb here and say that I think he was maybe at least a little interested in me...but I was drunk, so my perception of reality was really not what it should have been. Anyways, after they walked on, and Lachlan turned back to look and give me a final wave (tee-hee), we decided we were too tired for Norebanging anyways, and all piled into a cab and headed to Christian's house, after which, I left and came home. The cab dropped me off in front of my place at about 4:30 am. I did not get up for church the next morning...matter of fact, I didn't even get up for lunch, or dinner. I just barely made it to Mamma Mia!

Here are Jill and Christie! Aren't they pretty?

Jillian dancing with her Korean friend!

Me and the birthday-boy, Christian.

UK Chris.

My Korean boyfriend with the "boob-fetish!"

The drunken Boston fighter, when he was much happier.

Irish Phillip.

Lachlan...my future Irish husband...as soon as he comes and finds me! LOL! Don't you just love his nose? I have discovered that I am a nose girl...I am totally turned on by his schnoz!

Mamma Mia was AWESOME! It was Jill, Laura, Christie, Sora, Sahng-mi, and I, and we had the best time. It was all in Korean, but there were captions, and of course, I knew all the lyrics to ABBA's songs, so I totally was rocking out. You all know how excited I get at stuff like that. I was giggling and bouncing around in my chair the whole time. I guess at one point, the Korean couple behind us laughed and the woman said to her date, "She must really be enjoying this!" Sahng-mi told me about it at work the next day. But it was such a great production, and the actors were amazing singers. I cried at the part where the mom gives her daughter away at her wedding, for obvious reasons, and cheered at the end! I was also one of the louder singers, although definately not one of the better, in our group. At the end, they play all of the songs again, and everyone gets to sing along! It was fabulous! Anyways, that was my weekend, and I hope you all enjoyed reading about my crazy antics in Korea! Here are pics of Mamma Mia night! Lots of love!

This is the theater...isn't it cool looking?