Unexplored Venues and World Cup Lacking Luster
Last Thursday, a friend from college came over to visit from Hiroshima, Japan, where he is also teaching English. I gave Chris a “must see” list in Korea, and set him free to explore the city on his own while I worked. He said he had a wonderful time and really enjoyed himself and the shopping. He was blown away at the market for knock off goods! He said that this absolutely doesn’t exist in Japan, or at least in Hiroshima, where people pay full price for everything and police would shut down any such industry. He wound up spending all of his money! He bought gifts for family and his Japanese girlfriend (who, for the record, speaks NO English and has zero desire to learn. He said that his Japanese is good enough and he’s a master at charades! This is good, as he expects to spend another year or two there, improving his Japanese and loving the experience) and even a North Face ski suit for $40. He’d even hit some of the markets I apparently have yet to make it to, so this may be one more thing I’ll do before heading home in the next few months.
Friday night after work we headed out to meet my friend Suhjin at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. (I know hotels like to capitalize on tourists, but $15-24 for a drink is absurd to me! Seriously, what’s the point? They taste no better/clean your system no differently/improve the effects no more drastically…) so we could meet her co-workers and friends at a bar they’d rented out for Korea’s 4am World Cup match. $30/person for all you could drink and some finger foods. There were Koreans, Canadians, Americans, Europeans, etc., about 50 people in total when we arrived. I even met people from Missouri and Tennessee, who claimed to enjoy hearing a Southern accent. About 2am, I decided that, in true American spirit, I wasn’t interested in the game and saw no sense in staying up all hours of the night to watch something I cared nothing about. Of course my exit was protested and accused of being unpatriotic. I agreed and explained that I didn’t care, and that I was tired and drinking would only serve as a catalyst to my fatigued state, I had to meet friends at 1pm the following day, and if I was forced to stay at this party against my will and made unhappy, then those around me would be as well. They gave in at the thought of someone not smiling and screaming wildly for their beloved “Reds” and I headed home while Chris stayed to get the full Korean experience. Korea ended up losing anyway, so I definitely didn’t miss anything.
Saturday, after Chris staggered back to my apartment around lunchtime, we met my old Korean teacher and a few friends and went to InsaDong for some cultural relic shopping and then to Sincheon for some yummy Korean food, delicious Haagen Dazs ice cream, and a bit more shopping. Chris departed early Sunday morning, and I left my apartment shortly thereafter to spend 10.5 hours of my Sunday job searching and researching. (If anyone has prospects in Internal Audit, or in Hawaii, or better yet: both! please pass it my way!) It’s strange to think that I’ve been here 10.5 months already! And I plan to be home by the end of September—some travel between my departure of the Republic of Korea and my arrival in Louisiana. Ideally, I’ll spend a month exploring other parts of the world, a couple of weeks at home (which will include some bridesmaid duties in Houston and wherever else!), and then move to a place who will cover (or at least assist with) moving costs and pay me enough to afford the cost of living in paradise while substituting my lack of experience with the weight of the prestige of the IA program I went through. Yep, that’s the goal.
This weekend: celebrating America’s Independence the Korean way! Whatever that may be... Details next time!
On another note, I would like to send a special congratulations and lots of love out to two people I trust, admire, appreciate, and am very excited for:
Jacques Berry, my old boss from the Senate, and his new fiancée, Carrie Broussard.
Kerrie Johnson, my cousin who just found out she’s expecting her second baby in March 2007.
Copyright 2006 Olivia R. Reed
Friday night after work we headed out to meet my friend Suhjin at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. (I know hotels like to capitalize on tourists, but $15-24 for a drink is absurd to me! Seriously, what’s the point? They taste no better/clean your system no differently/improve the effects no more drastically…) so we could meet her co-workers and friends at a bar they’d rented out for Korea’s 4am World Cup match. $30/person for all you could drink and some finger foods. There were Koreans, Canadians, Americans, Europeans, etc., about 50 people in total when we arrived. I even met people from Missouri and Tennessee, who claimed to enjoy hearing a Southern accent. About 2am, I decided that, in true American spirit, I wasn’t interested in the game and saw no sense in staying up all hours of the night to watch something I cared nothing about. Of course my exit was protested and accused of being unpatriotic. I agreed and explained that I didn’t care, and that I was tired and drinking would only serve as a catalyst to my fatigued state, I had to meet friends at 1pm the following day, and if I was forced to stay at this party against my will and made unhappy, then those around me would be as well. They gave in at the thought of someone not smiling and screaming wildly for their beloved “Reds” and I headed home while Chris stayed to get the full Korean experience. Korea ended up losing anyway, so I definitely didn’t miss anything.
Saturday, after Chris staggered back to my apartment around lunchtime, we met my old Korean teacher and a few friends and went to InsaDong for some cultural relic shopping and then to Sincheon for some yummy Korean food, delicious Haagen Dazs ice cream, and a bit more shopping. Chris departed early Sunday morning, and I left my apartment shortly thereafter to spend 10.5 hours of my Sunday job searching and researching. (If anyone has prospects in Internal Audit, or in Hawaii, or better yet: both! please pass it my way!) It’s strange to think that I’ve been here 10.5 months already! And I plan to be home by the end of September—some travel between my departure of the Republic of Korea and my arrival in Louisiana. Ideally, I’ll spend a month exploring other parts of the world, a couple of weeks at home (which will include some bridesmaid duties in Houston and wherever else!), and then move to a place who will cover (or at least assist with) moving costs and pay me enough to afford the cost of living in paradise while substituting my lack of experience with the weight of the prestige of the IA program I went through. Yep, that’s the goal.
This weekend: celebrating America’s Independence the Korean way! Whatever that may be... Details next time!
On another note, I would like to send a special congratulations and lots of love out to two people I trust, admire, appreciate, and am very excited for:
Jacques Berry, my old boss from the Senate, and his new fiancée, Carrie Broussard.
Kerrie Johnson, my cousin who just found out she’s expecting her second baby in March 2007.
Copyright 2006 Olivia R. Reed
posted by LSULiv | 4:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home