my birthday this year was a lot less depressing than last year, mostly because i was too drunk for 3 straight days to dwell on the fact that i was spending it away from the like dna. which is not to say that last year was totally depressing. it wasn't. it was just the first time i'd ever been away from jules on our "special" day. even when i lived in texas i made it home so we could imbibe together. what can i say, i'm committed (to drinking, not to julie).
day one festivities (birthday eve eve):
there's a korean man who lives in columbia that i tutored when i first considered coming to korea. i met with him regularly the whole time i was trying to get over here the first time, then briefly between korean stints. he's one of my favorite people, hands down. anyhoo, he's in korea now for about a month, so i got to meet him on sunday last weekend. it was sort of surreal to be in korea seeing a "familiar" face from columbia, missouri, which meant seeing a korean. actually, two of the most recent familiar faces from home have been korean men that i knew in columbia. strange.
we met in gangnam, after some miscommunication about time and place. ate some korean food and drank a bottle of soju a piece (that's good for me, since i hate soju and have significantly lowered my alcohol intake since i moved to ilsan from suncheon). then we looked at pictures on his laptop for a while. good times.
after that we went to a restaurant that his sister owned. i think she was sick, or maybe her voice just naturally sounds like an 80 year old chain-smoking man. round two of eating and drinking. not sure exactly what i was eating, but it was slimy and came from the sea. mr. kim (my friend) kept saying his sister was a good cook, which confused me as things weren't so much "cooked" as they were plucked from a shelled creature. but i guess even that takes a prowess i don't have. drank some baeksaeju (sp?) and beer. this was a little awkward for me as 2 other women, in addition to his sister, showed up. of course he had lots of catching up to do with them, so there was a lot of semi-drunk korean speaking. but i used that time to just drink silently.
a little while later another man that i knew from chuncheon met us. this was a guy i used to meet for dinner once a week. he tried to help me, jules and rory when all the immigration shit went down the first time (www.shakespeareseast.blogspot.com). so it was also good to see him, despite the fact that he gave me a lukewarm reception. perhaps that's being generous...
after this it was time for the norae bong, which i admittedly hate. hate hate hate the norae bong. and yet, i was one of the only two people who sang the whole time. that's what happens i guess when you starting doing "bomb" shots of whiskey dropped in beer. great.
after the whiskey themed norae bong outing, moved to a gamjatang place. 3rd meal. i didn't need to eat anything the next day. nor could i, on account of the aforementioned bomb shots. good gad. i really don't drink too much these days (compared to shakes or suncheon), but my brain sort of forgets that sometimes and tries to channel my inner drinker. and then that same brain (no, my other brain?) pays for it the next day.
so that was birthday eve eve.
day two festivities (birthday eve):
hadn't really been planning anything, especially in the wake of the whiskey induced brain pain. but then i got to work on monday and my korean co-teachers said "we're going out later." yikes. for as much time as i spend at home living like a hermit, this was one day when i was really really looking forward to being that recluse after work. no one thought to call me and tell me during the day either. i hate making plans, but i also hate not knowing something ahead of time. yup, quite the contradiction, i know i know.
so i hang out at work for 6 hours, not even teaching any classes, just reading and grading essays (note: this is not a complaint. i'm cool with getting paid to be bored on occassion). then we go eat korean barbeque until 1 in the am.
i thought that would be it, then i heard murmurings of a disco/night club. yikes. i was not wearing my party boots that night. so we go to this nightclub called "shampoo," where it was obnoxiously loud, obnoxiously neon, all manner of obnoxious in general. particulary when some uniformed man tries to pull you, rather forcefully i might add, from your table to go to some strange, private room full of men. i'd heard about these places before, but i was underwhelmed. the worst part was that it was a monday night/tuesday morning, so there were hardly any people there. but there was this sprawling, empty dance floor and djs who looked out of place in their business suits, standing immobile at the helm of a futuristic neon altar.
at one point in the night there was a break from the djs to have these hip hop duo "perform" onstage. these guys dressed like twins, dancing and rapping. and then they took each other's shirts off. nothing sexier than two dancing dudes undressing each other. i think that's what justin timberlake does to attract the ladies, gets another dude to strip him down. there's a picture of me with my hand on one dude's overly-toned abdomen.
this nightclub excursion was another firsthand manifestation of korean collectivism, as none of us were allowed to leave until we all wanted to go. they practically had to drag me there in the first place. i'm sure there were tears in my eyes when i heard the first "disco" utterance. so we didn't leave until about 4 in the am. despite the fact that the majority of chicks at our table are just sitting there looking at the empty beer bottles that had accumulated. i was thoroughly annoyed by the end of it all. it meant another wasted day on tuesday, recovering from the debacle that was "shampoo."
day three festivities (birfday, woo hoo!):
went to work. when i got in the elevator, there was a sign that said "happy birthday jamie." got to the 5th floor and all my korean co-teachers ushered me into a room because i was too early. about 5 minutes later i was told to follow the arrows taped to the walls, where i was directed to a dark room and presented with a birthday cake. and of course i cried, because i'm a fucking sentimental fool. they smeared icing on my face and presented me with gifts. all in all, it was a great beginning to my day. even better was that i got to just sit around for the next 6 hours (kids preparing for middle school tests means jamie's not needed). i got a lot of reading done. so that was a nice, productive thing to show for my day. various students also presented me with gifts and donuts. the best being when two of my favorite students giving me two heart shaped donuts, and then asking if they could have one back. of course i said yes.
at the end of the night, went to gangnam to meet some friends from high school. i was surrounded by dudes on my birthday, so that wasn't a bad thing. drank beer and soju, ended the night eating chicken assholes. i guess there's no better way to ring in 29...
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