Korea still remains a pretty outstanding time even after 1 year and 3 months. These days, time is passing by pretty fast, and my days have been blending together. I am not without some semi interesting stories though. As you are all aware I have punished myself severely by taking on an accelerated paralegal class while teaching full time here in Korea. I am not complaining, but if you have ever had the misfortune of reading legal text books; you can understand the pain I feel on a day to day basis. As the saying goes, "a means to an end."
With my week days becoming rather stressful I usually just kick back and relax on the weekend. This weekend however was a horse of a different color. As it was when I first arrived to Korea I, along with several friends went off the deep end this weekend. Highlights of the night included dancing, singing, some beverages, and of course being called homosexual three times on three separate occasions. I must say I have never had my sexuality questioned so many times in one night, so I was pretty taken back. Where does this all stem from you ask? Well, I have a couple theories; either it is due to the fact that my good looks, style, and cultural aptitude lead people to believe I am of the homosexual nature, or it is due to the fact that I happen to have a best friend that is prettier than most, or maybe it is because when I am out at clubs here in Korea, Korean men are more touchy feely with me than a lot women I have met. (hahhaah) I guess Ill leave it up to your interpretation.
Now you may be wondering, what could he possibly mean by touchy feely? Well let me reflect on some of my highly homoerotic run-ins. the first time I ever went out to a club in Korea a man caressed my faced and called me "handsome guy." I came to realize that this was very common and most of my friends/coworkers here in Korea had similar experiences. Soon however, the encounters became a bit more intense. One of the most memorable of these was when I was dancing with my friend Samantha at a local club known as "MC" (previously know as "Black People Music Club") That is not a joke by the way. Anyway, this korean guy came up behind me while I was dancing with Samantha grabbed my hips, then put his hands in my pockets to; what I thought was rob me, but instead grabbed my easter basket and congratulated me on my size. (Disclaimer... I am not claiming to be any more well endowed than the next guy.) Though this may be politically incorrect of me to say, here in Korea the stereotype is true. Korean guys have the tiniest hands I have ever seen, which in comparison... well you get the idea.
This brings me to one of my other questionable experiences with the male population here. Back in my early months here in Korea, my good friend suzy's brother came to visit, and so did my friend Chau's boyfriend, Jake. Us unsuspecting foreigners were told to mosey on over to a korean spa where we could relax in a sauna, bathe in mineral baths, and receive massages. No! I don't mean "Massages" I mean legit Massages as in a back rub. If you are interested in the other kind of massage, I know someone that may be able to enlighten you, but I will not mention his name. Lets just say it rhymes with.... Lion Soup Co. (hahhaha JK dude, have to keep the joke going.) Anyway... Jake, Phillip, and myself went on over to the spa, and upon entering were told to immediately strip down to our "natural clothing" and then head on in. All three of us frantically looked at each other, but eventually we decided to just go for it. After some reluctant clothing removal we headed over to the mineral-bath room where a few dozen korean men were enjoying some R&R. This is where things got pretty awkward. When we walked into the room you would have thought time stood still by the frozen looks that were now plastered on the faces of all of our "new fans". After 30 seconds of being eyeballed up and down, we finally realized what it truly felt like to be objectified. Even as we briskly walked to the baths; eyes followed us the entire way. We finally made it to a mineral bath after what felt like a couple of hours. We plopped into the water and began to laugh about the situation we were in. Just when we thought it could not get any more awkward, several korean men joined the mineral bath. This would be normal here in Korea, but the new guests kept peering into the water, through the waves that were barely obstructing there view in order to catch a glimpse of the proof that were were all men. Needless to say, it was pretty awkward.
I wish I could say those were the only awkward moments I have been made to endure, but this simply is not the case. I guess in the end I can only take it as a compliment. I must say Korea never seizes to amaze, and I have just as many stories with the opposite sex that would gain me a chuckle or 2 from an audience. However, that would work against the thesis of this blog haha. I will say that I was twice "pantzed" by a korean girl, underwear and all, while in a packed club in Hongdae. Ill save that story for another time.
Outside the abnormal; I have been hiking, playing frisbee, eating yummy food, having fun with my classes, and recently experienced my friend Warren's son's first birthday. It was a hell of a time. Had some yummy food, gave a lame speech, and even got a parting gift out of the deal. Another great story was watching Warren get chewed out by a Korean Ajuma (older woman) after he accidentally hit a baby with a frisbee. Oh yeah! I also tried dog soup. I had to do it in order to prevent myself from being to ethnocentric. It was pretty terrible, and will never be eaten again. Outside from that, I guess I am pretty content.
Last thing I want to mention is the fact that I miss my friends and I am anxiously awaiting another reunion tour stateside. I am also excited about my trip to Thailand with one of the most entertaining girls/people I know. I am counting down the days to embark on our adventure because it is going to be a killer time. I am also pumped to redeem the greatest birthday gift I ever received from anyone, which is a 4 hour drive in 6, 200+ thousand dollar cars. When asked today by my best friend Scott if I was excited, I replied, "of course man, I mean 2 dudes, 2 cans of blue monster, 2 completely hetero erections, and 500-650 horses tickling our egg baskets with every gear change... what's not to be excited about. hahahahaah this was perfect because it fit right in to my blog entry as you can see. Anyway I miss "the crew," "the B", Janelle Winters AAL, "sir nibbles", and many more. For those of you keeping tabs on me, thank you as always you are all the best people I know.
**Images**
-Hiking Surisan
-Leon's first Birthday
-Dog soup taste test
-Crazy night out
-Frisbee with warren and the roommates at the local park.
