you live and you learn...

so i think i'm pretty much adjusted to life here. i've learned to walk slower, since no one is going to speed up their walking here anytime soon. i've learned that when you stand in line, stand close enough to the person in front of you or else an old korean lady will cut in front of you like no one's business. i've learned that the world's population of mosquitos comes to korea to vacation for the summer. i've also learned that koreans eat weird things in their sandwiches. i can't really think of the last time when i'd really had to adjust so much within a short amount of time. it's been a lot of fun though.

last weekend was a weekend of champs. friday night we went out toward the subway station in suwon... had some dinner with a few bottles of soju and some beer. nothing too crazy. went to another bar, more soju, more beer. then my friend had this great idea that we would do a mini olympiad and out of the 5 of us, the two with the lowest scores would have to down a half bottle of soju mixed with a beverage of the winners choice. so what's random is in the states they have batting cages, punching games, soccer games, basketball games, shooting games, and all that at an arcade of some sort. here, there's just out on the street. so we started with baseball. it's hard to concentrate after a few drinks. i lost. half a bottle of soju with tomato juice. it was sick. soccer was next. i lost that too. more soju. next was the punching bag. surprisingly i won and got the top score on the game... that victory was short lived. we went to shoot baskets next. i didn't lose, but i didn't win. no drinking. then baseball again, i didn't lose, but didn't win. next, went to the shooting range, where i lost. then to the dart board where i lost. everything after that was a blur. there are some more details to this story that make it an insane night, but we'll just say i got home around 7am with the sun shining, and i was just shitfaced.

wanting to take it easy on sat, my friend was throwing a bbq so we went up to seoul to hang out... the bbq was pretty chill... ended up eating and drinking until about 3am at the bbq, and then went to a bar and drank until 6am. needless to say, i spent sunday recovering from the weekend.

you definitely have to pace yourself here. i often walk around my neighborhood at midnight and see drunk korean men holding each other ever-so-gently-but-it's-still-not-gay, helping each other get home. it's not uncommon to see a guy in a shiny suit (koreans like shiny suits for some reason), passed out on the curb somewhere, cell phone in one hand, shoes neatly placed on the other side of him. i think korean people help each other out. if a guy is completely sprawled out, they'll put his phone in his shirt pocket for him. even take off his shoes and put them next to where he's sleeping. except if he's sleeping in his own yack. then no one touches him. but i've noticed that korean men are all on the brotherhood tip. they love each other and they aren't afraid to show it. hence the 2 guys on a moped. 2 guys holding hands. 2 drunk guys holding each other ever-so-gently. and it's not gay.

>movie excerpt: "you know how i know you're gay?"
>answer: you do all of the above and you're not korean.
< end of movie excerpt.

i think out of everything i've learned here, the most important thing i've learned is to pay it forward. people here are willing to help you out, and will go out of their way to help you out, and want nothing in return. and as a guest in this country, i've learned that even if i don't know exactly how to help, if i help, it helps someone else in need. help me help you. anyway, it all comes full circle. you help someone out, they'll help someone else, and it keeps going. if the world learned to live by this motto i think we'd be a lot closer to world peace. anyway, i hope all is well with you guys back home.

f the lakers.