Three In A Row...

Having used the words of others for the last three posts, I've decided to finally add a few words of my own.

This past weekend was epic. It really was a blast in every sense of the word. I'll start at the beginning and see where I end up... So much to tell.

Well, the most noteable part of the weekend was having some cool guests. While in Hong Kong a few weeks back, Mike and I met a couple fun people. In particular a British guy who teaches English in Beijing. His specific VISA requires him to leave the country every thirty days and this month he decided to make the trek to Seoul. So, Nick and his flatmate, Luke came to see the sites and hang out in SK. They arrived late on Thursday night and we immediatly hit the bars with David and Kelly from work. Within a couple hours we met up with other pals and headed over to a giant fish market. The fish market is open 24 hours and it is HUGE. It is a giant warehouse with tanks and tanks of live fish for sale. There were giant shellfish and octopus and every kind of fish imaginable. Some of our Korean friends bought fish and we watched the fisherman actually pulled the fish out of the tank, whacked it on the head to kill it and then take a giant butcher knife and chopped off its head. It was pretty cool to watch. In another part of the fish market was a dining room and we all drank and ate the raw fish. However... there was one really interesting dish. Live octopus. The octopus was about the size of my hand and when I touched it, it moved and wiggled in the dish. I definitly had to try some. I pulled off an arm and it suctioned my tongue and my lip until I started chewing. It didn't have much of a taste, but it was really chewy. I got some good pictures. I'll be sure to post those later. We had such a good time drinking beer and soju that we didn't even realize what time it was until someone said, "Hey, I think the sun has already come up!" We finally left at 7:30 in the morning!

But, that was just the beginning. The next day Kelly, David and I were laughing at how tired and ridiculous we were for staying out so late. None of us had intended to party quite so hard and were each looking forward to going to bed early and recovering. And while David and Kelly were wise enough to follow through and get some sleep, when my Beijing friends called I decided to rally and hit the town again. We visited a bunch of my favorite haunts, but ended up at Seoul Pub where we closed the place down. As the pub cleared out, we bonded with the bartenders who gladly bought us more rounds and let us pick the music. I'm proud to say that I played every 'California' song I could find. California Love. California Girls. Californication. And, when I told him that I liked Jackson Browne he played "Doctor My Eyes" five times that night! Once again, I didn't mean to stay out so late. But, when I got in the cab the sun was just rising. It was a great time!

But, the weekend still wasn't over. Saturday was the semi and final debate rounds for the Korean tv show. So, after sleeping in and recovering from the previous night, I met up with David and we prepared for the debate. The topic of the first round was "Childbirth brings happiness to married couples." We were opposition and argued that their definition of happiness was too vague and naive. We also argued that childbirth and infancy bring incredibly amount of stress and anxiety, so while the experience may be positive overall, happiness is the wrong word to describe the experience. We won the debate so we went to the final round. The final round topic was "We should have a world government in the future." We were pro and made all the predictable arguments about how cooperation will solve problems. The other team suggested that hegemonic powers should solve problems. Obviously that is a pretty pathetic strategy, and we killed them. So, "The Scholars" are the Season 2, Face to Face champions! Hooray! After winning the show we couldn't just go home. We had to celebrate! We had a great time toasting to our good fortune and re-arguing all the debate topics. And, once again, we closed the bar down and went home at 6am.

So, this weekend was pretty jam packed. I can't remember the last time I went home when the sun was rising and I definitly can't remember a time I did it three nights in a row. But, I had a great time and I am glad I sacraficed the sleep.

On a side note... This past weekend has been just part of a series of really fun nights out with friends. A couple weeks ago I wrote my penpal an email explaining how I was very happy, but also very alone. I said that occassional lonliness was the price I pay for independence and freedom. But, these past weeks have somehow answered that "prayer." I've made a great new Navy friend, several new rugby friends and new people have been moving to and visiting Seoul. I suddenly have lots of people to talk to and spend time with. I am incredibly fortunate and have been reminded that the lonliness of independence really is only "occassional."

In short, I'm happy. I'm healthy. I'm energized and refreshed.