"They've all gone to look for America..."

Well, for starters, I had a blast this weekend. An anonymous unfortunate friend drank too much--arguably two--and an evening with no expectations turned out to be spectacular. Friday after school, I took the express bus to Seosan (it took about 50 minutes), arrived, and had dinner with Will and his co-teachers. It was a fun night: I saw octopi boiled alive, shrimp (actually prawns) the size of my forearm, and made delightful conversation with Jenny and Yuni. But the fun didn't stop there. Several bottles of soju later, we sauntered over to CC Bar. The outside was ornamented with nothing more than the normal, Korean-style neon lights, but walking inside was like stepping into the underbelly of faux-America. I had, indeed, come to look for America and I may have actually found my post-modern E-merica. Americana signs, Jack Daniels posters, wooden carved Indian heads, and a pool table! All the artifacts of an American dive bar, yet, no real acknowledgement of the cultural "meaning" of behind the artifacts. Snapshots of America, with no discernable story. Surprisingly, although I knew it was faux-America, it still made me feel that much closer to home. Because sometimes the things that seem the most commonplace, the most taken for granted, are the least real.

We got some street food from a vendor that Will calls "Mama" and then retired at a reasonable hour. The next day was going to be a long one. We took the express bus to Seoul and chatted about inappropriate subject matter on a crowded bus. This is one of the nice things about speaking English in a predominantly non-English speaking country: This is what I'll coin the "talking money in public" advantage. When you live in the sticks, most Koreans can speak some English (This can range from two or three words to limited conversation), some Koreans can speak a lot of English (They can hold okay conversation.), but almost no Koreans can speak really good English. Now, this isn't meant as a slight, this has just been my observation over the past month. So, you can probably see where I'm going with this. Will and I can talk about virtually whatever we want as long as we say it quickly and deemphasize diction. We arrived in Seoul and I bought a copy of The Office, Season Four (the legality of it's copyright needn't be discussed) and a "Burberry" scarf from Itaewon (again, the legality of...). We also visited the American Embassy and by the American Embassy, I mean Starbucks. This was actually sort of creepy. Not only was the place packed with about sixty percent Americans, but I entered the storefront and forgot I was in Korea. It was like I was Captain Kirk on the planet, Xandar, ran into some photon fire and got teleported back to the Enterprise. Not exactly. But sorta. In a dream-like state, I looked into the eyes of the barista and instinctively began motor-mouthing my order in English. After seeing that same face turn sour and dumbfounded, I then stopped, blushed and reordered in Korean. Rookie mistake.

We took the subway to Insa-dong, which a few small shops and was devoid of English, for the most part. Side note: From everything I had heard of Itaewon, it was supposed to be this foreigner's mecca. Signs in English, clothing and shoe stores with larger sizes- I heard it was America-town, the way we would see Korea-town back home. No such deal. I still liked it a lot, but it seems that Subway and Starbucks are the only America in Itaewon. The rest is just hype. Although, maybe I'm wrong. I was only there for an hour or two. Itaewon deserves a second or twenty-fifth visit. Back to Insa-dong. Insa-dong was a very well-manicured, sort of non-pretentiously upscale piece of Seoul that I think I'd like to revisit. They had lots of pottery and Korean masks (of course, to ward of the ghosts and evil spirits).

We got home later on and went to a party at Will and Brenden's favorite bar. There was a cover, but the post-cover drinks were free. I drink my Long-Islands from a paper cup. That was loads of fun, but beyond that, I can't mention any details in a forum this public. Stopped by Mama's again. Then played a few rounds of pool at CC's and went home. The next day, I would miss the last bus getting home, ask my recruiter for a favor and sleep that night for twelve or so hours.

I came into work at noon today, much to the grief of Brenden and Will. It's a long story, but I wasn't late. Soon.

Oh, and this is my classroom.