Chu-Seok

Duders, where do I begin on what has been one of the most surreal and entertaining long weekends of my life? I suppose I should start with Saturday, since that's when it began:

Saturday

Marie and I had plans to hit up the Busan Municipal Art Museum, which currently housed an exhibit from the British Museum. Her phone call reminding me of this woke me up from a mild hangover from the previous night's PNU excursion, and two cans of iced coffee (which can be had for ridiciously cheap ($1.30 for a six pack) here compared to the States) later I was ready to go. We hopped a train, discussed the latest episode of "Dancing Subway", and got coughed on by an older Korean man who wasn't kosher with us talking on the subway. (Note: Talking on the subway here is considered to be a minor faux pas, but every now and then you'll come across someone who takes these things incredibly seriously, so just be warned). The exhibit was solid enough, even though I'm certainly not the cultured type who could truly extoll beyond saying empty and vapid things. The art stolen by the Brits spanned time and space, touching on everything from the Mesopotamians to the Native Americans, and while the museum was a touch different from my typical getaways (video arcades, theaters, whatever), I had a good time. It helped that Marie studied Classics in Rome and knows her shit pretty well; she's an ideal museum companion.

From there we hit up the UN Sculpture Park and took a quick glance over the UN Cemetary... we didn't feel compelled to go inside because it would have been a somber way to end what had been an enjoyable day, but I do think I'll go there at some point while I'm here.

On our way back to the subway station, we decided to stop in a convenience mart to try some beverages that we weren't yet familiar with. (Note: There are a ton of new choices available to the beverage connoisseur, including pine needle drinks, aloe juices, and cinnamon sodas (which to me taste like Hostess Coffee Cakes in liquid form)). Inside, there was a man drinking dongdongjeu by himself, watching Korean cartoons. I didn't think twice about it until he invited me to sit with him and drink. At first I was bashful, but he seemed excited to have some foreigners in the shop and was offering free alcohol (and dried squid, but let's not talk about that) so there was no way I was going to turn him down.

Any conversation with a Korean usually begins with, "Where are you from?" At first I would answer, "St. Louis," but it's become increasingly clear that nobody knows where that is, so when asked by the guy in the convenience store, I just said, "Chicago." This, of course, led to a long discussion on baseball, especially a former Cub named Hee Sop Choi... and whenever I say something was a long discussion, that usually means a few words of English, a lot of nodding, and a slew of awkward gesturing in attempts to get our messages across. The guy, Marie, and I managed to get through seven bottles of dongdongjeu (and three bags of dried squid), all while random stoppers-by stared at us wild foreigners as they picked up their gum, soda, and so on. Other highlights of our drunken afternoon with the convenience mart guy:

A brief dance-off between Marie and I where I showed him how to do the fake splits and she showed him how to Canadian line-dance

A demonstration he gave to us on the powers of Tae Kwon Do, only to ask me later on how to box (implied by shouts of "Muhammad Ali! Muhammad Ali!")

Three different kinds of cheers: "Gumbae!", "Bravo!", and the more standard "Cheers!", all delivered at random

He constantly referred to me as "Mr. John", and later as "Handsome boy! Mr. John!"

Most cheers were to baseball, Muhammad Ali, and "Handsome boy", but at one point he threw out there (just to see if we would notice), "Bush-y President! Bravo!" It caught me a little off guard.

Our afternoon was finished when the man had finished his shift at the store (I suppose he was working this entire time). Marie and I headed to the subway, where I suggested that perhaps I was slightly enamored with her. Just like in a Cameron Crowe film, we made out in the middle of the subway station, and that was that.

(I know I'm behind on my blog, and again, there's a lot of information to get across. I'm going to stop this entry here, and I'll discuss Sunday's craziness next time.)

(Note: The pictures of the Security Guard singing karaoke were taken from a competition being held in the Lotte Department Store. He seriously cried on stage... it was awesome. The photo of the fish signage also comes from the grocery section of the Lotte Department Store; it reads as follows:

"Fish is the flesh of fish eaten as food. Fish can be fiddly to cook. A fish steak is a large piece of fish which contains very little bones."

This is now my fuckin' mantra. And yes, I am really drunk and really sweaty in my picture with the convenience store guy... it's not my proudest moment)