Dinner at the Korean Carnival To my delight, my adult class on Thursday suggested instead of me ranting and raving in English (sounding like Doc from Back to the future) for two hours, that we go and party. I graciously accepted the invitation. We had dinner first, which as usual turned into a soju marathon. We all seriously got lit. This again is on a Thursday night, and there is still one more day of work ahead of us. The food was exquisite, the spirits were distilled to perfection, and the company was wonderful. I love talking like that...I am such a freakin nerd.

After the feast, we went to a place called WA bar, dont know the meaning. All the adults from the class work at the same bank, and I have one student who is the "boss" at the bank. I felt like a trophy wife the way he was taking me around the bar and introducing me to all these Koreans "prrease meet my English teacha." It was all a blur of emotion because I felt extremely proud, happy and embarrassed for how proud he was that I was his teacher but also really strange and bizarre because I barely know this guy or who the hell he was introducing me to. I could not even tell if he knew the people he was introducing me to. Total mayhem.

Next we went to a noray bong or Kareoke room where after arriving, they apparently ordered girls, because a line of like 5 of them walked in the room and stood in a line facing us (ages like 20-25). So I am just standing there, staring at these fairly attractive Korean girls trying to understand what is happening.....when my students prod me into action by saying "choose one, Josep" (how they pronounce it). I couldnt believe it....they actually made me choose a girl from out of this lineup. Once I realized that they wanted me to choose I seriously did not even look and just pointed at one quickly to end the extreme awkwardness. I ended up choosing a rather refined lady whose attire upon reflection, reminds me of my lovely grandmother Jeanne. She stood out like Waldo in comparison to other chicks. So I know what all of you are thinking....And I do not think they were prostitutes. There is that horrible word again. I am happy to report that at least none of that business went down while we were there....they were just our singing dates and designated fruit feeders. I was honestly hand fed fruit by this chick for an extended period of time. When I reciprocated she did not know how to handle it.

This was the second noray bong experience I have had and it was equally as potent as the first occasion but just in different ways. I still sang songs like a maniac jumping all over the room and sliding on the floor and what not, but doing it with my students and our "singing dates" was something else. During one song, we broke into slow dancing.....boy was it romantic. My date (who could be described as petite) must of felt like she was being crushed because I had her wrapped up pretty tight. I love slow dances.....thats probably the un-manliest thing I have ever admitted but I dont give a rip. And the beauty of it all was that due to the extreme inebriation, it was never weird. After an hour and half or so I was escorted home in a taxi by two of my students, and then walked to my door by one of them. Front door escort service. What an amazing night.

Interesting to note that I did not see a single white person or any other ethnicity and was completely immersed in Koreans through the entirety of my little outing and I never thought about it or realized it once. There is a beauty in that I think. I also did not mention that they would not let me pay for a single item. I tried many times but I seriously did not pay for anything. I couldnt believe it.....that is just their way, extreme hospitality. I read somewhere that it is like ingrained in their minds to be so hospitable because they really want to be known to the rest of the world as that kind of place. Anyways, I ended up paying for all the fun that was had the next day by experiencing a 24 hour hangover from the bowels of hell. I seriously felt like I was hit by a damn train. My lovely teaching staff and administrators informed me throughout the day how much I reeked of soju, and would laugh as they told me. I wanted to curl up in a ball and hide under my desk. You would think my boss would be pissed but she knew I was out experiencing Korea and was actually happy for me I think. She also seemed to rather enjoy watching me struggle through out the day while I was in my hole of soju pain. I am freakin rambling here so I am going to cut myself off. Until next time, I am signing off.  ¶ 12:24 AM