Ah, open a post with a random picture of beautiful women and the readers will come! Actually, this photo is relevant to the topic at hand. The pretty lady on the right is a person I’ve been knowing since my earliest days in Korea. She’ll be leaving later this summer to start a new life with her husband and my old friend Bill in Vietnam. The gal on the left is the new wife of my long time darts buddy Greg. They plan to move to the USA next spring. [corrected courtesy of eagle eyed commenter Kevin.]
Still, his imminent departure set me to reflecting on the transience of the expat lifestyle. I’ve spent most of the last 9 years living in Korea on and off and each time I return there are fewer and fewer of the old familiar faces. That’s to be expected of course; the military does it’s normal churn and English teachers tend to burn out after a few years. Even some of the old timers still residing in Korea have tired of the bar/darting lifestyle. Nevertheless, when I returned this time after a 13 month absence I was astounded at just how few people I actually knew.
On the other hand, three months into this iteration of my Korea life I’ve met lots of new folks whose company I enjoy. I’m still playing lots of darts just like I always did, the beer is as cold and wet as ever, and I’m generally living a satisfactory and happy life. Which is why I keep coming back I suppose.
The usual suspects.
Of the group above, I count three I’ve known for more than five years. But the new faces will one day be the old faces I suppose. The circle of life and all that.
Speaking of old faces, that’s me with two of my oldest friends in Itaewon, Jim and YJ. Not so coincidentally, they are the proprietors of my bar home, Pub Dolce Vita. It was a fortunate happenstance that led me to wander into Dolce Vita one afternoon in a state of distress over some bad experiences in the juicy bars I’d been frequenting (I was such a rube back then). YJ sat me down and gave me the facts of life about the Itaewon bar scene and in so doing saved me from making some big mistakes. Next thing I knew I was playing in the pool league (in which I was an absolute failure) and the dart league where I performed marginally better. And the rest as they say, is history. It certainly was a life changing event.
The other disconcerting change I can’t help but notice is that the new faces keep getting younger and younger (or perhaps I’m getting older). I jokingly told Jim last night that one of the things I like about Dolce Vita is that it is one of the few bars where I’m not the oldest person in the room. Of course, I hope to continue growing older (given that the alternative really sucks) but I can’t help but wonder how much longer I can live the lifestyle I’ve come to know and love. Somehow I don’t see myself climbing those notorious steps up to the bar (and drunkenly navigating my way back down) in another ten years when I’m pushing 70. Geez, just writing that made shudder. Well, I’ll ride the wave as long as I can manage it I reckon.
On a more positive note, my partner and I won the doubles tournament. In the follow-on singles tourney, James (pictured) and I tied. Well, we played two legs of the three leg set, and rather than play the deciding leg we agreed to split 1st and 2nd place money between us. It was late and we I was tired. I’d put James in the new faces category (he’s been in Korea awhile, but he’s only been playing darts for a couple of years). He’s also a South Carolinian and we enjoyed having him as his Korean sweetheart visit our house in Columbia last summer.
Re-reading this post just now I expect the reader’s reaction will be along the lines of “brilliant insights, Captain Obvious. Things change, time passes. Thanks for enlightening us!” Well, yeah. But as Mary Chapin Carpenter sang long ago: “the more things change, the more they remain the same.” So there.
“Life is transient” is a truth worth coming back to, so I don’t mind your message.
On the other hand, the caption under your first pic confuses me because you refer to two women “on the right,” and I can’t figure out which is which. Maybe refer to clothing color…?
I hope to visit Seoul a couple of times this year so hope to be able to catch up with u (and the goat) when I do, I will have to dust off the darts, and u will need to give me a substantial start though!
Kevin, the second girl is the one on the left.
Good stuff John….I’ll see you on the flip side!
Thanks, Bill.
Thirsty–we’ll be looking forward to it.
Damn Kevin, one of these days I’ll do an error-free post. Er, maybe not. Thanks for the clarification Bill.
Jesse good luck and best wishes. I figure the odds are pretty good you’ll return to Korea one of these days…