…I’ll be the same tomorrow.

But things will be different here as two, well technically three, old timers are moving on.  Two goodbye parties yesterday made for a bittersweet weekend.

Doug is being returned to Columbus, OH after 21 years in Korea. He goes involuntarily having (finally) ran afoul of DoD’s “five year rule” which requires civilians to rotate out of overseas assignments after five years in country.

Bill and June are excited about their move to Vietnam after 10 years in Korea.   Bill will teach at the international school in what appears to be an outstanding opportunity for the family.

.I wish them well and thank them for the memories.

So, I had my typical Friday night of darts at Dolce Vita although somewhat atypically I managed a first place finish.  My nephew Justin came by the bar for a couple of beers and then we headed out to the samgyapsal joint I favor.

As is our normal practice the conversation soon turned to politics. And when I start getting wound up my voice gets somewhat intense.  Not shouting really, just kind of aggressive.  I was in this mode when the waitress came to our table and shushed me.  Now, I was taken aback by this because it was just the two of us at the table surrounded by crowded tables of loud Koreans drinking and laughing and enjoying their grilled pork belly. Which is how it should be.  I mean, this was not a fine dining establishment. And to be honest about it, I may have been talking louder than normal if only to be heard above the din of the surrounding crowd. As I looked around the room and noticed just how loud everyone else was being I got pissed off.

At that very moment the waitress who had offended me was serving the largest and loudest table of Koreans in the joint. So I turned around and said (probably shouted) “are you going to tell them to be quiet too, or is it only the miguks who aren’t allowed to make noise?”  Of course, I said this in English so I’m sure she didn’t understand most of it, but it did appear from her reaction that she got my point.  I turned back to my nephew and said “am I wrong?”.  He agreed that we hadn’t been louder than anyone else but he said he was embarrassed by my outburst.

I guess in retrospect I am too. This is not the first time I’ve encountered being singled out for noise when Koreans are notoriously loud when dining (especially when soju is involved) and seem to be ignored. But responding to racism with rudeness is not the solution.  I’m sure all I did was perpetuate a negative stereotype when I loudly confronted the waitress.  I should have just let it go like I normally do I suppose.

I think it is also true that English voices tend to stand out in the crowd so to speak.  I’ve noticed it on the subway myself that foreigners always sound louder when they are speaking together.  Upon *ahem* more sober reflection perhaps I sounded louder than I was.

Meanwhile, I was again awakened early this morning by noise from the downstairs park. This time it was two ajummas shouting at each other. And so it goes.

Oh, I also doused my keyboard in diet Coke this morning.  I did my best to clean it up quickly, but as I feared some of the keys are now not functioning correctly. Which made typing this post especially challenging.  Ain’t life grand?

This morning at 0600 I awoke to the sound of Amazing Grace being sung by one of the drunk ajusshis who frequent the park outside my apartment building.  To his credit he could carry a melody.  Although it must have been the only song he knew because he repeated it for an hour or so.  The way our buildings are configured the park makes a near perfect amphitheater.  And with the window open in deference to the July heat it sounded like he was in the next room.  Which made going back to sleep impossible for a wretch like me.

Ah well, just another day in paradise.

Ha!  It sounded a lot like this:

…by darts alone.  Which is why it’s nice to have a couple of rib-eye steaks  on the grill.

…but I get up again, you’re never gonna keep me down.

AT&T won’t unlock.  So, I bought a new phone.  Actually, I got the new phone basically free with a two year service commitment.  Which means I’m paying for phone plans on two continents now.  Although SK is only charging me around $35 bucks a month.  And I’m going to change my plan with AT&T and save at least that much.

It’s a sweet phone–Galaxy S-3 very similar to my US phone.  So, I’m familiar with the interface at least.

The real reason for this post though is I signed up for Google Analytics (hey I was bored) and I want to see how (or if) it works.

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