A bump in the road can be a good thing. It reminds you to watch your speed, maintain situational awareness, and accept the reality that there is no such thing as perfect. Then you leave the bump behind and get on with enjoying the life you’ve chosen. And so it goes.
A much quieter than usual Decay Dance, but we didn’t make the children suffer due to tampo.
Anyway, after the candy mission was completed, Swan warmed up the birria tacos I’d brought home for her the night before. She enjoyed them and decided to accept my intended peace offering. We talked through the incident that happened on Friday from both our perspectives — my temper was the trigger, her reaction to my wrongness was overblown, and we both committed to doing better in the future.
So, with that behind us, we were ready to attend the annual VFW Beach Bash at the Outback Resort together. I arrived around 4 pm, and the beauty pageant was scheduled to begin at 6 pm. How to fill the time? Well, with beers, of course. And this:
Beer cards were 500 pesos for six bottles, so that was a fair price. No Zero available, of course. Then I was asked to be a judge for the pageant, which is an honor, but I didn’t want to commit to staying through the end of the contest. See, I know my limitations!
It turns out, I made the right call. I don’t like to be critical of what is the local VFW Chapter’s main fundraising event, but damn, it was a disorganized mess. The singing contest, slated to begin at 5 p.m., was still being sound checked at 5:30. They eventually decided to split the eight competitors into two groups of four, with the first four performing before the beauty pageant and the second group during an intermission while the contestants changed into bathing suits. The performers sounded like the usual karaoke singers to me, and some of the contestants were men, including a bakla (transgender). It was painful to listen to. But hey, maybe that’s just the grumpy old man that I am speaking.
And then, when the beauty pageant was supposed to finally begin, it was announced that the “girls weren’t ready yet.” What the hell, starting late and STILL not ready? Okay, I’ll shut up about it now. When my beer card was full, I’d had enough of both beer and the pageant. I left halfway through the bikini contest.
And that’s all I got photo-wise. Jay, the owner of Hot Zone, posted this photo:
Oh, and I got gifted this shirt:
Sorry I didn’t do a better job covering the event. If I had more patience, I could have been a doctor.
It’s May Day 2017 in the LTG archives, and I’m saying goodbye to my Itaewon life as I prepare for the move to Pyeongtaek.
Today’s YouTube video is from a new (to me) vlogger, Maya Life. She could have titled this one, “don’t be stupid,” but I’m guilty of a couple of these transgressions. I sometimes raise my voice, which is frowned upon in this culture (ironically, other forms of noise are welcomed, like bad singing at high volume). I also haven’t accepted invites to Swan’s family gatherings. I do have some of her relatives working for me, and have had her family over for rooftop fun at The Rite Spot. I’m not saying I’ll never go to a family function, but it’s just not my thing.
And now let me throw these at you:
There you have the current state of my affairs. And now for the Hash run. The Hare, Leech My Nuggets, has prepared a “cripple trail” for us old farts, so I should be good to go. Tell you all about it tomorrow.
Good luck with the Hash. And the relationship. Another storm weathered.
John mate no offense mate but those dastardly darts i’m tellings ya mate always give ya the rage mate pick up a neutral hobby mate something like arm wrestling or chess mate play dominate chill out mate that’s my motto mate cheers mate cheers
No worries, Aaron. Everything was fine during darts.
Kevin, yep, what doesn’t kill a relationship makes it stronger.
Glad to hear that things are back to (somewhat) normal.
Re: video
Yup, most of it is common sense. I do agree with the vlogger on participating in the partner’s family functions. Seems to me just to be a sign of respect for your partner. Putting the shoe on the other foot; when you were back in the States, would it have bothered you if Jee Yeun told you that she did not want to go to Thanksgiving, birthdays, other get togethers, etc? Anyway, IMO must something a person does when in a relationship.
Re: Sohee
Hard to know what demons people live with inside their head that would cause them to take their own life. On one hand, I think it is pretty selfish, as the ripple effects of their act generally affect a lot of people. I remember hearing a cliche about suicide – “a permanent solution to a temporary problem”. Sad situation when it occurs.
Brian, if Swan said she wanted me to attend family functions, I would. It seems like it is no big deal to her that I’d rather not.
Yeah, Sohee never gave any indication that she was in a dark place. I was out of the country when she hung herself, but I suspect it might have had something to do with a failed marriage. I totally agree, though, that suicide is the most selfish thing you can do…your pain doesn’t go away, it is transferred to all who knew and loved you.