Thanks everyone. Your support and encouragement means alot. Thanks for the tips on the functionality of the webcam too. When Carol gets back from New Orleans I’ll try to hook up via the Yahoo messenger route.
Anyway, I think I’m doing better. I have high hopes and plans to break out of this rut and take full advantage of all the possibilities that my continuing Korean adventure has to offer. Avery is right of course (see comments in previous post). A wise girl for such tender years. I love you too darlin’, and I am so proud of you.
So, here’s the news. Last night the new pool league season kicked off. Quite a bit of controversy too. Jim, whose wife owns our host bar Dolce Vita decided to keep his options open and may play for Ohana, the other Dolce Vita team. Hey, that’s his right. Some of the folks on my team (the Lifers) didn’t see it that way. And as a result of what they perceived as a betrayal, they basically chose to mutiny. So, a couple of my favorite teammates, including June and Quatro left the team. Which makes me the only surviving member from last season’s team.
But what the hell, I’m only in it for the fun anyway. I was checking the stats and I was amazed to see that I am not in fact the worst player in the Itaewon Pool League. I wound up ranked 479. I pity that poor guy who is below me at 480, cause that is rock bottom. Well, I have a goal of winning the most improved trophy this season. I am playing better, but I still lost both of my games last night. We were playing the Hollywood Grill Philippino team. Most of the games were close, but of course that only counts in horseshoes (and hand grenades).
My new teammates are an iteresting lot. Gary is the team captain. He’s from Austin, Texas but has lived in Korea for about 10 years. I think he’s an English teacher, but when I asked him what he was doing in Korea, his response was “wreaking havoc”. Conner is a Canadian from Halifax. He seemed surprised and impressed that I knew that was in Nova Scotia. Yeah, I know my Provinces. Then I wowed him by talking Canadian politics. He disagreed with my belief that the conservatives might actually pull out a victory, but that’s what the polls seem to indicate. Carolyn is from Melbourne and is a really good player. I don’t mean to sound shallow, but she is also really well-endowed. Breasts are one thing you just don’t see much in Korea so I couldn’t help but notice. Gary’s girlfriend, a beautiful young Korean woman is also on the team. Anyway, even though we got our ass kicked 11-2, we had fun and I think our eccletic interanational mix will gel into a happy group. Likely a happy group of losers, but winning is not everything, right?
They have a new crew of bartenders at Dolce Vita these days. Quite nice and a good mix. We have a young college student who is very innocent and pretty naive. I doubt she will last long, she’s just not cut out for the night life. They also hired a woman named Min Jung who is just gorgeous. She’s around 30 and this is her first experience working in a “foreigner bar”. Now I personally don’t like it when Korean’s take Western names, but she insisted on having one. So tonight the bar crowd made nominations. I wanted to name her Bonita and she liked that quite a lot. Other nominations included Sara, Grace, Laura, Rachel, Monique, and April. Since we couldn’t reach consensus, we put the names on the dart board and had a shoot out. Rachel got the most hits, so that is what we Christened her. She seemed very proud of her new name and we had a lot of fun doing it.
yeah, I know. What a life.
That’s it for now. Thanks again everyone for sticking with me. Your good wishes mean more to me than I can adequately express.
I wish I knew of a pool league around here; it sounds like fun! Did you not play pool when you were living in the States? Don’t worry, you’ll get better. Practice, practice. Do you play where you have to call the shot before you make it? That always messes me up. I like playing where fluke shots count too.
I like the name Rachel! I always get to name the kids at school, but try to stay away from “R” names, as they always end up sounding like “L” when the other kids say them. I used to have a student the previous teacher named “Richard,” and he was known as “Leechad!”
I’m glad you sound cheerier in this latest post! That Avery is definitely a smart woman. Sage advice. Take care, John!
Yes, it is call your shot. Other rules include hitting your ball first and SOME ball must hit a rail (or pocket)afterwards. Violation of that rule results in a “ball in hand” penalty which means your opponent can place the cue ball anywhere on the table prior to his/her shot. Missing altogether or inadvertantly touching another ball while making a shot also results in ball in hand. Thankfully I’m getting fewer penalties these days. No, I didn’t play much in the States and hadn’t played in probably 10 years before coming here. So, I’m really just learning the game. And I’ve come to realize my geometry is poor indeed.
“Rachel” speaks pretty good English and we had her “try on” each of the names to make sure she could pronounce it well. She’s got the “r” sound down so she should be okay (hmm, unless the Koreans call he Lacheel). Anyway, I loved the way she said Bonita but alas, my darts did not win out.
Avery is one of my daughters. She’s been attending university in Hawaii. Smart and cute. She will go far in life!
So glad you are back on your feet….The bootstraps work every time…..Enjoy where you are…..11 months will pass…..i love you and thyink of you daily……