I really must be a creature of habit, or routine at least. I’ve settled into my weekly rituals of bar games (and the requisite recovery periods) and y’all must be as sick of hearing about that as I am of writing about it. Year two in Korea is without much adventure thus far, but I do have some dreams about changing that. I’m going to keep those dreams to myself for now because I don’t want to jinx things, but if it comes to pass things will be infinitely more exciting around here. Stay tuned.

Ok, I do have to just mention my dart exploits briefly. Saturday night at the Blue Frog tourney resulted in a second place finish. And Monday night at Bless U resulted in a most excellent first place. My partner on Monday was Mr. Kim (who was on the team that beat us out for first Saturday). An excellent player, but we were both a little off our games. Despite our struggles, we kept finding a way to win. The championship round was a thrill. We played Petro (the dart league President) and his partner Mr. Lee, another solid player. We started with a real cut throat game of cricket, lots of pointing and very intense, but Mr. Kim hit a double bull to win it for us in the end. Then it was ‘o1 (a game where you start with 701 and subtract the total of your darts, and you have to finish by hitting a double out) and they were dominating us. I was my usual inconsistent self, scoring like: 41, 22, 30, Ton, 22 and so on. Mr. Kim was actually throwing worse. and we still had 176 on the board when our opponents were shooting a 16 double out. Then I hit a ton-60 (160 points-the most you can score is 180, which is 3 triple 20s). My next turn I hit the double-1 out for the win. Real exciting finish and I was congratulated on my play by some really great dart players. It was definitely the high point of my darts “career”.

Anyway, also went to Namdemun market Saturday. First time there (yeah, pretty amazing that I’ve not made it there after all this time). Ordered some glasses that I pick up this weekend. I’ll try and get some pics when I go back.

Yikes, I’m going to be late for work! Gotta go.

Sorry to all who care for not being regular in my updates here. Truth be told, I’ve just not had much to say. I’m into a comfortable routine these days of going to work, playing pool, darts, CIV, and reading other people’s blogs. Which may not sound like much of a life, but it seems to be working for me. I guess sometimes you just have to embrace the simple pleasures and not think too much about what you are missing. At least that has been working for me.

I’ve been feeling alright physically, so who needs a physical, right? Truth be told, it is just too much of a pain in the ass to get treatment at the base hospital. You have to pay up front and bill your own insurance. And I guess if something is seriously wrong with me, I don’t really want to know. Ignorance is bliss and all that. And I do know that my attitude about that is in fact ignorant, ok?

I’ve been having a blast in the dart league. I’m too inconsistent to call myself a good player, but I’ve been winning. I’m ranked in the top third of my division and my status on the team has gone from fill-in to being counted on. I’ve not had a competitive outlet since I retired from playing softball, so I’m really enjoying that aspect of the game too. Not to mention, being old and fat doesn’t affect your game. HooAh! I’m going down to the Blue Frog tonight to play in the doubles tourney. It’s mostly “A” calibre players (I am in the “B” division) but they do a blind draw so if I hook up with someone good, who knows, I might get lucky and win some money. Worst case I get some practice in throwing under pressure.

I am playing pool with more confidence and competence too. Still losing mostly, but not losing ugly. Actually, our team has been playing well but we always seem to get snakebit with bad luck and lose close games and matches. Ah well, its a good group and we don’t get down on each other when things go wrong. Some of the teams in the league are just ugly to each other. Win or lose, we have fun and that’s what its really all about.

Work has been busy but not so much as to be a problem. Arcelia left last week and I already miss her tremendously. She was a good comrade. She wasn’t able to sell her car so she left it with me to sell. It was a pain in the ass, I had to get an exception to policy (only one vehicle is allowed) which let me park it on post. Had to insure it, and register it and all that. She brought if over from Japan so it is right hand drive, which made it more difficult to sell. But sell it I did yesterday. Which meant some more hassle with transfering ownership and all the associated paperwork (took two hours of my day), but it is done. I mailed Arcelia a check yesterday. She wound up with quite a bit less than she was asking, but what she is getting is considerably more than nothing. Which is what she was facing before I stepped in. So, I did my good deed, although I kept a couple hundred for my trouble. (Ah, did you really think I was a nice person?)

Not much else to report. The weather is starting to warm up so I will soon be able to get out and about a little more. Even if it is just a hike up Namsan or along the Han river it will be good to be a little more active. Carol is talking about coming in May for a visit and wants me to take her to China. That’s something to look forward too.

Kevin asked me what I thought of the entire Dubai ports deal. You know, I’m just having a hard time getting worked up over politics these days. And that whole fiasco was pure politics. Cripes, America has been selling itself for years. If I was going to get incensed it would be the sorry state of our merchant marine, that’s a real national secruity issue. Port security is a joke, but that has nothing to do with who is managing the terminals. Hell, the Chinese and Koreans own the west coast operations, why doesn’t Congress care about that?

I think what is really happening is that Americans are waking up to the fact that a certain percentage of the followers of Islam are insane. After weeks of rioting over cartoons, is it any wonder that perceptions are changing? My thinking is that the Muslim extremists are to be more pitied than feared. They are like rabid dogs. Now, you don’t get angry at a rabid dog. You just kill it. It’s the only sensible thing to do. A day of reckoning is coming, and I don’t believe its going to be pretty. Americans are not big on nuance. If we feel threatened we will strike. I think its gonna be real interesting to see what we do about Iran. I wouldn’t want to be investing in infrastructure there these days.

In other news, the State Department just screwed us over big time this week. We were getting a 5% premium on our pay called Post Differential. It was basically extra pay for dealing with the hardship of living in Korea. The State Department decided that life here is not all that hard. Well, honestly I have it easier than most, what with commissary and post exchange privalages. But on the other hand, we are forward deployed and Mr. Kim, Jung-Il has a bunch of chemical artillery shells (and maybe nukes) 50 miles away and pointed right at Seoul. I think living with the risk of almost certain death should war break out is worth a 5% bonus. That’s a lot of beer!

Oh well, as I say its all good. Thanks to all for your kindness and support. I will try and stay in touch on a more regular basis.

I could bite nails. I wrote a long and beautiful post this morning chock full of the wonderful details of my life. A masterpiece filled with wit and charm. I was even going to attach a photo, but when I went to upload it I got one of those dreaded “windows has encountered an error and must shut down” messages, and my brilliant post was lost for posterity….

I am too frustrated to try and recreate today. Tomorrow. I promise.

I’ve mentioned the obvious things: idiotic taxi drivers, aggressive bus driving maniacs, insane motorbike riders, and a general contempt for observing basic traffic laws (lane markings, red lights, parking). But my biggest nightmare is the young children who dart out between parked cars. In the dark. Check out this video clip

I see young kids like this out on the streets well after what would have been my bedtime at that age. And without any adult supervision whatsoever. I only drive when I have to here. I just don’t want to even think about all that is at risk when I do. Slow and steady, that’s how I take it. It’s kinda like driving sober when everyone else is drunk. Extreme defensive driving is a mandatory skill on the streets of Seoul.

Via Hardy and Tiny’s blog.

Whatever that is. I know its been too long since I last posted. Now that Jenn from I got two shoes is back, I guess I don’t want to be the only one on Nomad’s blogroll who hasn’t done a recent update. So here it is:

I’m feeling fine. The head’s all healed and the scar (shaped like the Korean peninsula, cool huh?) is hardly noticeable. I lost 3 more pool games last night, but at least I’m not losing ugly. My teammates think I’m the unluckiest player in Itaewon, which goes quite nicely with my last in the league ranking. Actually, I’m playing much better but part of my bad luck is getting pitted against some damn good players. Oh well, I have a good attitude about it all and I am kinda sorta having fun at it, at least more so than last season. I really like my international group of teammates. We have an Australian, a Scotsman, a Canadian, an Indian, an Austrian, a Texan, and me. I might have mentioned that before though, huh? God help me if I start repeating myself in my infrequent writings.

Monday night I won two out of three dart games (Cricket doubles). I had a good partner, but I pulled my weight (which if you saw my belly you would know that’s quite a feat in iteslf). I’m thinking about going to the Blue Frog Saturday and playing in a tourney. Those are “A” players, but I need practice throwing under pressure. I seem to play better when I’m playing for fun, so I want to get used to keeping my game on in competition. We’ll see.

Lot’s going on at work too. I am supposed to be representing the Army in an arbitration next month over the union’s claim to standby pay entitlement during the curfew. Any of you DAC’s out there expecting a big payout are dreaming, so don’t go spending that money. This week the union says it filed a class action lawsuit seeking pay in th U.S. Court of Claims in DC. Which is not a surprise (if true) but by my reckoning they have even less of a chance in court because the law is pretty well settled on the conditions that must be present to get standby duty pay. The curfew just wasn’t that restrictive to warrant additional pay. The union wants to delay the arbitration pending the outcome of the lawsuit, but we have objected to that ploy. Still waiting for word from the arbitrator on how he sees it. That’s about all I’m comfortable saying at this point, but I do enjoy doing battle on issues like this.

In other work news, we have two people leaving my office. Arcelia, my fellow supervisor is heading back to the States in a couple of weeks. Her time was up and she declined an extension for family reasons. I’m really going to miss her. She’s good people and has a great sense of humor. She has also been a big help in educating me to the culture that is uniquely DoD. Mr. Kim, Nam U who has been with us for almost forever had to retire for medical reasons. A big loss too, it will be hard to find someone with his skills. Thank God my Mr. Kim is doing well, because if he left I would be screwed big time. You don’t replace 50 years of experience. No sense worrying about it I suppose. I just really struggle with the transient nature of relationships here in Korea. It seems like the cheese is always on the move (obscure reference to one of those trendy books from a few years ago).

What else? I’ve been enjoying watching the Dick Cheney feeding frenzy from a distance. I just can’t believe what a big deal the media is making over the shooting incident. Meanwhile they are ignoring much more important issues like Al Gore’s treason in Saudi Arabia this week. Well, that’s about all you can expect from a warped left wing America-hating bunch of journalists I guess. Even my wife who never agrees with me about anything thinks Cheney is getting hosed, and she pretty much hates Cheney. If it weren’t so sad, watching the Democrats self-destruct would be pretty funny. Being blind and ignorant is one thing, but being blind to your ignorance is fatal. I’m not real keen on a lot of what the Republicans are doing either, but I’m all for killing terrorists wherever we can find them. So until the Dems come up with some kinda plan regarding national security beyond “let’s be nice and not offend anybody” I don’t have much choice in the voting booth.

Ah well, things are going pretty well overall in my view. Even Canada is coming around.

It’s snowing this morning, which comes as somewhat of a surprise because yesterday was almost springlike (except the temp was in the 30’s), sunny, cloudless, and the air was crystal clear. Anyway, my cell phone rings at 0700 which was quite surprising since it almost never rings period. It was my boss saying roads were condition red and I could delay reporting until 1000. I was planning to walk in anyway, but it gave me the chance to do some blog reading this morning. I came across a couple of Korea-related posts that I thought interesting enough to share.

The first had to do with General LaPorte’s comments during Friday’s change of command ceremony. Although I have not experienced any overt anti-Americanism from any of the Korean people I’ve met, the current ruling party here has definitely shown signs of diminishing support of the alliance. This post from The Officer’s Club suggests an interesting way we might respond to the “leadership” of President Roh and the Uri party.

The idea of eventual Korean Re-unification has been floating in the ether for years now. The civilized world hopes that it will come after Kim-Jong-il dies/steps down/is overthrown, and the South peaceably absorbs the North like the German re-unification after the fall of the Berlin Wall. The North Koreans hope it will come after they’ve leveled Seoul and rolled over the South. The American military stands in the way of the North, but the political pressure around our presence there is beginning to intensify:

LaPorte, the longest-serving commander of the U.S. Forces Korea with three years and nine months at the helm, always said the alliance was strong. But in his parting speech at a handover ceremony Friday, now free of the responsibility of command, it seems he felt moved to say what was really on his mind. Even then he said the alliance will face difficulties, when in fact it has been strained for the past three years and is now close to breaking point.

Some government officials who value the alliance, unaware of the fact that times have changed, were bitterly attacked when the new government veered toward anti-American sentiment and self-reliance. We now know that some in the National Security Council and ruling Uri Party are in cahoots to stir up trouble by disclosing sensitive information about the relationship.

America, I believe, is obviously getting a lot less out of their commitment than the South Koreans. My policy recommendation for the region is that each time South Korea abstains from a UN vote against the North, issues an anti-American statement, or becomes more conciliatory to the North, we re-deploy 1,000 troops to a more useful location. After this happens a few times, we’ll see how serious the South really is about “sunshine” policies.

I found that link at VodkaPundit who also linked to a post of his from 2003 in which he argued that reunification of the Korea’s will be much more difficult than the German reunification.

Unified Korea isn’t going to be a threat to anyone. Who are they going to invade? Japan? China? Russia? Hardly. Korea is the Poland of Northeast Asia — a small nation trapped between bigger, and often antagonistic, neighbors. No, a single Korea would likely have a smaller (although still very potent) military than does just South Korea today.

So what’s the problem?

Let’s go back to 1989 once more. West Germany had 62 million people, and the world’s third-largest economy. East Germans numbered a mere 17 million, and by Communist standards, they were quite rich. In fact, the old DDR was the richest Communist nation ever, period, full stop. So while reunification was an expensive proposition, West Germany could afford it without too much pain. Also, East Germans had been under the Communist yoke for “only” 45 years. There were still people alive with some memory of how a civil society functions. Easing matters, East Germans could often watch Western TV, and many were allowed limited travel to the west.

South Korea has fewer than 50 million people, and while they’ve made great strides, their per capita income is still only up to that of modern Poland. They aren’t poor, but they aren’t nearly as rich as West Germany was. In addition, their economy isn’t as mature or robust, as the Asian Financial Crisis of a couple years back showed.

Up north are 22 million of their starving brethren. Before the Communist dictatorship, they lived a brutal existence as virtual slaves of Japan. “Chosen,” as Tokyo called Korea, was annexed by the Japanese Empire 93 years ago. It’s safe to say that there is no one in North Korea with any experience living in a politically modern, free, democratic, or tolerant state. Travel is forbidden. Only a small handful of South Koreans are allowed north. There is only one radio station, and it runs nothing but the foulest sort of propaganda. And according to a story in US News & World Report a few weeks ago, North Korea even has concentration camps bigger than the District of Columbia.

Through no fault of their own, the people of North Korea simply aren’t ready to enter the modern world, and South Korea can’t afford to feed, house, re-educate, and re-civilize them all.

Whether or not there’s a war, when North Korea collapses there’s going to be a humanitarian crisis on a scale the world has never seen — 22 million scared, hungry, and desperate people left without any semblance of anything familiar.

And whether or not there’s a war, the United States is going to have to spend an awful lot of treasure and troops to help set things right.

Anyway, it’s an interesting situation and I think the Korean elections in 2007 will provide some clear insights on the future of the ROK-US alliance.

Long week, I’ll be glad when it is over. Almost everyone at work has a cold and they have let me know they don’t think its a coincidence. Hmm, I guess I should have taken more time off but I wasn’t reallly “incapacitated” and that’s supposed to be the standard for sick leave (I mean you are signing a gov’t form attesting to that fact) so don’t blame me.

It was Dolce Vita versus Dolce Vita in pool league and we (the Lifers) got stomped. I lost two games, including one where I scratched on the 8 ball. But for me, even getting the chance to shoot the 8 ball is a sign of progress.

This is my buddy Jeff’s last weekend so we are going to do a final “Itaewon bar crawl” Saturday night. Jeff is the first person I befriended in Korea and I am really sorry to see him go. Anyway, here’s an interesting article from The Seoul Times that pretty much nails the Itaewon nightlife scene. Now, for the record I have not been in any of the sleazy bars mentioned in this article, but I have been in the neighborhood. I prefer dart boards to juicy girls, but that’s just me.

More soon, it’s Friday but I still have an 8 hour day to put in for my Uncle Sam.

Thanks to Nomad for the article.

Well, it was just a matter of time. I’ve noted how some of my favorite expat bloggers have been bitten by some kind of bug. Now its gotten me. More than a cold, but not quite the flu, at least for me. Last night was pretty much sleepless. Kept getting up for water, but swallowing was like gargaling razor blades. Had a fever, with the chills and sweats going on simaltaneously too. Left work early today, there was no point in sticking around, I was definitely non-functional.

Pool league was tonight. I didn’t have the captain’s phone number so I couldn’t call in sick as I planned. I showed up to make sure we had enough to play, and he convinced to play one game since I was there and all. I won, and played pretty danm good in a come from behind victory. Guess I should play sick more oftern. Anyway, one game and I was outta there. Headin’ off to bed now and hope to see signs of recovery with the dawn’s early light.

Pleasant dreams all.

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.