Well, I promised a post this weekend so here it is. Wish I had something new and exciting to report but I have really been leading a boring life lately. Anyway, here’s the scoop such as it is.

Today my pool team played in the first round of the end of season tourney. As usual, I sucked and lost three games. Since we only lost by one, I was the weak link. It really bums me out that I let the team down, but without me they forfeit, so I submit to the humiliation week in and week out.

I did run into my buddy Jeff at the bar and we came back to my place, made nachos and watched Team America. I’ve seen it several times now, but it was Jeff’s first. Still cracks me up.

Jeff will be leaving for good come February, and another good friend (Robert) left last week. I know it is part of the life here, but I am really going to miss them. Guess I need to start making some new buds, but that is not something I’m particularly good at. We’ll see.

I am mostly avoiding the bar scene these days. Which leaves me lots of time to myself. I’m not sure either lifestyle is particularly healthy. I’ve been feeling a little blue with the approaching holidays. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite, and it just won’t be much fun without family around. I will be spending the day at a gathering a coworker is having. Her daughter and son-in-law and a couple of grandkids, plus about 10 other lonely expats. I’ll be making my fruit salad and bringing a couple of pies.

No Christmas plans as yet. I would love to take a trip but I’m not sure that will work out. I’m eligible to catch a military flight on a space available basis, Maybe Guam would be nice. Actually, truth is I’m really tired of making plans that only include me. As good as my company is, I’m pretty bored with myself. And now I have shared that joy of boredom with this pathetic post. Alas.

So, I called this one transitions. I guess I’m feeling like I’m on the cusp of one. Seeing my friends heading back to the states, and realizing that I need to get my act together and make more of my life here will hopefully spur me to make some positive changes. Cause I’ve been a real loser lately.

What I tend to do when I get this way is shut the world out. Obviously, I have not been true to my blog, but far worse, I have not been writing home, not even acknowledging repeated emails. It has oft been said that we treat the ones we love worse than strangers. Hmm, maybe I should say that has oft been said to me. It is too true. I have a selfish side anyway, but when I get into this state of mind I feel like I am walking through a make believe world and I’m the only real person in it. It is really unfair and for those of you who have wondered what’s up with that, just let me say I’m sorry and it is nothing personal. I miss so many things and I have found a real f’d up way of dealing with it. So let’s hope for a smooth transition and a new and improved outlook on life.

And hopefully no more posts like this one, eh?

Ok, let me leave you with something I found strange here in Korea. A couple of weeks ago I was making a rare appearance at Sweet Caroline’s (yes, that’s right. Even when I do go out, I don’t hang there much. Too quiet, and when I’m out I want to be around people, even if I treat them like props). But I digress. So, I’m sitting at the bar minding my own business. There are a few people there. Some of the folks from GM Daewoo I had metbefore, and they seemed genuinely glad to see me, which was nice. And a table of Korean men, doing the Korean style thing where you buy the bottle and sit and get plastered. And from all appearances they had pretty much achieved that objective by the time I arrived.

So this Korean gentlemen comes up and starts trying to talk to me, but I’m not getting a lot of what he is saying. He gives me his business card (which I can’t read) but I smile and thank him. He leaves and comes back in a few minutes and tries to chat me up again. I am grinning stupidly, nodding and saying things like “yeah, good time” and “having fun”. He leaves and starts dancing with one of the GM execs, well, not with, more like “at”, if you know what I mean. She wasn’t exactly particpating, more like politely swaying from foot to foot. Then he comes over to me, and I swear I thought he was asking me to dance . Hey politeness only goes so far, right? I’m saying “no, I’m fine, just enjoying the music”. He persists, so I kinda just swivel my bar stool like I’m really into dancing while seated. He gives up and walks off.

Then the waitress comes over and says “Mr. (whatever the hell his name was) thinks you are a very intelligent American [hey, that’s what she said] and he and his friends want you to join them at their table”. She indicated it would be bad form to not have a drink with them. Damn, I do try hard to be respectful and lord knows us Yanks get blamed for everything wrong in the world already, last thing I wanted was to be tagged as a rude American. So, I sauntered on over.

I will preface what happened next by stating up front that I recognize there are some very real cultural differences in the way males interact here. It is very common for Korean men to walk down the street arm and arm and all that. Nothing wrong with it of course, but where I’m from men really don’t touch each other. I’m just sayin’.

So, I sit down with these four obviously drunk Koreans. I am able to discern that they are stock brokers from some city down south that I also don’t recall (I had quaffed a few brews, but I was not drunk by any means). So, they want me to put some of their Korean whiskey in a shot glass and do it in my beer, boilermaker style. I decline. I don’t like whiskey all that much, and I definitely don’t like it in my beer. Did that once and almost puked on some MPs as I raced to the bathroom (I think I blogged that, but I’m not going to look it up now). So, I finally agree to just down the shot, and they seem pleased with that effort.

So, we are sitting there “talking” (if talking includes none of us understanding much of what the other was saying, well, I guess the Koreans understood each other but they weren’t getting me anymore than I was getting them). And then the guy next to me starts touching my moustache. Ok, not many Korean men can or do grow them. And mine is rather bushy. So he is touching it and saying what I suppose was “nice moustache” in Korean. I push his hand away while thanking him “kamsamnida”. I take a pull off my beer, and damn if he didn’t start stroking the ‘stache again. Alright, I wasn’t too comfortable to begin with, but this was just a bit too bizarre. I thanked him again for the compliment, and moved over as far as I could without falling out of the booth. I guess he got the hint, because he didn’t try that again.

Since they had shared their whiskey and my beer glass was empty I bought a round of beers. It would have been rude not to, Koreans don’t do “Dutch treat”. Anyway, we do some toasts and the next thing I know the guy who was so intrigued by my moustache is stroking the top of my hand. Alright, that really freaked me out. I got up and asked the waitress “what’s up with this guy touching my hand, is that some gay thing?” She laughed and said “no, it just means he likes you”. I said, “yeah, that’s what has me worried”. I told her about the moustache incident and she said “don’t worry, they are just drunk and being friendly”. Well, I don’t really want to cause an international incident, but this is just taking the US-ROK alliance a little to far for me.

About this time, the GM folks were heading out and the drunk Korean with the business card had the female exec cornered. She is from Great Britain and is really funny and very kind. She was being very polite, but clearly wanted to get the hell outta there. So, I interrupted and said how nice it was to have seen her again and she gave me a hug, thanked me for rescuing her and made a beeline for the door. I also said my goodbyes, but it took me another ten minutes before I could escape my hosts. I had to promise to come to their hometown for a guided tour about ten times before I was able to flee the scene.

So, that was the only unusual thing I have encountered of late. And no, in case you are wondering, I don’t anticipate a transition to gayness or Korean style touching or whatever they hell that was, anytime soon. Not that there is anything wrong with it….