Lanterns, BBQ, and Soju. Oh my.

Ok, first, the slideshow.

Dan's right, it did deserve a little bit of an explanation. This Monday is Buddha's birthday (which of course you already knew). The Sunday BEFORE that Korea celebrates with a lantern festival. Jen made the paper lantern, I got us some real ones, and all in all we had a good time. The folks in the pics are some of our coworkers. The redhead is named Jessica, the brunette that I'm NOT married to is named... well, it's pronounced No-me. I forget how to spell it correctly. Both are good people.

As long as I'm doing introductions:

These are our coworkers. Next to Jen is Sam, and across from us is Jessica (again) and her boyfriend Mark. They all work at Gerium with Jen. I'm working temporarily at June-gay (can't spell it), it's a long story but the short version is they made it worth my while and it's only through the end of June. The folks there are really cool as well, I'll snap some pics and post those.

Speaking of promised pics:

That's the laundry room/porch. It's pretty much sealed in with sliding doors that have glass and screen. And the clothes are dry, if really really wrinkled. Luckily, I don't care.

Someone had asked for the apartment from the outside. I not only got it, but I got something cool happening. Well, cool to me anyway.

That's the front of the building. They're moving someone in or out, I'm not sure, from the 5th floor. Where I also happen to live. That handy contraption makes moving a hell of a lot easier.

Which brings me to another picture.

This, cats and kittens, is Soju. Soju is the local firewater, running something like 40 proof and having an aftertaste not unlike vodka. Which, as most of you know, I hate. But that bad boy has about 6 shots in it and sells for less than $1 a bottle. Sometimes you can pick up 2 for 80 cents. So if you scroll back about 4 pictures or so you'll see a bottle of that bad boy sitting next to the gallon of beer they have for around $5. That particular evening Sam and I enjoyed perhaps a bottle or two more of Soju that was strictly professional. But it was our first night out, so what the heck right?

The pic was taken around 1:30am. 2 hours later Jen, Sam, and I are sitting in front of their version of a 7-11. They actually put out patio furniture. We're seated at the center of three plastic tables. The guy to my left is fast asleep in his chair. To my right are two men talking very excitedly to each other. No clue, it was in Korean. All were still in suits and ties from work. We enjoyed another bottle of this potent little guy before determining it was time to haul a wardrobe, measuring about 6 feet tall, about 4 feet wide and every bit of 3.5 feet deep, the block and a half from where folks like to dump really nice furniture (more on this later) to our 5th floor apartment. My neighbors LOVE us. The toughest part came when we realized it didn't fit through the door. I still maintain we defied physics. It doesn't fit.

Why does that matter? Well...

After I finally went to sleep I dreamnt that, again, not making this up, Ivan and I defeated Godzilla. I held Godzilla in a headlock while Ivan took a sledgehammer to him. Afterwards, Godzilla turned into a pair of Golden Retrivers, mom and pup. We finished the dogs off.

Woke up from THAT little trip to slumber land and found we had banged up this oversized dresser all to heck and back getting the block and a half, up the elevator (no, we didn't even TRY the stairs), and into our apartment. So after a long discussion with my darling I came across a piece that was much prettier, but was the same size. Being alone and not feeling exactly 100%, I ended up getting a guy to drive his truck over, help me load it, and then helped me get it into the building and to the elevator. Which brings me to how I figured out we defied physics. See, the new one won't fit through my door. And we're having trouble getting the first one out. So the pretty one is sitting in the hallway outside, and the old one is blocking a pretty sizeable chunk of the hallway that is our foyer/dining room. I have to take off my backpack to make it by. Yeah, the neighbors love us.

Lesson: Stay away from Soju.

Anyway, good news on the food front: We found bulgogi!! (Pronounced Bull-go-gee, both hard g's) It's Korea's answer to BBQ. They bring out a TON of sides and a nice sized pile of meat, which they cook in front of you. Or you cook it. Mostly, they cook it because they seem to get nervous when I get too close. Here's some pics, sense it's been a while.

This is us, seated on the floor like good Koreans, enjoying some Bulgogi.

This isn't technically bulgogi, because it was pork, but this is what one order (though meant for 2) looks like. SO FREAKING GOOD.

By the way, they still do soda in glass bottles. And ya know what? I think it tastes better.

Ok, final note before I call it a night (we're pushing 2:30am local time). Movies here show up the same day they do in the states. And all they do with American films is subtitle Korean at the bottom. Funny thing- it's not nearly as distracting if you can't read it at all. Why does this matter? I'll give you 3 reasons:

1. Iron Man (AWESOME. Stay after the credits)
2. Kung Fu Panda (I admit, I'm excited)
3. INDIANA FREAKIN' JONES BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah. That will rock.

G'night my friends. You're loved.