Deadly Quests: A Korean Adventure: Happy Saint Patricks Day!

Yeah it was last week, but most expats in Korea didn't really celebrate the holiday until yesterday. Every year I attempt to surpass the events of SPD 2007. It was a three day marathon of irresponsible, life threatening weirdness in the heart of Pittsburg with my brother Jon, a pretty tough record to beat. Still, the Korean version of the Irish holiday easily qualifies as a candidate for second place. We got to Seoul just in time to join the tail end of the parade. The Facebook event stated that 18,000 people were expected to show up, and though that was a hugely exaggerated number, there did turn out to be an impressive crowd of green-attired party animals braving the cold, rainy weather for the sake of music and beer. Late in the afternoon the sky turned a bizarre color of yellowish-brown unlike anything I've ever seen before. It was pretty wild looking (see the picture with the horse drawn carriages). A few of us fanatics half expected the hand of God to reach through the sickly firmament and rain His wrath down upon the vast metropolis. After the sun went down we did it proper like at an Irish pub called Dublin's where I realized that, though I appreciate all things Irish, I can only stand their traditional music for about six solid hours. There was a deal for all you can drink Guinness and in case you're wondering, I got my moneys worth.

In somewhat sadder news, the fried chicken place around the block from my apartment caught on fire. Man, I really liked that place. The lady and her husband who ran it were cool, the food was awesome, and there was just something about its simplicity that I found really appealing. It wasn't pretty. The walls were plastic sheets and the benches were made of old paint cans and 2X4s, but it was the humble details of private ownership that I was really nostalgic about. Just two hard working people with a deep fryer, a great batter recipe, and a couple hundred dead chickens trying to make their way in the world. I hope things work out for them and the place opens back up... or they get a lot of money from the insurance company and wind up on a beach somewhere.