I can't seem to get out of America!

Why? Well this last weekend Dom decided, last minute of course, that she would be making a trip to Kunsan, a city about 2 hours away to visit a friend of hers. The special thing about this city is its got an Air Force base. Much like last year when we visited Song-Tan (home of another military base), this spot was filled with an array of American goodies, the best of which came in the form of large, muscular men. Don't worry, we were all well behaved and only caused a ruckus at the local commissary where we were able to purchase TURKEY! Yes, you read right, there is deli turkey in Korea. On the down side it is 2 hours away and you need a military buddy to purchase it for you. Luckily, we made a few.

I must say that I wasn't originally enthralled with the idea of this trip. I had already made plans with a friend and didn't want to cancel for the second time. Also, the thought of doing any type of traveling after my round trip Minnesotan adventure made me a bit nauseous. Oh, and the fact that Dom sprung the idea on me mere hours before we were supposed to leave also sucked. BUT, the promise of English speaking boys, imported booze, and a taste of America would entice any ex-pat girl in Korea. What can I say? We're easy to please.

So, after a quick stop to the gym, followed by a sickeningly large portion of kimbap and mandu we were on our way to the bus station. One of the plus sides of living with a roommate is the shortened taxi fares every time we have the same destination (which in our case is always). So, we hurried in our cab, and as usual it was a death ride. I've mentioned before that red lights are merely a suggestion and speed limits are hardly adhered to. So when we were quickly and oh-so shockingly cut off while driving, my cab driver was a bit surprised. Almost right afterwards we were stopped at a red light and our cab was directly behind the culprit.

Now lets consider a NORMAL situation. Normally, you'd curse a little in your car at the person who did this to you. Knowing damn well there's nothing to be done because you're in the middle of traffic, stuck inside your car, and that dudes probably just a jackass anyways. Now lets remember that I'm in Korea, and shit just isn't handled the same here. So for us to be surprised at the following event was a bit naive on our part, but I just couldn't help it.

Seconds after we were stopped behind this car, in the middle of traffic, our cab driver opened the car and started pacing towards the bastard. Of course our initial reaction was a combination of screaming and laughing hysterically because we've only seen such things in movies. And we all know how it happens in movies; the man rolls up, usually with a baseball bat or some other handy butt kicking weapon strategically placed in the drivers side seat, and he "opens a can of whoop ass" as my father would say. But, remember, this is Korea. Meanwhile as all of this was happening I struggled for my ipod to snap a picture of the fight that was sure to ensue. Strangely, however, the man goes to up to the drivers window, signals for him to roll down, and sparks up one of the friendliest, handshake filled, giggling bouts of happy chat I've seen from a first meeting. My cab driver seemingly decided that discussing the incident rationally, and happily, was the appropriate approach after exiting your car in the middle of traffic. You can almost see in the picture how happy this man was to come face to face with his driving arch enemy.

Anyways, he stayed out there for a few more minutes, probably exchanging phone numbers for a tea date for all I know, and returned quietly to the cab. Fliss and I sat there silently giggling while we drove towards our destination a few blocks further. Luckily we had the best excuse ever for being late!

Once we arrived at the bus station Felicity somehow managed to ask, "Where's Dom?" In which I quickly replied, "Well I only see one blonde head of hair bobbing 6 inches above the crowd of Asians, you tell me" I swear, finding a foreign friend in Korea is as easy as finding turkey in a Deli in America. Oh the turkey talk. Sorry, I get side tracked. Back to the trip.

Dom and I sat next to each other on the bus, took pictures of ourselves like the Koreans do, and had a heated Boggle tournament in which I won every round. What can I say? I'm good with my words (definitely not good with numbers which I've learned from teaching kindergarten math).

Two hours later we arrived, took a cab to the front of the base and waited for our Air Force escort (aka Dom's friend) to sign us in. We had entered little America. Where do I even begin to note the differences? Let's see. Oh, the hallways were HEATED! Yes, hot air was flowing through the halls with no concern of their energy bill. They also extended that courtesy to the restrooms as well. Smoking was banned inside, caesar salads were options with your dinner, and there wasn't a high rise in sight. Imported cars drove through the practically empty streets and absolutely no Korean was spoken, anywhere, not even by the Koreans.

These were obviously some positive contrasts from the Korea I was used to. But there was definitely a handful of negative contrasts. The largest one came in the smallest package: Filipino prostitutes called "Juicy's". Basically every bar/club we entered was filled with little tanned Asian women wearing no more than their underwear with hooker boots and a face caked with makeup. I was told that they aren't actual prostitutes, more like escorts and cocktail waitresses, but regardless of what they were (or did), their attire was demeaning (to say the least). We managed to pretty much ignore their creepy existence and continue on talking the night away with a handful of fun and interesting guys. As Fliss said, she was more than surprised to find that these guys didn't fit the military man douche bag stereotype. In fact, they were a good crowd to hang out with and lovely hosts on our trip to Kunsan.

By morning Fliss was preparing her plastic bags in case of another vomit filled bus ride and I was stocking up on an array of liquids that probably wouldn't leave my body until Monday morning. They didn't have Fresca there, but I suppose those three cases I drank in America will have to last me through the next year.

Besides the events of last weekend, this week was pretty normal. Fliss has been a lovely motivator for the gym, even though I somehow manage to talk her out of it some days. We finally got almost all of our furniture and I can't wait to take some pictures or videos, especially of our cool view outside of our front door. Internet is now installed so I may be able to manage a skype session here and there, and of course more timely updates. This weekend will most likely be calm, we're staying in town, trying to save some money for HONG KONG! YEAHhh, that's right! Fliss, Emilie, and I booked our tickets yesterday to spend the Chinese New Year in the heart of Hong Kong. Hopefully Dom and the rest of our crew will jump on board and buy their tickets, but if not, it's still going to be awesome. This will be my first (and definitely not last) trip out of the country this year and I'm so excited. Felicity has already been there three times and has said nothing but awesomeness. Oh, did I mention it's predicted to be 75 degrees F as well? I'm super excited and I hope to have many amazing pictures and maybe even a "Trip to Hong Kong" video. Don't get your hopes up on the latter though.