Having a few drinks, sayng goodbye, and more then meets the eye.
Friday night we decided to go out for a bit of a bite after work. We headed out to one of our usual barbeque places, Galbi Mart, but to our horror found it to be closed. It is arguably the best barbeque restaurant in Andong, and the prices isn’t all that steep either, so we’re quite disappointed it was closed. I wasn’t sure if they had closed for good, or just closed early that night, because I didn’t get out of the taxi to look, but I’ll be disappointed if they have.
We moved on to another barbeque place, a place that Jay always enjoyed going but I never found all that fantastic. When we got there it was empty. I felt a little weird sitting down and ordering food when no one else was there, and once we got the food a group of 4 or 5 ajumma’s (mother’s) stood there and just looked at us eating our food. I looked back at them wondering if they usually do this to their customers (I’d never seen them working there before) then they stopped and start randomly walking away.
The meal itself was ok, and I walked out happy enough.
Our next stop was a hof (pub) with live music. Of course all the music was in Korea but that was beside the point. We got there and we ordered some dong dong ju (which is similar to makgeoli but slightly ‘fizzy’). Aaron had never tried it before so it was good opportunity for him to experience something a little different. We ordered a big kettle of it as well as some fries. We enjoyed a couple of hours listening to music and watching some middle aged Korean people singing and dancing and generally having a wonderful time of themselves. I couldn’t persuade the girlfriend to get up and sing or dance, nor could I persuade her to let me.
Party pooper!
Afterwards Aaron was hell-bent on trying some makgeoli, so we headed to Family Mart and bought a bottle with some Cider (Koran cider is what we call lemonade (Sprite)). I’ve never liked drinking makgeoli without having first mixed it with lemonade and I promised Aaron it was much better if mixed first. We’re actually slightly tipsy at this stage so finishing most of the bottle ensured we’re close, but not quite, plastered when we headed home at 2.30.
I had to get up the next morning at 8am to take the girlfriend to the airport in Daegu. That was going to be a slight mission in itself, but to my credit, despite the slight headache and bad stomachache I did manage to get up. Makgeoli always plays havoc on my stomach.
Seeing the girlfriend off was sad. I won’t be seeing her for 5 weeks while she’s in China for the rest of the summer vacation with her family. Its much better then her staying around here for that period of time doing absolutely nothing. She told me she would be ok at the airport but as soon as she had to go through the gates she started crying which of course made it all that much harder for me to say goodbye. I assured her that 5 weeks would go quickly and that she would be back in sleepy old Andong before she knew it. Besides, once she’s with her family and friends again I doubt she’ll be missing me all that much. 
Later in the day I caught up with Aaron in Daegu and we went to see the new Transformers movie. I have to admit, being a Transformer’s junkie since I was a kid I was really looking forward to it, and it didn’t disappoint. It was always going to be a tough movie to create but I think they did an excellent job. I was a little disappointed with some of the characters, mainly their role in the film, but overall I totally enjoyed it.
Now of course I’ll download the cartoon version and watch to relive some childhood memories.
After the movie we had a huge steak dinner at Outback before heading home.
Today I have to find bed sheets for my new bed. I don’t think it’ll be all that easy but I’ll give it a try anyway. Of we go!
1/7/2007 - Sunday 10:10 am 
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By xerraireart, 2/7/2007 - Monday @ 8:57 am
This proves what a charming young man you really are, David. Em
will be fine I’m sure. But, I’m sure she will miss you deeply.
Absence, nearly always makes the heart grow fonder. There’s just one
thing I would like to know. Did you shed a tear, as she departed?
By David, 2/7/2007 - Monday @ 2:44 pm
Xerraireart: I didn’t share a tear, but that doesn’t mean I was sad to see her go. It’s only 5 weeks and I know she’s merely a phone call away. Besides, she’ll be hanging out with her family and friends and I know she’ll be happy.