Why I stay here.

Oh, darlings. Those kiddies down in Busan are cra-zy. We felt so damn old the whole time we were there. "Busan has broken me," was uttered more than once, on just about every night (morning?). They know how to have a good time, but we Seoulish people had a hard time keeping up, and imagining like... you know... just living that way. The foreigner community down there is such a clusterfuck, it's not even funny. We all have our circles up here in the northwest, and can generally be seen moving in packs but jesus.... they stick tight down there. It's a whole other world. They're always out of money.

After making our way, finally, to Texas Street (which every decent guidebook will warn you about), we found ourselves in a tiny establishment full to the brim with Russians and Filipinos. The San Miguel was cold and good, but we found ourselves dumping out onto the streets for a little walk and some fresh air after some time. After a few strolls up and down, Clara (a tall blonde) and myself being shouted at in Russian, with Willie as our only protection, I squeaked out in a small voice, "I want to go back to Korea...."

So we kissed the party kids goodbye and headed back to the apartment we were borrowing for the weekend, made our way to a completely empty (Seolnal Day) hof and mixed Hite and soju, until five or six Korean guys (one of whom we had already met that weekend) showed up. We ended the night in noraebang and everything felt like it was a bit more on track. It's funny when what's familiar becomes foreign, what's foreign becomes familiar, and what's normal is just something in between.

There was so much more than this -- there was the beach at night and Vietnamese food, and sharing beds and showering in the dark with cold water. There was Kpop and language exchange and meeting hordes of people. There was the most serious Party Girl like I've never seen since leaving New York. Numbers exchanged and saying goodbye... people with their plans to move on. Others who have been here forever, and those of us who are just somewhere in between. I imagine the facebook pages will be going crazy in a few hours, but for now it's time to clean the apartment, do a little reading and possibly get some sleep. Prepare to return to Life tomorrow. Although it won't be the same. And it never is. And I guess that's why I stay here.