Birthday Madness

Alright so what's a 26th birthday weekend without catching a World's soccer match second-row, cheesy dakgalbi (the best kind), an AM Big Buddha-san hike, pancakes in the morning, 2 hootenanai wake-ups, and pulling a full nelson submission on a frothing mad, rent-raising korean landlady?

During class on monday I left the room to check the bathroom for a kid who'd been gone for suspiciously long. I came back into the school foyer to see my boss being dragged out of her office from her sweet pay-cheque-signing-50-year-old-hair by this screaming monster of an ajumma. No kidding. She was at least 3 meters tall, and had fangs. I pulled the lady off and she went beserk. Absolutely wild. Something about being chicken-winged straight into the water cooler by a skinny white teacher guy will do that I suppose. But even I wouldn't try to bite the guy's thumb off. I think every student in the building had their ears pressed to the doors to hear what this woman was screaming about.

5 minutes later, I'm back in the classroom, red-faced, scratched and disheveled. Basically, the look I'm going for. "Who's next!!??" In another classroom, a teacher asks if the woman had been saying some really bad words. The kid who speaks about 27 english words stands up and says "yeah, like 3000."

There's a Korean saying "the law is far but the fist is near" Absolute idiocy when the police show up, and arrange a friendly meeting between my boss and Count Dracula's Korean mistress. The entire police force must have been raised on dubbed-over Full House re-runs, I figure. Lets hope the Korean public never, ever get guns. Her big problem - something to do with extending a teacher's lease on his apartment, or something to that tune. Hey, I'm 26. It's about time I got in a fight.

Alright, now brace yourself, you are about to join the priviledged few who have witnessed this mystic annual ritual performed by my brother Dan and my new sister Margie. (no, not that ritual)



- The Birthday Dance -
This seems to be a fairly new family tradition (as I was not aware of its existence until 2am Saturday morning), but one I'm sure will pass the test of time and become yet another honoured passage marker within the inner sanctum and beyond. If you are thinking to yourself, "but Les' birthday was not until monday," you are correct. Dan had jumped the gun on the 26th, and so this event actually happened twice for me. It was like winning the lottery, but instead of winning money, I got an over-the-phone-hootenanai. Twice. Thanks for this, Dan and Margie!

While Korea (red) lost to Uruguay (bum-touching) 2-0, the game was awesome to be at. The stadium's architecture itself, designed to host Korea's world cup in 2002, is an inspiring testament to Korean ingenuity. While this was simply a "friendly match," the approaching-capacity crowd was very involved. This sport, like so many others, is infinitely more entertaining to witness live than to watch from a television set. Leave North America and you will find, suddenly, that soccer is a Big Deal. Many, many thanks to Nicole and co. for arranging this suprise for me.

On a tranquil note, Bulam-san (Big Buddha) peak, left and back. Another nice way to celebrate a new day, springtime, and the beginning of my 26th year.

Coming up this weekend, (weather, and sleeping bag permitting): Mountain Shamanism, and Seoninbong multipitch climbing/camping. Not weather-permitting: Games night alla Shannon.