Adventures in Korea!

Oh hey friends! Long time no talk, at least via the blog. How I’ve longed for warmth of your watchful gaze upon my supple text. But enough small talk, I’ve got a story to tell.

I flew to Seoul from SFO via Singapore Air. All I can say that is WOWZA. The service was absolutely fantastic. The food was delicious. The drinks were plentiful and, even sweeter, free. The famous “Singapore Girls” lived up to expectations; they were gorgeous. The male flight attendants were pretty dashing, too. All around a simply lovely experience.

I did, however, have my worst foot-in-mouth moment of my life. I’m talking a monumental, gargantuan, foot of a giant infested with athlete’s foot. Straight in my mouth. And the giant had a toe fetish.

It occurred when I was probably 6 drinks in, and feeling a pretty healthy buzz. I was feeling antsy as I’d been sitting for 4+ hours, so I went to the back of the plane to stretch. Across the way, I see a guy with the same idea as me. He looked strikingly like a young Harry Potter. He struck up a conversation, and it turns out that we’re both EPIK teachers. After shooting the poop for 20 or so minutes, he says to me “We’ve been talking for 20 minutes now, I’m Ashley by the way.” His name threw me a bit, so I responded by saying “Hey, I’m Max. Nice to meet you. I think you’re the first guy I’ve ever met named Ashley.” Ashley looked at me stunned. He said “Are you serious? I’m a girl.” Yikes.

Thankfully, Ashley couldn’t have been classier about it. She laughed it off, saying it was a new haircut that she knew looked boyish. We talked for another 15 minutes or so, but the entire time I was mortified. I said goodbye and I haven’t seen her since.

I’m fairly certain that I would not have made this egregious error had I been sober. But, being tipsy, I just never questioned the initial judgment I’d made when seeing Ashley from 20 feet away. Curse my nearsightedness (and my drunken stupidity).

After the flight, I had to take a 4 hour bus ride to Jeonju University, where we’re having EPIK orientation for a week. We didn’t get to our rooms until midnight, and then had to be up for a medical exam at 7:40 the following morning. Since we were having our blood tested, we weren’t allowed to eat or drink. So I went to bed famished and thirsty. But at least the internet’s fast!