Today, I ventured into Itaewon and had lunch at Tabom Brazil with John McCrarey and his nephew Justin, who lives and works in Korea and speaks Korean quite well. I had intended to treat John, but he insisted on paying, throwing arguments at me like "you're on your austerity" and "I'm older than you," taking no notice of my claim that "this is Korea, and he who invites pays." I didn't put up a fight, though, and the meal was excellent no matter which of us paid. John and his nephew, it turns out, are on opposite sides of the political aisle, but they're civil about it. (As to the question of whether Netflix has removed "Blazing Saddles" from its roster: the answer is that, yes, it's been removed. Sorry, Justin, but it's not fake news.)
John took a pic of me and his nephew, then emailed me the pic:
We hung around the resto after finishing our meal and chatted about this and that. Justin, it turns out, spends much of his time industriously studying Korean and doing freelance work as an English teacher. I wish him well. John, for his part, hasn't had a very good time visiting Korea; too many ghosts, I think, although he may have resolved his spiritual crisis if this post is any indication. In any event, he doesn't seem too keen on coming back to Korea except, perhaps, for a very brief stopover when he's on his way somewhere else.
I wish John happy trails when he leaves tomorrow night. May he arrive safely back in the PI, where his cute dogs (one of which he lovingly calls "borderline retarded") are waiting for him.
Thanks, Kev. It was a good time. You missed one other highlight though--opening a water bottle not designed to be opened. An impressive display of strength and the manager was nice about it too.
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