A few short stories for your amusement....
My buddy Rob is getting married on March 13, so we had his bachelor party a few weekends ago. We met at the 3 Alley Pub, which is our favorite bar in Itaewon and the scene of many big nights out. At first it was just me, Rob, and his friend Jon. Rob put Jon in charge and said "no hookers, no strippers, none of that stuff." So we figured we'd just drink a lot and hit some other bars in the "foreigner neighborhood" and then maybe end up at a late-night bar closer to our aparments.
Anyway, Rob is part of a running/drinking club these days, and the club regularly hangs out at 3 Alleys. So a bunch of the guys showed up (not even knowing it was Rob's bachelor party) and brought their girlfriends. I was surprised at this because I wanted to invite some of my female friends but Rob said "no girls". There were four girls there and they said they'd just stay for a while, but actually stayed for like two and a half hours.
Our friend Sean (another teacher) was there, too, and he and Rob decided to purchase a bottle of Jack Daniels. A few other people nipped into it but they drank most of it. And then they ordered ANOTHER. So in addition to a good amount of beer, they each basically drank a fifth of JD.
At about 10:30, most of the people from the running club had gone to another bar, and all that were remaining were me, Rob, Sean, Jon, and one other guy. We were playing some drinking game, but everytime my turn came around, I didn't have to drink. I actually bought myself a beer during the game just so I could keep drinking! At around 1:00, I realized that I was pretty sober compared to everyone else.
We checked out the bar where Rob's friends had gone to, but no one was there. We toyed with the idea of calling it a night, but figured we'd hit the Hollywood Bar for one or two more. Well, Sean had been taking pictures with his digital camera all night, and it was getting a bit irritating. We were walking and he wanted us to stop so he could take a picture, and Rob (kidding around... I think) moved to kick Sean. I think he was just pretending or was trying to kick him in the butt, but ended up kicking him right in the groin! Ouch!
Well, Sean doubled over (as you do), and then came back at Rob, trying to kick HIM. Sean was pretty pissed off and I was trying to keep him away from Rob, who was a bit incredulous at all of this. Sean eventually calmed down but I was really afraid that they were going to throw down.
Anyway, we put that behind us and bellied up to the bar, which was quite crowded. We had a few beers and then Rob demanded that we have a shot. By this time, it was just me, Rob, and Sean. I don't remember what it was (I'm not sure I knew at the time), but it was some sort of Kahlua-Bailey's sort of thing. I think that was the straw that broke the camel's back. We were definitely done at that point.
We left the bar around 2:30 and Sean insisted that we walk up to Hooker Hill "just to look". As he and I were debating this, Rob decided to lie down on the sidewalk to take a nap. I think he was ready to go home.
Well, I don't really know where Rob lives, and my understanding of that part of the city is a little shaky (and I was kind of drunk), so we told the cab driver to go to a particular movie theater in his neighborhood. As we crossed a bridge, Rob was sticking his head out the window and I was afraid he was going to be sick. Fortunately he made it okay, but once he and I got out of the cab (Sean continued home at this point), I realized that I didn't really know how to get him home. He was lying down on someone's car and insisted that I go home, but I couldn't leave him there of course! We stumbled forward a bit, he would lie down on just about every car he saw, and though I had an IDEA of where we were going, I was a bit lost. The blind leading the blind drunk as it were.
At one point, I started to really panic but I think Rob kind of knew where we were going. In Korea we have these special trash cans that you're supposed to put your food garbage into. Well, Rob decided to sit on one of those, and it fell over (duh) and Rob SMACKED face down into the road. It was pretty scary (and messy). I was afraid that he really hurt himself, but I think the shock from the pain sobered him up a little. He soon realized how to get home, and we finally got to his place. It took an hour from the time we got out of the cab to getting to Rob's apartment. But now I know he lives NOWHERE near that movie theater!
I made it home at 4:30. It was a lot of fun, but I was damn cold.
Of course there are pictures, but none are particularly embarassing.
Anyway, we got to the stop before mine, and one of the girls got up to get off the bus. However, her friend was asleep. I thought "is she just going to leave her friend sleeping on the bus?" When the girl got to the exit door, she noticed her friend was still sleeping, and called out to her. The girl woke up and ran out the door.
I watched them through the window and then realized that the girl who had been sleeping had left her bag on the bus! It was a red bag, kind of like a backpack. The exit door had closed and I figured the bus driver was about to pull away. I felt really bad for the girl, but didn't think I could get off the bus to try to catch her.
Well, just then, someone else asked the driver to open the door, and I thought, "here's my chance!" I grabbed the bag and darted out the door, barely making it through. I saw the two girls walking down the street, oblivious to the fact that the girl had left her bag behind.
I was all set to be the hero and almost caught up to them, when I realized that I wasn't carrying a high school girl's backpack, but was rather carrying a pillow! It must have been on the back seat of the bus for people to sit on! I couldn't freakin believe it!! I never said anything to the girls, but I can imagine that the people on the street were wondering "why is that white guy carrying a pillow?"
And I can only imagine what the bus driver must have been thinking. "Hey, that white guy is stealing my pillow!!"
Not knowing what to do, I walked down an alley and abandoned the pillow. Hopefully I'll never encounter that bus driver again....
Anyway, we walked in and a girl working there ran up to us and excitedly said a bunch of stuff in Korean, part of which was "do you remember me?" She looked familiar but I couldn't place her, and then I realized she was talking too fast so I just said in Korean, "I'm not sure". She said something to the effect of "hmmph!" and walked away.
We sat down and Rob said he didn't recognize her, and I was wondering if I had met her on some drunken adventure. It occurred to me that she might be a student, but she surely would have said so in English. She came back to our table and I asked how she knew me. She said a bunch of stuff I didn't understand and then came the word I half expected: "Flair".
Wow, remember that bar? The place with the juggling fire and the shows and the girls who loved us? Well, she was working there during the last few days when we went there, and though I never really got to know here then, she definitely remembered me. I probably haven't seen her in 10 months. Small world. She didn't give us any free stuff but I will be sure to go back and work on that.