Apologies for embodying the American steretype

Dear Miryang,

I'm sorry.

I know you may not have taken particular offense to my actions on Friday night, but I am aware that I made a spectacle of myself in your quiet and peaceful streets and family run establishments.

I am sorry for pounding beers and Soju shots at Coco Rico and making loud an inappropriate conversation as myself and the other foreigners sat on the patio deck.

I am sorry for blacking out as soon as we relocated to the interior of Coco Rico. The following apologies will be for what happened during that mysterious hour that I do not recall.

I am sorry for making my friends very uncomfortable by speaking French poorly and urging them to start chanting various exclamations with no success. I am sorry for consistently telling everyone how good looking they were and how wonderful we were because we all had nice teeth and good bone structure. It is unfortunate that I spoke loudly of my liberal political opinions and my desire to organize and host a beer olympics this summer. I am sorry for singling out the new friends I made by accusing them of being a part of a private Hagwon underground riddled with gambling, prostitution, violence and territory wars. My apologies for insisting that it is time to "mul" it, which is the Korean word for water, and was neither used or pronounced correctly.

I am also sorry to the people at Coco Rico. I am sorry for allowing my drunk self to interrupt your dining experience by practicing how to say hello in Korean and introducing myself. I am sorry to the staff for making them hug me and telling them how beautiful they were as we held hands to and from the bathroom.

Also, I am sorry that the song "call me maybe" is so good, and I felt the need to stand up and sing it loudly to the entire restaurant.

I am sorry for insisting upon a street photo shoot, and dragging it out due to an inability to focus. To the taxi driver who apparently took us to the singing room, I am sure that I was unruly in the backseat.

To the other people at the No Ray Bang, I am sorry for screaming Whitney Houston at the top of my lungs and insisting that Backstreet Boys and Gloria Gaynor were in fact, the music of our generation. I am sorry for standing and dancing on the furniture and playing the tambourine...which I am sure was not on beat. I am NOT sorry to the gross Korean man on the scooter outside who I had to push away on the street because he was being a complete jerk.

Also, I am sorry to my vocal chords, for ruining them. I am sorry to the toilet, for throwing up in it. I am sorry to my parents, for having to read about this. I am sorry to my friends who had to listen to my antics all night. I am sorry for being labeled the "american stereotype." And I am sorry for being so awesome and fun that the majority of Koreans don't know what to do.


Please forgive me Miryang, because I have a feeling that this will all happen again in due time.

Love always,

Annie G.

Ps. I am NOT sorry for my face in this picture...which is hilarious.

A weekend in Busan

OK, before I explain the weekend at the Sand Festival, I must explain a facet of my personality known only as "The G."

Many of you have met The G in the past, or seen The G's antics whether it be online or on stage at a Parliament Funkadelic show. But for those of you who are not familiar with The G, she is my party persona, and when The G is out to party...she goes hard. Not only that, but The G seems to somehow get herself into the craziest of situations.
The G was on hiatus for a little while this past year, but since January she has been back in full force, and lets just say that international boundaries do not hold The G back.
So this weekend was the Sand Festival in Busan...

I went to meet up with a lovely girl who I had connected with through the recruiter I am working with. We met up in Busan and walked around, meeting up with some of her other Teacher friends, and looking at the sand sculptures.

First post-pregaming stop was at "Thursdays Party" which is an acceptable bar to go to on any day of the week. We sat next to a group of Koreans who had just gone to the Busan Giants baseball game. Also, let me rephrase, we sat next to some Koreans and a Japanese girl. We knew she was Japanese because one of the Korean boys kept saying "She is Japanese!!!"

Also, let me interject- gin and tonics here are NOT what I am used to.

But nay, twas not the gin that did me in, for here in Korea they are famous for their Soju, a substance that smells like rubbing alcohol and causes a drunk that is unlike anything else. If there is one thing I am already sure about in Korea, Soju will be my eventual demise.

After Thursdays party we went to "Blue Monkey" a club CRAWLING with foreigners doing crazy things. Naturally I made a b-line to the stage where I spent the majority of the night (when I wasnt on the tables)

Finally it was time to leave, and the scene outside Blue Monkey was just as insane as what was inside. Foreigners crowding the streets, dancing on cars, standing in front of traffic, sleeping outside of stores. I looked around and knew then that coming to Korea was the best idea of my life.

The next morning I decided to travel back to beautiful haeundae beach for a lovely day of self reflection and realization.

"where are you from!" asked the young girl and her mother walking next to me on the sidewalk.

"I am from America" I replied.

"Ahhh I love Engrish!!"

Thus began my day with my new little Korean friends.

They were lovely people, and I introduced myself. They introduced themselves too, but upon hearing their names and struggling for pronunciation, the young girl said I could just call her "Betty."

Betty and her mom were so nice, we walked up the beach and explored the sand festival. At one point they shuttled me into a tent filled with children, I was told to sit down with the children to paint a windchime.

We then went to an observatory on the beach where the second APEC summit was held. It was a breathtaking view of the beach and of Busan. Betty and her mom would point to things and tell me the Korean word, and I would tell them the English equivalent. After a few hours of this, I found I needed to get back to Miryang, and we went to lunch, where Betty's mother told me I was her new sister, followed by a tearful goodbye at the train station.

I recently received an email from Betty inviting me back for dinner with her family. I can't wait!