Party, Run, Party

Well it's been one hell of a busy weekend, we really crammed a lot in, as you will see from the photos below. And they only tell half the story. I now will tell you the rest.

I suppose I should start at the beginning, as it will confuse you dear reader if I started anywhere else. Friday night, Samantha and I shot home, showered, ate and went out. It was Kristin's leaving party, and she wanted us all to go down to Osan, about a half hour south of Suwon. This is a town with an American base slap bang in the middle. So plenty of cheap bars, and juicy girls.

So we hooked-up with Kristin's friend Petrina, and got ourselves to the bar in Osan where we were all going to meet. We got there, Kristin was there with Alan and Wahrena, just waiting for Dorothy and Ian to show. I got asked my age by the bat owner, who himself it turned out was only 3 years older than me at 40. This amused me no end, and of course made me feel pretty good. A good few beers there. I particularly enjoyed the 1000ml beers that only cost 4000 won.

I got chatting some of the military guys, and got drawn into a long conversation with one called James. A Black Hawk pilot who was there with his crew. I shared in no end of rounds of shots with them all. It bemused some of our lot, as knowing me, they knew that these guys would normally be the last people on the planet I would hang with. True, but I like to mix it up, and talk to different people. It's what makes the world and a night out interesting.

After Osan, we grabbed subway back to central Suwon. There we met with Chris, Jorge, Ben and Amy. Wahrena and Alan had got off earlier. Alan was a little tipsy to say the least. Pressing naked bum up against the subway window when he got off, pretty mush confirmed that. And gave to passengers a good old laugh, at the same time.

Well the night carried on, as we finally settled into Team Bar. The place where the do the fire entertainment every so often. The whole gang had a good time, drinking and chatting. Before we knew it, it was gone 5 in the morning. Most people drifted home-wards. Kenny was going to stay at ours again, but said that he may as well get the first subway back home. So we had to keep him company, of course. That meant going to Dear Bar, our usual 'one for the road' hang-out in Suwon central. Chris came with us, doing pretty well on his virgin cocktails. We saw Kenny off, and made our way home. It must have been about 7.30am by the time we got to bed.

Despite the late night, we got up bright eyed and bushy tailed. The Japan gang were to meet up to discuss what we are going to do. So Dorothy, Jorge, Samantha and myself went and met Melanie in her neck of the woods to thrash out the details. After that we did some shopping, and went back to Suwon. Jorge carried on the subway, as he was off out again! We grabbed some food with Dorothy and Ian, then went home for an early night, as we had to be up very early to do the Terry Fox Charity 10km run that Dorothy had bullied some of us into.

So 5.00am Sunday morning Samantha and I dragged ourselves out of bed, met Dorothy and Ian at the station. We'd rang Jorge, as he was supposed to be coming too. He was in a Nori Bang (karaoke) with the guys he'd gone out with the previous evening. So we didn't think he'd be coming. Next thing we know, while we're stood on the platform, he rings us. He's here, not to do the run. But he did say that'd he do the 5km walk with Samantha. Not too bad for a bloke that hadn't had any sleep.

So we all went into Seoul, meeting up with Erin and Selina, Dorothy's friends, on the way. It was about 7.30am when we got there, ready to put ourselves through some kind of torture. The run started, and I started to do something I've never done and never thought I'd ever do, or could even do. I ran, and I ran, and I kept running. Running without slowing, stopping or anything for at least 7 to 8km of the course. Not bad for someone who doesn't do, physical fitness, who thinks
exercise is a dirty word. I shocked everyone, including myself. I only slowed down when I did, as I'd achieved far more than I expected, and didn't want to push myself too far. I ran the 10km in about 50mins, a respectable time I think.

Selina and Erin came in together first, out of our lot. Ian next and me not long after him. Dorothy was about 10 to 15mins behind me. Samantha and Jorge, turned up not long after, after doing their walk. Job done, we went home. Still early afternoon, which seemed weird.

That evening. we went to Neighbor Bar, our local hof. It was Nicole's birthday party. Jason has arranged for a suprise gathering. We had to all hide down the side alley, while Jorge rang her pretending to be a potential 'Korean' blind date. The funniest thing I've heard in so long. She went stood out the front to take the call, so we all sneaked in the back way and hid from view. Jumping out when she came and sat back down.

Well the night ticked along nicely. Plenty of people turned up, for it. It was also Kristin's last night, so it was nice for her to see everyone before she caught her flight the next morning. We left relatively early, as we once again had to be up at stupid-o'clock. Kristin stayed at ours, and we said that we'd see her to a taxi at 6.00am. It wasn't easy to get out of bed, after the weekend we'd had. But we did it, and saw her off.

Now it's Monday night, nearly 11.00pm. I'm feeling a little stiff, but not too bad considering. We are only a few days away from Japan, and all is good with the world. Hey, it's a hard life you know!