I wasn't feeling guilty about not posting because I had forgotten that I hadn't in a few weeks.

Well I suppose it has been a while since my last post. I've been up to mostly the usual, Starcraft and adventuring. I also find time to do homework and attend classes of course, but those are less interesting. Our study group went to Japan recently, so expect that to take up most of the post. Other than that, nothing big to report (at least not intro paragraph worthy) so I'll dive right into the post.

Starcraft Stuff:
I was a little disappointed because the GSL finals for October were going to Blizzcon in Anaheim. It was a good just my luck sort of thing, I go all the way to Korea and the GSL goes to America. There's one more final in Korea for this current GSL that I will get to attend, then I have to wait until I come back to go to a final again. Since a lot of people now had no good way to watch the GSL, GOM invited us all to the studio to watch. In the main studio, the Korean stream was being watched. For us English speakers, the lobby was playing the English casted version. It was a pretty fun day, though nowhere near as good as the last GSL finals.

In other Starcraft things, I've finally gotten to meet two of the best players known to man. Of course I'm talking about NesTea and Mvp (I know you knew that already). Someday, I hope BroodWar starts again because I'm really itching to see some good BroodWar games. In addition to that, I really want to see Firebathero play. Really badly.

Ok and I actually had to add this last part because even though I finished this section already (had to leave it unfinished overnight because I was busy), but this is too awesome. I met BoxeR. Of course it wasn't the first time I had ever met him, but the last time I met him, it was just kind of a pulling up in front of him, getting an autograph, thanking him, and moving on. This time, I actually got to more formally meet him. Like with BroodWar (but not with SC2) there are fan meetings after games. Being an old BW player and a generally popular guy, BoxeR held one of these meetings after his game yesterday. After it died down slightly, Jessica (his girlfriend) invited the other white guy and I to get pictures. It's hard to tell when to interject when fan meetings happen and in all cases where I have, the fans haven't minded having a random white guy come in really quick and get a picture and an autograph before asking questions again. This was just nice of Jessica to make it less awkward for us. The guy and I swapped taking pictures for each other and it was really cool. BoxeR used my pen so I don't think I'll ever be able to part with it now. Staying for the fan meeting was cool too even though I caught less than half of what they were talking about. I don't know what to say exactly, it was just so awesome to meet BoxeR for longer than 10 seconds. It's been the highlight of my Starcraft adventures here. Now all I really want is a picture with Firebathero, but that requires BroodWar to start up again.

Japan Excursion:
Our group had a trip to Japan (specifically Osaka and Kyoto) to study Korean diaspora. Unfortunately, the first day consisted of leaving for the airport at 5am, then getting on a plane and spending about from noon until 6pm walking around and touring. By the end of the day, everyone was super wiped out and nobody really recovered until we got back to Korea. The first day was spent touring around Kyoto. We went on a walking tour of an area near where there is supposed to be heavy Geisha activity, but did not see any. Later that night after dinner (which wasn't that great. I didn't eat well in Japan due to the fact that I detest fish) there was an optional tour to the actual geisha activity area at which point a few of us did get to see geisha after we split up to head home after giving up as a large group. After giving up, the big group split up into two groups. I was with the less party-tastic (stupid way of saying less popular?) group which was cool because I like hanging out with them. It's also good to get good points with as many of the girls in the group as possible which I am actively trying to do. Gotta alienate myself a bit less here. We got froyo and saw actual geisha (the other group did not) and then we went back to the hotel.

The next day was the long walking tour of Kyoto. It was pretty informative and for some reason the guide liked talking to me even though I didn't know that much about Japan and couldn't add to the conversation. Usually if a guide likes talking to me its because we have something in common like a deep knowledge of classic rock or maybe just I knew about the topic we were learning about. Either way, this tour was informative, but way too long and about halfway through, everyone kind of stopped paying close attention when we got somewhere. It wasn't necessarily to be rude, it was just that none of us were able to sleep that well given the rigorous schedule we were on (bed at about midnight, up and ready to leave at 7). Everyone welcomed the hour and a half bus ride that afternoon from Kyoto to Osaka at which point we were given the night off. It was one of the girls' birthdays, so a handful of us went to celebrate with her. In the process, I found a really good steak place for cheap that I ate at with a bunch of people before the two groups (we split up to get seated at different restaurants easier) rejoined each other. At that point, a lot of people began to be drains on the productivity of the group while myself and the birthday girl looked around for bars that had room for all of us. I hadn't interacted with her a whole lot before this, but she was one of the people in the group that gets me, so it made walking around with her less awkward. I also think I earned points for being one of the only people helping her find a place to go. Eventually, we all decided on a bar  that had some karaoke in it and we just went there and drank and the girls sang a lot. Well the bar neglected to tell us that there is a 200Y charge per song (about $1.50 per song). Anyway, all but a couple of the girls sang a bunch of the songs, but we all decided to chip in equal amounts to punish ourselves for collective ignorance. The guys wound up paying extra because those couple of the girls that didn't sing (unlike the guys) were really bitchy about not paying. We made sure everyone was back safe in the hotel, then me and one of the guys went back out to casually walk around the town for a little bit because we weren't quite tired and we wanted to get away from a couple of the girls who had been really annoying. After walking around for about an hour, it started to rain so we headed back in.

This hotel was nice because the rooms were really small so every person got their own room. Even better was the bed played good elevator music (a console on the bed rather) so I got to fall asleep to that. I actually got 6 hours of sleep and that was the most sleep I got in one sitting the whole weekend. Sunday was our fun day. We had to get up early to tour around a big palace in Nara (just outside of Osaka), but then got the day off starting from noon. The big palace was really cool. In the surrounding area, there were free roaming deer (a lot of them) and they were really tame, so it was like a strange petting zoo. Going into the temple was also pretty amazing because of its size. It is the largest wooden structure in the world measuring at about 160 feet tall, about 190 feet wide, and about 170 feet long. Inside the temple was really nice as well, containing two huge statues each about 45 feet tall. There was also a pillar with a hole at the base that was just large enough for someone of my size to squeeze through, so a bunch of us tried that. You're supposed to gain enlightenment or wishes granted if you do it, so fingers crossed. I also did a special love walk at a palace in Kyoto where you walk from one stone to another with your eyes closed (me and two other guys did it for fun) and if you do that, you're supposed to find true love so fingers super crossed. Who knows, maybe Sunny will just appear at my doorstep someday with all this good luck I'm supposedly accumulating. After seeing the palace, we had an hour to just randomly explore which turned into people trying to eat whilst being harassed by the deer. Apparently I was either the deer whisperer of the group or just the only one that had any experience whatsoever dealing with farm animals because the responsibility kept falling to me to keep the deer from bothering the girls too much. Having so many deer to pet was a nice substitute for not having a cat.

That afternoon, the group split up quite thoroughly. Not even all the guys stayed together which was the strangest part. Usually there are at least four of us (plus one guy that tags along), but this time, only three of us went to get food together. I had planned on hanging out with Boram during this time, but as with all weekend, she was perpetually kidnapped by other people and was hanging out with them. I'll go into a bit more detail in a little bit here the subject of her. Anyway, the three of us got food, then went back towards the hotel to rest for an hour because we were all tired. One guy offered to knock on our doors in an hour and we all went into our rooms. The problem for me was that my bed was so comfortable, if I even sat on it briefly, I would fall asleep. Such was the case this time and I wound up sleeping for four hours as did the other two guys. By that time, we all decided we should go get dinner because it was 6:00. The two guys really wanted steak, but the other people we were now with did not, so I volunteered to go get steak with the two guys since I desperately wanted something that wasn't seafood (any meal provided to us through the program was predominantly seafood which sucks because I hate hate hate that stuff) and I also didn't need to hang out with those other people. We got the good steak again then proceeded to wander around town looking to find gifts for people. Eventually we concluded that gifts were too expensive and we gave up and left back for the hotel to rest for an hour again. Then 3 hours later, we woke up and a couple people decided they wanted to do a night exploration this night similar to the one I did with that other guy from the night before. It went pretty well, but eventually it started to rain, so we went back inside. Back in the hotel, I played cards for a bit with one of the guys, then eventually began winning at that game really consistently. I guess I'm a natural. We then played a few games during the first half of the Giants game (one of the guys is from New York), but at halftime, it was 3am and I was tired, so I went to bed for 4 hours before getting up for the next day.

It was now Monday, our final day. We took a tour of a nice temple which took up a good amount of time. We then spent most of the afternoon making our way to the airport and then waiting for the plane to arrive. A few of us stopped at the duty free store to pick up alcohol (it's gonna be a partay when I come back to game night with all these asian drinks). Also somewhere in there, me and the two guys I hung out with on Sunday ran across Little Bow Wow (who I didn't recognize). He was super nice and the two guys got their picture taken with him. I didn't want to get in on it because I only know who he is because of Like Mike and there was no way in hell I was going to tell him that. We finally arrived in Korea at about 9:00 at which point I got back to my room and passed out at about 11:00, then proceeded to get a much needed 12 hours of sleep.

Japan was actually an interesting experience in that it was not terribly interesting. I had been wondering for a couple weeks prior to going there if I was really liking Korea for Korea or if I was just liking it because it was different from home. After going to Japan and coming back to Korea, I now know that I really like Korea for being Korea. I feel at home here and it was nice to get back into my regular familiar schedule here, doing all the things I like to do on a daily basis. I am positive that were I to come back here (which I still really want to do (but how to tell my family....)), I would really be happy. I know if I tell my family this, they will all say well you're an adult so you can make the decisions and that's cool, but I would rather they support this decision rather than accept it. And unfortunately, unless I underestimate how much they would approve of my plan, my most convincing strategy for them realizing why I want to come back would be to get a girlfriend over here. And I don't want to make that sound really creepy, I would really like a girlfriend here anyway. I've been spoiled here with all the pretty girls everywhere. So with this topic, I shall transfer into...

Amorous Affairs:
Well not so much I guess given my general lack of success/attempts.

First, we have the assistant. I did ask her "out" about a month and a half ago, but after a few events that made me wonder if she understood I asked her out instead of asked her to hang out, the rendezvous fell apart and never happened. It also sounded like she wanted to meet with a larger group of people so it would be more casual. That sounds pretty straightforward, but I still have no idea if she knows I asked her on a date (I applied some of the nuances with the English language that I would on an American girl (that a Korean girl might not understand)) so I'm currently debating whether to try again and that end has kind of been left open for now. I'm also working other leads.

The girl that seemed to like me from the volunteering project has not shown up since that first week. In fact, I haven't heard from her much, so I assume that is now a dead end.

But last week, a new girl showed up to the volunteering project. She is 150cm tall (the perfect height!!) and recently got a license for something involving programming. I take programming to mean one thing, but it sounds like she may just be certified as proficient in excel and programs like that. Either way, she's slightly nerdy and I'm considering asking her out next time she comes if I haven't scored a date by then already. And again, we're allowed to do anything with the people outside of the project so it's totally okay. I actually have a student now through that project and every Thursday, I'm going to be teaching him some English.

And last, but certainly not least, there's the girl that works at the GSL front desk. I see her every day I come in and she greets me with a big smile and I greet her back in Korean. I sometimes try to make chit chat briefly in Korean (still haven't gotten her name yet though) and we're too shy to make prolonged eye contact, but people that have seen me talking to her described what she did while I was complementing her or talking to her and it's usually something that gives me a pretty good vibe. Confusingly, there's this one guy that always sits with her and I can't tell if he's her boyfriend. I don't necessarily think he is, but there's also the possibility that he is a close friend that is protective of her or possibly even an unfortunate friendzoned guy. Being in that position a few times myself, I hate to ask her out under his watch, but I figure I gotta do it eventually. I was planning to do it last night, but since BoxeR was there, getting to meet him had to take priority and in addition to that, there were a ton of people, so I couldn't talk to her really well. Ideally today the guy will not be there and I can just approach her during a game or something. Wish me luck, hopefully win or lose I will actually get up the balls to do something.

Korean Life:
The classes are going well, but they're really boring and my desire to talk about them is even less than your desire to hear about them I'm sure. I've been making casual friends mostly through trips to Costco. It seems every time I take my roommate, he finds someone that wants to tag along, so I get to meet new people that way which is kind of fun. People are also getting to know me as the Starcraft guy or the Costco guy. I also have taken to liking to make really terrible puns around people, so that's been fun to have that going too. Hopefully I can provide people with some amusement. As for my adventures, I haven't had time for many since my last post what with my Japan trip and midterms taking place. I did manage to do another big walk starting at midnight the other day though. The subway broke and I was too cheap for a taxi, so I walked for about 2 hours from my location to my dorm room starting at midnight. And I only got harassed once and it was in the most public area. A Korean guy called me the n-word to which I gave him a confused look and kept walking.

Not much else to report. This post has taken me a while to write and for a second time is running right up into my language class, so I should get going to that. Until next time, peace out.