Although he lived 4 hours from Bundang and I didn't see him very often since I moved up here, he has still been a great friend and he has been up here to visit and I have been down there to see him too.
Dave and I left from Bundang at about 6pm, Saturday night. Dave was good enough to drive down there and as he calls his car, "Ole Faithfull," it never let us down one iota on the way there or back. It was nice to drive down there instead of taking the bus. The only small glich was that Dave's stereo doesn't work, so it was up to us to keep the conversation going.
I was doing the passenger's duty on the way back especially; that is keeping the driver occupied so that he didn't feel so tired. I felt pretty tired, so I am sure Dave felt just as bad. I talked a lot even by my own standards!!!!!
Dave and I discussed that whole issue of when you drive with someone in the passenger's seat and they fall asleep on you. Most people that do that, have never drove before or are really selfish. Riding shotgun has its responsibilities that go along with it. Remember that next time you sit there on a long trip and live up to them!!!!!
The drive down there was good. We made good time and we arrived in Ulsan a little after 10pm. We headed right to 'Benchwarmers' and the good news once we got there, was that Liverpool were up 2-0 against Chelsea. That ended up being the final score and I must say I was chuffed. Liverpool hadn't beaten Chelsea in over 3 years in the league, so this was a long time coming and puts us only 4 points behind them now.
Once inside Benchwarmers, there was a small crowd and Hope had also made the trip down there as well as Darren Hogan and later John Buckley as well as Matt Wurderman. It was only a small gathering, but a nice one at that. The drinks were a lot cheaper than usual as Troy decided to discount them for Gareth's special night.
Gareth was already on his way to being bevied by the time we arrived, but the nice thing about it was that he had no clue that Dave and I were coming down there to say goodbye. I had told him earlier in the week that I had a full schedule on the weekends and couldn't possibly come down from Seoul before I left to go on my vacation.
It was priceless; I walked around the corner of the bar and there was Gareth chatting away to a couple of fellas, sat at the table. I yelled something I can' t remember to get his attention. Well, the look on his face was priceless. He was gobsmacked. He didn't know what to say.
Finally, he just said, "No, no way, you bastard, you wanker.... what the fuck!!!!!" Then he came up to me and gave me a big hug and actually started to tear up. Then he hugged me again and again and again. He just kept shaking his head everytime he looked at me and then would hug me again.
A priceless moment that I am sure both he and I will remember for a long long time. It was worth the trip just for that moment. Then Dave came around the corner and the same all over again; hug, cursing, hug, cursing. Again, priceless.
We sat down to watch the rest of the Liverpool match and then we had a few drinks and a bit of a talk and some good stories amongst the fellas. I hadn't seen Darren in over a year or so and he actually lives in Seoul. Dave and I said that next weekend, we will meet up with him and watch some football at Hollywood's in Itaewon.
The night ended in the early hours of the morning and I eventually ended up meeting up with my ex-girlfriend. I hadn't seen her in over 6 months. It was nice to see her and we caught up on each other's lives. I was genuinely happy to see her, but I know there is nothing there anymore. She is just a good friend that I used to have feelings for.
It was a really cool feeling to just hang out with her and have none of that couple stress that we had before.
It was good for her and good for me. I don't know if I will ever be down in Ulsan again. It won't be for a very, very, very long time. Tony, my friend, is going back to Canada. Rob isn't there anymore. Gareth will be gone, so there is really nothing to go there for except maybe to visit Troy and Jeff or Dan Gauthier sometime in the future.
Sunday afternoon, I went for some lunch with Kyoung Hee and then off I went to the Taehwa pitch to have the testimonial kick-around for Gareth. I met Dave and John Buckley there and then Darren showed up and eventually there were about 17 fellas that came.
Most of them were the new boys on the team and I didn't know hardly any of them, but we had a good kick-around and we did okay for a bunch of hung-over has-beens...... haha.
After the game, I felt so stiff. It has been a full year and a bit since I put on a pair of boots and had a kick-around. Well, maybe one time in the summer in Bundang. My toes are sore today and so are my thighs. It was a good time though and Dave and I left after the match.
We headed to Bundang at about 5pm. We got to Bundang, after about 3 stops, at 10pm. We were both starved and stiff and we needed the few breaks on the way. Once again, the car was great and we both appreciated leaving earlier than we expected.
A few of the boys went for some curry downtown, but we wanted to get going and Gareth was okay with us leaving.
We said our goodbyes and we all promised that we would cross paths again sometime and somewhere in the future.
I got home and literally just crashed into bed. I checked the other results from Saturday and watched parts of the Everton game between napping. I had a fairly good night's sleep by my standards, but I was so nackered that I woke up in the morning not knowing where the hell I was.....lol.
So, another eventful weekend with a few details left-out otherwise I would be writing a bloody novel. 9 more working days to go and 11 more days to go until I am finished at Avalon. It is getting closer and I am organizing all my stuff. Not leaving anything to the last minute. I plan on leaving Korea for my vacation with just a little carry on bag and my laptop.
I am going to give my laptop to my nephew, Jamie. It still works as a computer and it will print and play music and play dvd's. It just can't be hooked up to the internet as it has some problem with its inner guts. Jamie can use it for his essays at home and can do what he wants on it in the comfort of his own room. If he doesn't want it, then he can chuck it, but I think it would be of use to him as just a writing tool and a video/audio tool.
I am not taking any clothes to Canada with me. Just what I will have on and the next day that I arrive in Toronto, I will be going shopping for everything, including good underwear, which there is a huge lack of in this country.
So I think I should have no check-in bags at all...... cool. I will buy a big suitcase in Canada and travel back with that.
Below is a picture that I got off of Kyle's site. It is of one of his students, but I wanted to show the mask that all the Koreans wear here. You see them everywhere, young and old and I always say, "Look, another doctor!"
They really do look ridiculous and I have no idea why they wear them, especially after they already have a cold. Anyone got any ideas???????????
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