St. Paddy's Day

Today I told my offices mates about St. Paddy's Day and that I was planning on going out for a drink at the local Irish Pub. Jinju wanted to come with, so after work we hailed a cab back to my hotel so I could drop off my laptop (Jeeves was mysteriously absent). While here, she helped me talk to the front desk about my broken dryer and they sent maintenance man over. Convinced that I was an idiot, he proceeded to give us a demonstration but, low and behold, he got the same error message. Turns out the drum is not draining properly and therefor won't dry. So, a repairman is coming tomorrow! Yay! Clean clothes! Without having to hang things from all the chairs!

Next, we sauntered over to the bar for a pint and shared a Caprese Salad. This being an Irish bar in Korea, I was a bit surprised that the Italian salad was so dang good. Afterwards, we wandered through the shops of Gangnam, stopping for Japanese style snacks and Cold Stone Ice Cream. I really enjoyed chatting with Jinju - I learned that she went to college in London and then worked in marketing before landing back here. She lives with her parents (as most unmarried Koreans do) and is amazed that own a home and "have to do all that cleaning!" We talked about the dating culture here, children, dogs, BBQ (backyard, not tabletop), coffee and movies. All in all, not the St. Paddy's Day I expected but a great one none the less. I leave you with a few random thoughts for the day:

• Why do I giggle every time I see the word "dong"? Maybe it's time to grow up.

• Maybe I should stop mentioning "dong" in a blog my parents read. (Sorry!)

• Tomorrow I'm buying tickets to see Jason Mraz. Sora & Adrianna are coming with!

• Why, o why, are the sewers here so pungent and prolific?

• This weekend I WILL take the subway

• Jinju said she'll go with me to Lotte World. Weeeeeee - Korean amusement park!

• The people I work with here are amazing. In fact, the people I work with in general are amazing

• I sincerely hate the elevator in this hotel. It is evil.

• I miss my dog, I miss my friends, I miss my bed...but I am so happy and thankful to have this experience.