Badminton Mania

Ok, I have been admittedly and shame-facedly negligent of my little burgeoning blogspot here. Almost a month of silence, as if nothing worth mentioning transpired in the past few weeks? Bullocks! So I'll do my best to provide some wit and wisdom via website on the off chance that somewhere out there, in some small way, my blogspot is considered to be one of the greatest contributions to mankind in the 21st century. You know what else is a monumental contribution to human kind? Badminton. Scoff if you will, but I have recently been swept up in the glee and passion of this shuttlecock sport. No longer is badmitton merely a passtime of bar-b-ques and backyards. It has found its true place of respect in the far East, the land of zen, karaoke, and ramen noodles. I was first made aware of Badminton's pervasive (or maybe perversive ) hold on the Asian Continent when I was in Vietnam (ref. Saigon Morning). The wicked 5am matches that could be found in every park across the city were a bit intimidating. They wacked those birdies with ferocious grunts and crippling velocity- and that's saying alot for a projectile that weighs 2 oz and is primarily feathers. I dodged my way around them with great fear and trepidation, reluctant to receive either a sting by a whizzing missile, or the wrath of a hard-core sweatband wearing Vietnamese "athlete". But here in Korea, I have found it more...approachable. Probably because I've been playing in the comfort of the Seoul English Village front entry hall, along with my other novice badmittoners. What I find most rewarding about the game is the inevitable ridicularity that ensues no matter how fierce the pre-game posturing may be. What begins as an intense jaw-clenching, eye-slitting, knuckle-tightening stare down across the "net" (which is a brochure stand that we move to the center of the entry way) is quickly reduced to fountain-esque pirouttes, flailing arms, and sprawling capers across the slick marble floor. A dress code of p.j. pants and slippers is strictly observed on the court at all times of play, and matches typically commence at 1 am. We're now considering sponsorship offers from Commander Vodka and Dole 100% Orange Drink. A ramen sponsorship maybe in the works. We've yet to hear from Gatorade, but it isn't in us anyway...

Costco

A couple weekends ago I found myself with an empty Sunday afternoon and no pressing life goals or aspirations to accomplish...except perhaps one: To find the most ludicrously oversized and underpriced jar of Dill Pickles that could be dreamed for. So where to set out on my quest? Where any good American goes for bulk quantity purchases: Costco, of course!

Yes, for one afternoon, Korea felt a bit more like Good Ol' USA, the land of the exorbitant and the home of the bulk. I walked through the loading dock sized warehouse filled to capacity with 500 reams of sky blue Xerox paper, gallon jars of Oil of Olay, 15lbs cases of Kleenex, and 20 liter bottles of Burburry Cologne. I was fortunate enough to gain access from a fellow ex-pat friend Lisa, who posessed the coveted Costco Card, and knowledge of its clandestine location.

Entry granted we strolled for a few hours admist stock of 3 lbs chocolate bars, sampled fresh strawberries, soy milk, and even Real pumpkin pie! (swinging by that particular table 4 times) I was amused to see my favorite Natural Valley granola bars sitting along side Korean rice and sesame seed sticks, or Spam shelfed next to French Pate- evidently the two are indistinguishable to the Korean palate. More amusing were the Gift Box sets including 3 cans of Spam, 2 boxes of sesame crackers, a steering wheel of cheese and Boones Farm Strawberry wine. Yes, even in Korea you can find the illustrious Boones Farm Wine, $2 and in Wild Strawberry and Kiwi flavors. Nothing says "I cherish you" more than Spam and kiwi "wine".

3 hours later we walked out into the chill of the night, warmed by the buzz of consumer indulgence and tummies full of sample sized pieces of pumpkin pie. Lugging all we dared to carry on the subway, loaded down with 2 lbs bags of baby carrots, cartons of granola bars, cinnamon and oat&honey, bottle of Bailey's and 2 matching Tumblers, and jar of Neutrogena Hand Cream the size of my head, we felt our mission had be glorious success. Then I realized...I'd forgotten the pickles.

Ravin' Korean New Year's

So New Year's Eve happens to be one of my favorite holidays. The party doesn't even Begin until Midnight, everyone gets dressed up fancy And wears stupid hats, and there's a Countdown involved!! What's not to love!?

So for me, Asia is the perfect place to be for New Years because in Asia once a year just isn't enough for these people, they kick the year off twice! Once on Dec. 31/Jan. 1, and then again for Lunar New Year mid-Feb. So if you think about it they are twice as experienced at celebrating it as any other western continent who so exclusively holds to the Roman calendar. Imagine! Two Annual celebrations of the same..."annu". It's like getting two birthdays! Which I did once, but this time I don't have to lie to the waiter at TGI Fridays just to get a free dessert!

And you could figure that there are 8 times zones spanning Asia- so if you were really ambitious, that makes for 16 potential New Years Celebrations! Some may consider this overkill, but I take it as a challenge!

So anyway, I've already had my first New Year's here. My friends and I went to a big Rave with DJ Pete Togs, a countdown confetti explosion, glow-sticks (which we twirled nunchuck style and ended up inflicting some head injuries) and free drinks until Midnight (which, admittedly, probably contributed to the nunchuck-glow-stick injuries). But glow-stick bruises and all the night was all that I could hope for my first round of New Years Celebrating...now I'm getting ready for round 2 next month. Hail to the Lunar Calendar!