Memories of White Day in Korea

The year was 2010.  I had just finished my second week as a public high school teacher in Anyang.  I had been out to Guri and then Hongdae, with one of my all time best friends, Shane Skaggs, the night before.  I checked my e-mail when I got home at 8 in the morning.  There was a message from Amanda Lenz.

It was a Sunday, my favourite day of the week.  I just started playing hockey in the CBHK, a fairly competitive ball hockey league set up by Canadians living in Korea. I was on my way to the game when I stopped at a payphone (I didn’t have my own phone) to give her a call.  We made plans to meet up at the Dublin in Bundang for trivia that night.

On the subway I met Nic Brown.  I asked him about White Day and whether or not I should buy some chocolates for Amanda.  He thought it was a good idea.  I still wasn’t sure and felt a little bit cautious about it.

Trivia night at the Dublin was so much fun.  Sean McConoghey used to do a ‘racism’ category that pushed the limits a little bit.  People in Winnipeg would probably get all huffy about the things he said, but we all took it as the joke it was meant to be.    

One time my Austrian friend Jan greeted me at the door with a very loud ‘Fuck you Neil’.  This was a typical friendly greeting.  The only problem was I was with my parents and they didn’t get our sense of humour.

That night, my parents were very brave as they got to learn what a ‘Dirty Sanchez’ and a ‘Cleaveland Steamer’ are. (They did a 'sex' category.  Some of them were much worse.)

After hockey I cabbed it back to my apartment and took a shower.  I caught the 3330 bus in Anyang and arrived in Bundang less than an hour later.  On the drive, the bus was up on this very high road, overlooking Bundang.  At night you could see the city all lit up below.

I made a quick stop at one of the little shops next to Seohyun station to buy Amanda some chocolates, and went to the Dublin.

Amanda was waiting for me alone in a booth right across from the entrance.  We played a game of pool before the trivia began.

We were playing on a four player team with her friends Tasha, and Shea.  Our team did very poorly in the trivia contest, but I didn’t really care.  I was having a really good time hanging out with Amanda.

My friend Jeff Sinclair from Winnipeg was there and before he left he ended up getting the phone number of Amanda’s roommate Gina.  Next Friday we would have a double date.

As more and more of our friends left, the two of us kept talking. 

Amanda was the first American I ever met that admitted they voted for George Bush.  A few days later, when I was hanging out with my friend Dave, he told me I should dump her, after I told him this.  Not only did she vote for Bush, but she said that she also would have voted for John McCain and Sarah Palin, had she been in America at the time.

She was from Missouri, and her political views were very conservative.  In this respect we were very much the opposite.  I think this actually made me like her more, as I like to be around people who have different points of view.

After a while, there were only three people left in the bar, other than the bartender Matt.  I was about to take a cab home but Gina would not let me.  She and Amanda practically had to drag me into the back of the cab.  I was going to spend the night in Bundang, whether I liked it or not.

Ps. I ended up keeping the chocolates.  I was too shy to give them to her.

rymr