The Incident

As you may notice, some of my stories are old. Deal.

The following tale is one of compiled stories (well, one account) and tidbits of my own memory. Take it for as much truth as you wish.

FOR THE RECORD - OFFICIAL INCIDENT REPORT

Heading to work one bright sunny day, Kelsey and Mindy, aboard the faithful and true 90cc Veteran, were happily basking in the beams of Thursday morning Bible study and dear friends. Little did they know that a mere 10 minutes away from their destination something ominous was waiting.

Cue: men with fire hoses spraying down 3 lanes of traffic.

To avoid being lacerated by the streams of cold water shooting into their lane, Mindy, after concluding that it was safe to do so, merged into the far left lane of the road.

Enter: Seoul City Bus with a straight, shiny bumper.

Being as Korean roads are, with no drainage, and the amount of water being spewed forming a small lagoon in the aforesaid left lane, the ill-fated Veteran and his passengers were in quite the predicament.

Apply brakes: reduced speed at impact from 40 kph to 30 kph.

Being in an unconscious state, Mindy was of no help for the 2 minutes that followed. Some might say, her presence of mind was lost from that entire day, and may very well never be recovered. Kelsey, on the other hand, who was of sound and wise mind, though banged up in body, called their boss. After ascertaining that Mindy was neither dead, paralyzed, or broken, the police and ambulance arrived soon after to escort our two girls to the hospital.

Results of Incident: Severe concussion and bruising for our driver, yours truly, and deep-cut stitches and heavy bruising for the Lovepot, Kelsey.

Recovery is almost, if not all completed, but the repercussions of the not-so-straight bumper and the demolished Veteran are still working themselves out. The fire-hosing hooligans walked away unscathed and unknown.

Moral: Never play chicken with a Seoul City Bus. YOU WILL LOSE.

RIP Veteran
Oct 2009 - April 2010

For All Those Who Don't Know...

... Taylar is no longer a Manning! She is an Evje. Pronunciation is hard. Don't worry about it.

I recently journeyed all the way across the Pacific back to the vast and unpredictable land of opportunity to celebrate with my friends Taylar and Tim at their wedding.

Wait, wait. Did you catch that?

I WASN'T IN KOREA.

What?!?

I know, my reaction too.

Yes, after 8 months of being on a little penninsula-more-like-an-island-because-of-our-northern-neighbors, except for Christmas in Thailand and Cambodia, I left the land that I lov... well the land that I have strong and mixed feelings about for the smoggy, wonderful, vibrant, intoxicating, sunny place that is southern California - which I also have strong and mixed feelings about. I realize this was a long sentence. You made it through, well done you.

The kindred, Heidi, met me at LAX, where I was worried because no one was looking at me and I could understand almost all the conversations around me, and we drove straight to Chipotle. Oh, how I've missed you. Of course from there it was only a short walk to Target, my other love, for a little sight-seeing. Yes, walking through Target is theraupeutic, what with it's simple signs and well-organized abundance. It was a great time. But alas, too little time with the kindred. That's for sure.

Only a few short days in LA. But I also got to see my parents and my seester, Bethany. Which was great. They're great. Seester got me caught up on the word of choice, nugget. It used to be tiny. I took the fam to Venice Beach to see the sailboat I lived in, and the beach that I walked to nearly everyday this last summer.

Wednesday of my week home my parents drove me out to Palm Springs where I met up with Taylar and some of the other girls for spa day. It's a rough life, but someones got to do it, right?

It's hard to really explain how much fun the wedding was. The whole 3 days of being a part of something so special. I loved getting to be a part of it all. I loved being great friends with both Tim and Tay, so that the day was like a double celebration. I loved dancing to songs I didn't know the words to because the only music I'm caught up on is the K-Pop that my students show me on their phones during class. I loved laughing so hard I nearly peed my pants. I loved watching Tay, who looked stunning, and her dad walk down the aisle and being so excited and nervous my knees were shaking. I loved crying at John's speech and laughing at Sam's. I loved getting slapped in the face 3 times during the Ninja game at 4 in the morning when I was supposed to be driving to LA. I loved getting lost in Palm Desert with Sam-u-lous and hitting up the nearest gas station for Bubbalicious and other stuff for the Wang. I loved the drive back to LA with Canis, talking and laughing waking up to her punching me because I fell asleep for 2 seconds.

I loved so much about my time home. And I loved coming back to sweet friends here in Korea.

Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Evje! Love you both like whoa.
Consider yourself updated.