Day 50: Butchered

Yes, there was definitely caffeine in my drink last night! I tried to go to bed relatively early last night but it just didn't happen. I lay in bed for what seemed like forever....waiting for the coffee jitters to subside. As a result, I ended up sleeping in a bit later today than what I had planned. Oh well! Time to get my ass in gear.... I had plans to meet up with Michael in the afternoon to go and check out the Cherry Blossom Festival on Yeuoido Island with some of his friends, but first we both needed to get haircuts. He's been going to this one stylist way over in COEX Mall and reccomended me to her, so I thought I'd give her a shot.

Now I must admit that I was really nervous about this! Anyone who knows me, knows that I'm really anal-retentive, hell let's just say it, I'm obsessive, about my hair. I spend way too much time fussing with it everyday, and I'll be the first to admit that I can't pass a mirror without stopping to adjust it. I have, (or should I say had?) a really fantastic stylist back in Vancouver - the dear sweet talented Marnie who took good care of my precious locks. Well anyways I've left Marnie behind (obviously) and so now, nearly 2 months since I've had my last haircut, I'm in desperate need for one. I've been putting it off, being just too nervous to go and have some stranger take a pair of scissors to my head. Well time to bite the bullet and be a man about it - go and get your hair cut Scott!!!

I ended up arriving at the salon only minutes before Michael did, so the timing worked out really well. The salon was way cool - when I arrived they put me in this white robe, gave me something to drink, and told me that I could surf the net while waiting for Jin (the girl Michael reccomended) to finish with her current client. Well my turn came eventually, and I was a bit nervous to have Jin cut my hair but I talked myself through it (not aloud of course!)

Well a lot of good the pep talk did me, cause she ended up butchering my hair!!! I don't know what crack she was smoking before came into work that day, but my hair looks pretty god damn awful. It's long in places it shouldn't be, too short in others, and I keep finding chunks of LONG LEFTOVER HAIR that she should've cut but seemed to have forgotten. Now without sounding over-dramatic ('Too late Scott!' you say?) I must say that although my hair cut is bad, it's not as bad at The Great Hair Butchering of '98 when I had my hair *destroyed* by fuckin' Great Clips (never, EVER go there!) just before my Uncle Paul's wedding. I'm gonna give it a few days and maybe I can try and find...new ways to style it? Well what other choice do I have! haha! They always say that misery loves company, and although I didn't wish this upon him, Jin ended up butchering Michael's hair too! We both left the salon, severely disheveled, disgraced and disappointed.

We met up with Michael's friends Kevin and Eric, who were two really nice Korean guys. We took the subway over to Yeuoido Island to meet Michael's other friends Lisa and Sarah, two very outgoing girls from New Zealand. We made a b-line to Cherry Blossom Park, but were a bit disappointed when we arrived. There were blossoms....but there was only one street-lined row and that was about it... I don't know what we were expecting (massive fields exploding with cherry blossoms where we would all hold hands and run and frolic together in slow-motion, music queued up in the background like some Gap commercial?) but it wasn't this. We just made a laugh of it anyways, took some pics, and walked around for a bit around the island.

After that the girls split, and so us 4 guys went and got Michael's car and then drove to a really cool neighbourhood of Seoul called Apgujeong. Apgujeong is Seoul's yuppie/uber-trendy neighbourhood - think of it as Yaletown on Asian steroids. Blocks and blocks of high-end shopping, designer boutiques, giant expensive department stores, trendy little restaurants, and nightclubs that are the kind of place to see and be seen. Michael wanted to go to his gym for a bit, so he took off for a bit while the three of us wandered around. Michael rejoined us later and we all had a delicious dinner at this really cool Korean restaurant - very trendy, but still quite affordable.

After dinner we went back to Michael's apartment in Itaewon to sit and chill a bit with some good tunes and a bottle of Merlot. We killed a few hours just chatting and being silly, and then next thing we knew it was 11pm. Michael had to go and pick up a friend who lives in Bundang - an area of town even more lost in suburbia than where I live. We picked up his friend Austin and then headed back to 'the hill' (the collection of nightclubs in Itaewon we hang out at, and also just half a block from Michael's apartment.) I wasn't planning on staying out all that late, as I'm still trying to get over my cold, and didn't want to feel like shit on Sunday either.

Well that plan got thrown out the window rather quickly! I ended up having a few drinks here and there, and had my best night of clubbing yet in Korea! I got this second wind from god knows where, and basically just *danced my ass off* all night long. The last couple times I've gone out I've started to fade or just downright crash around 2 or 3pm, but this night I just kept on going - just like the Energizer Bunny. What was really awesome about this night was how it seemed that all my friends seemed to all be out- Gavin, Ryan, James....everyone was out and about! The music was really good tonight, and I was just in a really really good mood! I remember at one point, dancing in a group of my friends, as well as with a few new people I had met that night, and looked around in amazement. There, dancing in one group together, was a Canadian (me), an American, an American-Korean who now lives in England, a Korean, a German, and a Colombian! It was like The United Nations Dance Fest 2004 or something! A nightclub version of a United Colors of Benetton poster ad! WOW! Now if only real life international relations was as easy and care-free as a group of 6 people from all different backgrounds and nationalities dancing the night away at a club!

Next thing I knew it was almost 4am and all my buddies were fading fast, so we said our goodbyes and then Kevin, Michael and I went and crashed at Michael's place. (Is it just me or am I *really lucky* with seeming to have picked friends who all happen to have nearby apartments that I can crash at!?? haha!)