Day 159: The USO

I got up at the crack of dawn this morning after sleeping on Michael's couch all so that I could endulge in a little special breakfast.  Now what on Earth can you imagine that would be enough for me to want to go to such lengths all for just one measely meal of the day?

WESTERN-STYLE BREAKFAST!!!

OMG!  Michael told me that the USO has a cafe that serves up Western-style breakfast for Western-prices and I was already salvitating at the chance to get in on that action!  Since I've arrived in Korea I've been CRAVING, in ways that you can't even imagine, omelettes, hashbrowns, pancakes, french toast, and all those other goodies.  I used to LOVE going out for brunch on the weekends with all my pals back in Vancouver and this is the kind of food that you just can't find in Korea - anywhere!  I was totally stoked for this breakfast!!

Now this is where I become highly hypocritical and I'll be the first to admit it.  I may be uber-critical of the American military, but I'll become a dancing, drooling, fool just to be able to eat at their USO cafe.  The USO (I don't even know what it stands for) provides many kinds of services for the Armed Forces here in Korea, mainly in the form of cultural tours and organized events, but their Western-style cafe is just one of their other features.  And surprisingly this is something that is open to everyone - not just military folk. 

We headed down to the USO office and us three weguk boys were thrilled to have the breakfast!!!  I had a cheese omelette with juice and toast and it only cost me three bucks!  AND IT WAS SO YUMMY!!!  In all honesty, the omelette itself wasn't even that spectacular, but just the fact that I had been without it for so long made it taste that much better!  We all wolfed down our breakfast and sighed in great pleasure after it was all done.

And not only that, I even got to go into their little store at the USO and buy a Snapple Iced Tea and three ENGLISH magazines!!!  I'm a mag addict and have also been in English-magazine withdrawal since arriving in Korea!  I bought myself a Vanity Fair and Details magazine, and those combined with the latest GQ that Chris had brought me from the States, and I was happier than a pig in shit!  I had a full happy tummy and plenty of English reading material!  God bless the USO!  And yes, once again, I'll admit how dumb I sound for being so happy to be able to buy such things, courtesy of the American military, when two minutes later I'll be criticizing their practices around the world.  (Sometimes I just can't help myself.)  But can you blame a brother?  ;-)

I went back to work and bragged to all of my co-workers about my morning.  They were all super jealous over the breakfast that I had, and everyone fawned over me because of the magazines!  I was certainly a popular fellow at POLY this morning!  Hehe!  It's funny how happy one can become by just the simplest things!