This week alone, there were 3 separate occassions where Chris and his team had to drown their guts in alcohol. First was Monday. A certain Toshiba president came and they held a party for him, but since the Japanese are not as inconsiderate as Koreans when it comes to drinking, the party ended early and nobody got drunk (much to the dismay of the Koreans there).
Then came Wednesday. There's this girl who got pregnant, she'll be resigning in a couple of months when her belly gets big and all. Ok, I understand the part where she's gonna resign so they had to have a party and all (an excuse to drink), but that aint gonna happen soon! The pregnancy, that I couldn't really fathom. I'm absolutely positive that there is no pregnant girl in the world, who enjoys drinking alcohol while trapped inside a room full of chain-smoking, barbecue-smelling, half-balding, neck-tie wearing bosses and colleagues. I understand that pregnancy calls for a celebration, but a drinking party for that matter is totally inappropriate.
Friday was good, till their Chinese counterparts came during the afternoon, and they had to have some sort of an 'emergency-party' for them. We actually made plans to go on a date, but Chris (of all people there) was chosen to be the host of their little program, and he has to give some lousy 'thank-you-for-coming' speech. He called just as I was picking a dress to wear that night. He told me about the party but he promised to come come home around 10, but 10:30 came and he's still somewhere else. I received another call from him saying he's stuck in a bar with them, asking me to pick him up as he was too drunk to go home by himself. What's weird is the fact that he asked me to wear something nice, but the rebel in me thought otherwise. So instead of wearing that pretty little dress I planned to wear, I donned my mickey mouse shirt, denim shorts, baseball cap, and my good old sneakers. I called Chris just before I entered the bar, asking him to bid goodbye to his friends so we could go home, but his boss specially requested to meet me and I couldn't say no.
So he 'schemed' me alright, and I was angry as hell, but I managed to fake a smile when I saw them. The pregnant girl Eun Mi was there too, wearing a bondage-themed heels which disturbed me for some reason. Why is she even there? Isn't she supposed to be at home taking care of her belly? His boss was also there, and another guy I met once before. After the standard niceties and greetings, the boss asked me if I want something to drink. When I ordered a martini, he just popped the 'are-you-old-enough-to-be-drinking-that' question (I swear he must have seen my neon pink and baby blue painted nails) which annoyed me even more. Last time I checked it was a bar and aren't people supposed to be drinking when they're at a bar? He's annoying alright, but I love how he says the word 'other' (he has this mild British accent), it sends tingles to my spine. Thank goodness Eun Mi was there. I heard she was schooled somewhere in Illinois, so she speaks English fluently, and I got to talk to her about so many things. But then she received a call and shortly after that, she went home. After she left, the boss's attention drifted to me. He started asking about Philippines and stuff. He said he visited 53 countries already, but he never thought about visiting Philippines. But now that he had a chance to meet a Filipino, he's planning to visit there really soon. This guy is only 34 years old, but 53 countries?! Damn, I need a few more rounds of booze to believe that. Who does he think he is, Ban Ki Moon?
Well anyway, the night dragged. I find talking to him so energy-consuming. He laughs unnecessarily, and his breath reeks of soju, a couple different cocktails, and Corona beer. I could get drunk just by listening to him! It was past 2 am when we finished. Just before we separated, he took something out of the backseat of his car, it was a huge paperbag filled with a couple different things. I was a little surprised when he handed the bag to me and said "this is for you, thank you for coming to meet us tonight". It turns out, he's not as obnoxious as I thought he was. And then we said goodbye.
When we arrived home, I hurried to open the bag and saw this...
Those are just 2 bottles of liquor and 2 different kinds of tea. I don't drink anything that's over 13% alcohol so Chris is just gonna give those to his father. But I tried the tea and it was pretty good!
6 comments:
sorry about ur lousy night..but u are right drinkin party for pregnency seems very innappropriate. But drinking parties have become very common these days, be it korean, indians or any race. I think in few years there will be only one kind of celebration - The western way!
Sarap naman ng boss na ganun. Hehehe
By the way ate, I've changed my link na po to: http://edenshappydose.blogspot.com/
funny i was in the same situation a few years ago, luckily my hubby's boss is very kind and he really liked the philippines because he lived there for 10 years.....i really hate the drinking parties in korea...grrr
you know i've watched more than a few kdramas and koreans seem to enjoy drinking alcohol a lot. are drunken women piggybacked by drinking companions when they're brought home? have you seen a lot of these scenes. what you've written about pregnant women drinking alcohol really disturbed me when i saw these kind of scenes in our kdramas. i've written a an american film critic(specializing in kfilms) living in seoul about the excessive drinking scenes in
kfilms and kdramas. you don't see this much drinking of alcohol in chinese, japanese or american films.also, this off topic, but it gives me goose pimples when they discuss abortion liberally in films/drama , even hollywood tend to skirt around this subject. why don't you accummulate all your writings and publish them in bookform. you have a very fresh approach when writing about your adventures in korean living.
@ Ellen,
Thanks for taking the time to read my very long post. Koreans consume alcohol on a daily basis. It's very much part of their culture. I've seen girls who drink as much as the guys, and there are several occassions where I saw someone getting 'piggybacked' on their way home.
I've also considered putting my writings in a bookform, only because I want my kids in the future to know about this one big korean adventure that I'm having right now. But I don't intend to publish it. I didn't have any formal training or background as to how I should write. I just write whatever I feel like writing, and stick to the truth as much as possible.
btw, when I saw Eun Mi at the party, she was just drinking tonic water. I guess she must have felt uncomfortable to go home ahead of her superiors that's why she stayed.
haha it's so interesting! ^_^ i really love your blog because it is full of emotions..lol..
hmm i think my comment is really late since you posted this issue in July? ^_^
Job well done.
cheers ^_^
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