Bosintang: I get it!

A lot of people think eating dog is weird, if not downright disgusting. I tried some dog meat a while back just for the hell of it. It's just the butchered and cooked meat of another animal, right?

I only had a couple bites and thought it was kind of weird tasting, but my slight aversion might have been more psychological than flavor-related. Paul and Eric sure didn't like it though. Paul was the one who kept demanding we travel to the farthest side of town to find a dog restaurant for weeks on end. He was in a frenzy that could only be satisfied with dog meat, and after he saw a heaping plate of cooked flesh he was a different man. "All I could think of was all the dogs in my life who were nice to me," he said. They both nearly puked with the thought.

Anyway, I get it now! After listening to the infernal little creatures mindlessly barking at all hours of the day, I realized that coming up with this dish was just an excuse to kill annoying dogs! Think about it: the senseless barking keeps you up when you want to sleep at night, and wakes you up early when you want to sleep. Dealing with this long enough will surely drive a man to murder his neighbor's pet, and way back when, when Korea was a poor country without much food, making a soup out of the dog was a perfect cover story!

It's much easier to save face by saying that your family was hungry and you had to kill your neighbors dog than by saying that the pocket-sized runt was driving you into a murderous frenzy. And even then, if someone questioned you further, you throw in the baseless claim that it helps with virility and stamina.

Knee Arthroscopy!

Last Thursday, I went to an orthopedic clinic. Ever since the ball hockey tournament, when I was alternating between running and resting all day long, my knees had felt three times their age. This wasn't nearly as bad as the sharp pain I had in my right knee last fall, but I was feeling creaky and weak, and I didn't like it.

The x-rays didn't show anything, as expected. The doctor suggested two options to me. An MRI for W350,000 or arthroscopy for W150,000. Those estimates are about $315 and $135, respectively. I went for the arthroscopy because it was cheaper. The doctor said it was more accurate too.

I got it done immediately. No waiting, no appointments. They propped me up on a table and a series of nurses and doctors came in and out and did various things to my right knee. It got shaved, then injected, then swabbed with iodine, and repositioned. The camera looked like a small shiny grease gun.

Obviously my knee was all numbed up. I could still sense pressure, though. And I could feel them pushing and popping the camera around my knee as I watched the video images on a TV on the wall in front of me. Getting to watch the inside of my knee was totally worth the discomfort of having a camera jammed up in my kneecap.

It turns out I had some inflammation of the cartilage behind my kneecap. I think some of the other cartilage was a little worn too. Anyway, they popped the camera out after about twenty minutes and cleaned me up. The doctor told me I shouldn't run or climb for 2-4 weeks. I went to the pharmacy and walked home feeling fine.

Here's the worst part though! I don't know what the pills I got at the pharmacy are, but I can't drink while I'm taking them! One week with no beer. It doesn't sound that bad, but last weekend when I was in Busan to watch, because I couldn't run, my friends do a 10K by the ocean, I couldn't enjoy a fresh Hite in the evenings. No drinking on the train ride, no drinking in the sun on the beach, no drinking in the evenings. It was rough. But it did save me a bit of won, and it proves that I'm no alcoholic. At least that's good news!

Seoul Ball Hockey Tournament!

Last fall and winter I played ball hockey in a small league in Daegu. "Ball hockey" was a new term for me. I was used to floor hockey and street hockey and ice hockey and field hockey. Most of the people who play are Canadians though, and they have some funny words for things, like calling hats or beanines "tuks".

Anyway, ball hockey makes sense I guess. It's not on a street, it's outdoor and thus not on a floor, not on ice, nor on grass. In any case, on the 8th of May, the Seoul ball hockey league held a tournament that involved eight teams. Six teams were from Seoul, one from Busan, and one made up of star players from my humble Daegu league. Naturally, I was on it.

A lot of people from our team went to Seoul Saturday morning. I went up Friday night with some other guys and one girlfriend. We stayed in the same love motel as some of our other teammates. Some love motels are nice, some are kinda sketchy. This one was a little sketchy. I made the mistake of looking down between the edge of the bed and the wall. I won't make that mistake again.

The tournament was played at two rinks, each rink with a division of four teams. We played at the Olympic park in Jamsil, a really nice place for ball hockey. We got shut out our first two games, and things were looking pretty grim for our day. At the end of our first game, I got our teams only penalty for tripping with some enthusiastic back-checking. We both hit the deck, but the other kid his head on the ground. He was okay though. I talked with some obnoxious Americans while in the box. They were part of the all-American team that we played in our third game, and final game of the round-robin. We kicked their asses 5-1, I think. They had been drinking pretty steadily, which may have helped us.



After the round-robin, in which we finished 3rd out of 4, we had to go over to the other rink. The second rink was bigger than the first, which in turn was bigger than the one we play on in Daegu. We were pretty worn out, but so was everyone else. We beat our first round opponent. We had a game off before the next round. At the start of the second round game, Moose got a high-stick right above the eye. I was right near him and blood was dripping everywhere. He came back though, with a bandage wrapped around his head. It was a good thing too, because that game ended in a tie, and after the initial three shooters on each team were stoned, Moose came through with a goal, and then our goalie stuffed their last chance shooter.



We were in the championship game, and we got one game's worth of rest while the other semifinal game was being played. We were all excited about our chances because we were getting a rest, and then we came out and scored a quick goal right off the bat. That was the end though, because the other team took it to us and kicked our asses. Our goalie Adam did all he could, but it just was too much. BUT! after losing our first two games and not having too many expectations, we were quite happy with second place, and it was a fun, though exhausting tournament.



That night there was a banquet at a Canadian brewery. I had one plate of French fries, hot dog, nachos, and pizza, and I was full. I thought I would eat so much more. But the beer was the main attraction. They had 4-liter jugs with their own nozzle. My ex-girlfriend Terry came out to meet me with her sister and later some of her friends came, including her new boyfriend. Sorta weird, but probably more weird for him. Paul was in Seoul and he came out to meet me. It was fun, we went to a noraebang, and I was pretty drunk by the time I got back to the love motel to find Josh and his girlfriend smoking cigarettes outside. They convinced me to hit another noraebang with them. It was a fun night.