Korean Week

During my stay at the hostel, we were inundated with a whole host of Koreans and English teachers from Korea.  Apparently it was a week long national holiday in Korea, and everybody in the country decided they would rather be anywhere but there.  They called it Jusan, but I'll always remember it as 'Korean Week'.  It was a bit of strange and cool mix of people - I met a bunch of interesting and chill people who were just on a bit of a holiday, but there were also several instigators - people who had been accustomed to living in a country well known for its hard-drinking culture and looking to let loose a little.  Actually, a lot.

You can't see him anywhere, but there was one guy in particular, Grant, who we dubbed the 'All American Hero'.  He came to Taiwan to climb mountains and do extreme sports, but as far as I could tell, he ended up getting wasted off of bijou, or rice wine.  The reason you can't see him anywhere is because he would get devestated off of it every night, and it was the nastiest, most chemical tasting, wretch inducing thing I have ever put in my body, including vodka & duck's blood.  I think this is also where I realized that drinking every night, all night, is not the sort of lifestyle that suits me.  But hey, lesson learned, right?

There was supposed to be a typhoon that week too, but it just missed us and decided to hit the central part of the country instead.  Everyone was a bit let down - after all, how often do you get to experience a severe storm that borders on a natural disaster?  But it was pretty cool afterwards.  The whole city had shut down, and I went out with my friends Matt & Matti for a few drinks, hanging out and enjoying feeling like we were living in a ghost town.