Thursday, May 7, 2009

생일축하합니다

like i would let you forget: it's my birthday!!!!!!!

in korea, suddenly i've skipped a year and am 27 - yikes! ah well, i've always enjoyed the odd years better. at the stroke of midnight last night i was given roses, and i woke up to an apartment decorated with balloons and a table full of presents to open! what can i say, my boyfriend is the best.

after a relaxing morning of homemade breakfast and skype chats to home, we made it through our day of classes with intentions of heading to the outback for a birthday taste of home (koreans LOVE the outback). however, after our cab ride downtown, we unfortunately found the restaurant inexplicably closed. we tried several other options and wandering around, but our late hour wasn't bringing us much luck. my stomach was rumbling and my mood was souring - i even hesitated at the doors of burger king, feeling helpless and pity-party-ish and like icing my annoyed birthday cake with a whopper. what's a birthday girl to do?? i don't even eat burger king on a regular day, let alone for birthday dinner!

with mark's optimism, we decided instead to venture to a restaurant near home, which required another cab ride back (at least cabs are cheap! under $5CDN). however, ("just my luck" at this point!) our cabbie gets in a traffic argument with another taxi driver, whose stopped vehicle was blocking his way, and he suddenly starts hurling fast korean out the window at the other (seemingly idiotic) driver. next thing we know, he's put the car in park, is unbuckling his seatbelt and is out on the street to fight the guy! what the ... ! i, of course, am freaking out and wanting to leave the scene. luckily, a good samaritan broke them up, with a grin on his face to boot, and off we went.

unfortunately, our optimistic third try at making it out for dinner results in another closed restaurant. at this point, i'm ready to go home and sulk. however, mark has a different idea to cheer me up and heads into a convenience store for a bottle of soju. how alcohol can turn things around! we drink straight from the bottle on the street and hit up a crane game for - wait for it - FOUR WINS IN A ROW!

the crane game on booze-filled empty stomachs seemed to cure everything. we headed back to our apartment for a home-cooked meal instead.
needless to say, i'm lucky to have the greatest (and most patient!) boyfriend in the world. xoxoxo.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday AL!!!!!!!!

We miss you but it sounds like you are in good hands with the best boyfriend in the world. Keyne and Leigh are going to teach us how to skype one of these days so we can talk to you direct from Wayne's World. Love your blogs. We'll be in touch soon. Hope you have better luck with dinner today. (PS The Outback seems to have mysteriously closed almost everywhere, not just in Seoul but also in Ancaster and across Canada)

Anonymous said...

Oh Al!! I am glad to hear that Mark made your day so special!! I am now equipped with a web cam and mic so lets have a skype chat!! Happy Birthday again (it is still your birthday here in Canada!) Love you!! Leigh xoxo

k-swiss said...

hey....i discovered (after at least a year and a half?) that my cam has a mic too! let's conference call, hahahaha. glad you ended up having a decent birthday after all was said and done...it's weird to think we're only 3 years apart now, hahahaha. i miss you tonnes, but am glad things are looking up. hi mark!

xo
keyne

boucher said...

cuuute! i want the apartment tour!

Jenn said...

Aww Mark is the greatest!!! I'm so impressed you resisted Burger King! I guess... it's not McDonalds heh.

Glad you guys are having so much fun!

XOXO