Forgive me, readers.
It has been over a day since my last self-expression.
In the past 24 hours I have vacillated from titling this post “I Hate it Here” as a reference to fictional journalist and Hunter S. Thompson analogue “Spider Jerusalem“, and the simpler title I use above.
As I expected much overreaction were I to “borrow” the fictional Jerusalem’s title for his weekly column, I decided upon the less incendiary titling.
The last two days, to be honest and direct, have had moments of enjoyment surrounded by a moat of utter shittiness.
Though due to illness, sleep deprivation and significant quantities of alcohol, my recollection of the events of the past two days is a little hazy, my current state of awareness and cognizance leaves me in the mood to document as much as possible.
Last night was “drinking with the guys” night.
James, myself and three friends – two of which we’ve known for a while, and one we’d just met – decided to spend some time checking out the bars in downtown Seoul. Long story short, a fun night running overly long with the eruption of finger pointing and unpleasantries not involving James or myself in a direct fashion. A few beautiful sights, a great walk through one of downtown Seoul’s college-party districts, and a few rounds of darts later James and I found ourselves in a taxicab enroute to “Hotel Sheety” for what would be the final night.
When this morning made the second in three days where my waking up was accompanied by much vomiting, and even more soreness in every joint, the decision was made to get out of Dodge, AKA “Hotel Amigos”. For a $40 a night sex-romp dive, the hotel wasn’t necessarily a bad place, but for someone who needed at least one night’s worth of sleep in the last 6, it was turning into a personal hellhole.
Plans today had originally involved us being taken on a tour of an ancient fortress outside of the city, but my rather gimpy condition as well as our need to find new lodgings took precedence. With a number of phonecalls and a great deal of research, we wound up at a third hotel. The “Co-Op Residence” near Yongpjeong station. There’s a far longer walk to a far more annoying subway station, and the subway trip itself is at least four times longer, but – with a little luck – this room on the 13th floor, which has certainly seen better days, will serve adequately.
The bed is a worry though. When we checked one of the beds previously to checking in, the mattress was different. Better. This one? Very… springy. I hope it manages to leave me intact at the end of the night, or at least allows me to REACH the end of the night.
I have more pictures, will upload them tomorrow.