There is some irony in the fact that two days after making a longish, melancholic post about the prevalence of alcohol consumption in Korean society and my own awkward relationship with it, I went out on hoe-sik (회식) again with coworkers last night and managed to consume as much alcohol as I have in many years.
I was trying to eat "normally" with everyone, and for whatever reason, I was using beer rather than water to "wash it down" – the washing it down is the only way to eat so many foods for me, but using beer was something I should perhaps be more careful about, as I managed to get quite drunk. I didn't really act weird. I just kind of abruptly said I needed to go home and walked home (it was close) and immediately went to sleep. But the "hangover" effect this morning was unpleasant. Sigh.
Well, my coworkers had been insisting, and now they got me to do it. I'm not sure it was very satisfying for them – I didn't get weird or belligerent or philosophical or anything interesting, which is probably what they were hoping. Ah, nevermind.
[daily log: walking, 5 km]
No worries–you’re weird, philosophical, and always very interesting without being drunk.
Bob