Standing at the Back of the Breadline

Busan, South Korea

July 19, 1987
Incredible. The 17th evening went to Xanadu with Miss Jeong. Mistake. I think I must receive all of my tapes and sever all relationships in that area. Anyway, she met a guy and I hung out with his friend 기태. We met 해연 (spelling?). She is sexy but 35*. We played, got milked, and went home. We met Saturday and played. We rented a LeMans. It was a blast. We cruised. He picked up a chick and 6 of us went to Xanadu. I thrashed on Carrie because I wanted 수영. She jammed. They both jammed. We drove all over, picked up people in 서면 and took them home--7 people. I stopped and talked to 유진. She is a rad chick. We drove around yelling out the window at people. Today we cruised around, met Grandi (spelling?) and cruised Nampo-dong saying random Korean words to strangers. Home and I feel a bit disillusioned.

March 18, 2009
When I read entries like that, I think: "Who is this person? Who writes like that"? But I guess that's looking at things through the rosy bifocals of my early 40's. I was living the dream, right?

I don't remember even the faintest thing about 해연, 수영, or 유진. One was "sexy," another "I wanted," and the last was a "rad chick." One would think I'd remember something. Anything? Nothing.

I do remember 기태, however. He was a Korean-American kid (younger than me I believe) who was summering in Seoul and partying in Busan on the occasional weekend. He didn't really speak any Korean so were united in our foreignerness. Possibly worse for him than me. We met on a Friday, hung out all day Saturday driving around in a rented car. Went to the Club on Saturday night, and stayed in touch for at least another week after he returned to Seoul. Of course, I wouldn't know him if we passed in the street today.

I also remember he put his Crowded House cassette tape in and we sang at the top of our lungs as we drove around. Great album that. I impressed him with my knowledge of how they evolved from Split Enz, and, tit for tat, he turned me on to Hunters and Collectors. That in turn later led me to multiple blissout sessions (in the Roboseyo tradition) to this excellent track:




*If I were writing this bit today, I am sure I would use the word "and" instead of "but."