Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step. – Martin Luther King, Jr
There's a good story behind this photo, not intended to be offensive as my Korean friend wrote it!
Tuesday, May 17, 2016 (DAY 1,532 — 1,544)
Waiting with anticipation, because there is nothing like having your best friend that you grew up with and have known for nearly twenty-years come to visit you half way around the world! While our friendship has had it's ups and downs—like most I would imagine—I'll never forget the beginning of our friendship began our Freshmen year in high school where we both played on the soccer team and while riding the bus to a game Josh asked to borrow a MXPX CD from me. Well throughout the years, Josh has been my partner in crime of various shenanigans–including being able to admit dumb adolescent things we did in our teenage years like pushing over a Port-O-Potty, almost fighting Dog the Bounty Hunter's TV crew, traveling Australia together, high-rolling it in Las Vegas with my boys from Cali, and so many others!
So to begin, Josh arrived departing #DIA from #SFO to Seoul on a warm Tuesday afternoon on May 18th of this year about 3pm. Before his arrival, I asked a Korean friend how she would write "JOSH" in Korean and she ended up writing the sign he is holding, which later my other Korean friend and dorm mate busted out laughing asking, "why on earth would she write his name like that?" Later, I found out it's either the slang phrase or actual word for penis. I knew my friend Ara wasn't doing this on purpose but trying to sound out the word and translate it directly for whatever reason and came up with this obscure translation LOL. So of course anyone that knows me understands my sarcastic quick-witted sense of humor and I just had to make this sign and once he arrived I had him hold it up in front of a bunch of people at Incheon International Airport #ICN, which is the main airport that replaced Gimpo International Airport in 2001, but is still in operation.
Well after telling him off what I had done to him, he just called me an ass and I think he was still a bit too jet lagged or I might have gotten a swift kick to my 좆! Hahaha, awe the fun with languages. I'll jump ahead a little and explain that I think my payback came in the form of when we traveled to Cambodia and even though I've been there several times, this was the first that I was explained what the name "Troy" meant in Khmer, which means the F-word! Yeah, I suppose that's poetic justice!
Waiting with anticipation, because there is nothing like having your best friend that you grew up with and have known for nearly twenty-years come to visit you half way around the world! While our friendship has had it's ups and downs—like most I would imagine—I'll never forget the beginning of our friendship began our Freshmen year in high school where we both played on the soccer team and while riding the bus to a game Josh asked to borrow a MXPX CD from me. Well throughout the years, Josh has been my partner in crime of various shenanigans–including being able to admit dumb adolescent things we did in our teenage years like pushing over a Port-O-Potty, almost fighting Dog the Bounty Hunter's TV crew, traveling Australia together, high-rolling it in Las Vegas with my boys from Cali, and so many others!
So to begin, Josh arrived departing #DIA from #SFO to Seoul on a warm Tuesday afternoon on May 18th of this year about 3pm. Before his arrival, I asked a Korean friend how she would write "JOSH" in Korean and she ended up writing the sign he is holding, which later my other Korean friend and dorm mate busted out laughing asking, "why on earth would she write his name like that?" Later, I found out it's either the slang phrase or actual word for penis. I knew my friend Ara wasn't doing this on purpose but trying to sound out the word and translate it directly for whatever reason and came up with this obscure translation LOL. So of course anyone that knows me understands my sarcastic quick-witted sense of humor and I just had to make this sign and once he arrived I had him hold it up in front of a bunch of people at Incheon International Airport #ICN, which is the main airport that replaced Gimpo International Airport in 2001, but is still in operation.
Well after telling him off what I had done to him, he just called me an ass and I think he was still a bit too jet lagged or I might have gotten a swift kick to my 좆! Hahaha, awe the fun with languages. I'll jump ahead a little and explain that I think my payback came in the form of when we traveled to Cambodia and even though I've been there several times, this was the first that I was explained what the name "Troy" meant in Khmer, which means the F-word! Yeah, I suppose that's poetic justice!
The waiting area of Dream Eye Center in Gangnam, South Korea
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maurice_SendakOnce we took the subway aka Airport Railroad to where I live in Seoul at a guest house near Hongdae, he wanted to grab a shower and then get a bite to eat, but also make it an early night since he had lasik eye surgery scheduled for the next morning in Gangnam, which is about 40-minutes by subway. I still think it's ironic that Americans feel they can't trust receiving medical care in other countries except the United States! People will eventually wake up to the fact that medical tourism is not only a thing now, but will become even more so in the future, especially after Josh said he did not expect the cleanliness, English speaking staff, and the fact that the doctors did the tests no just once or twice, but at minimum three or even four times! Also, the fact that even with his health insurance in the U.S. he was still able to get lasik done in Seoul for less than half the price than it is offered AND it included FREE adjustments for life if needed at NO ADDITIONAL CHARGE! After Josh taking the time to research and even email several different lasik facilities, he eventually chose Dream Eye Center in Gangnam, and I was glad to go in and speak with the staff and ask numerous questions including setting up Josh's appointment the day after his arrival, because we both agreed that this could kill two birds with one stone by allowing him to have the surgery and also sleep a lot afterwards to adjust from the jet lag. I told him that when I got my lasik surgery done in the U.S. I remember the doctor telling me the best thing to do is sleep after the surgery as much as possible to help with the healing process and so we booked a hotel across the street, Jerry's Planet Hotel, which is a pretty awesome boutique hotel at the price of about $115, which I told Josh we could go cheaper but he liked the photos and offered to pay so it worked out well, especially since it was directly across the street from #DreamEyeCenterGangnam and I knew how loopy and tired I felt after my lasik so I thought this was a good choice. So, I got Josh to the Lasik facility just before 10am enjoyed a few free coffees and then they took him to begin the tests so instead of waiting around all day in the comfortable waiting room I decided to meet with a few clients since they were all in the Gangnam area. First, I headed to the eBay offices to meet with one of my executive clients then I dropped back in to check on Josh and they had already briefed us that he would have a short break after dilating his eyes for lunch, so we went to a place nearby that was surprisingly empty and just enjoyed having the entire patio restaurant to ourselves. After lunch then performed more tests and I checked us into the hotel at 2pm where I had an online meeting with one of my other tech executive clients before heading back to bring Josh to the hotel about 4:30pm where he was pretty out of it, but said he could already see much more clearly! After getting him all tucked into bed and reading him a few pages of Where The Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, which he was more interested in the photos even though his eyes were sewn shut, he pretty much passed out from the surgery and jet lag and I had one more client meeting that evening with one of the doctors I had been introduced to through my professional networking in Seoul. It still amazes me that after Josh returned to Colorado he was asked and shocked by others more of the fact that he received actually surgery in a foreign country than traveling to two entirely different regions in Asia in the span of two weeks of South Korea and Cambodia. I feel like the photos below are what people think of foreign medical care or something! *Ps sorry for the graphic nature, but c'mon people I feel like this is what many Americans think foreign medical care is really like!
© www.vitalmx.com
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© Hostel (2005 film)
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The next day, if I recall correctly, after going back to Dream Eye Center for a morning check-up with the doctor to ensure that the healing process was beginning and that there was no sign of infection, we decided to head out and begin exploring a bit of Seoul. We started with one of the most iconic landmarks Gyeongbokgung Palace (경복궁) and explored around City Hall. I explained to him some of the history as I learned it, mainly the harsh occupation of the Japanese as recently as 1910-1945 and why their can be some hostility when discussing with older generations that still remember living under occupation and the type of conditions and destruction that occurred. But, after walking around in the hot sun we decided to cool off and have a drink at an outdoor patio and catch up a bit more.
Korean War Memorial Museum
I figured that one of the most interesting places for Josh would be The War Memorial of Korea (전쟁기념관) that is not only FREE, but also has an outdoor-type graveyard of actual vehicles, aircraft, and boats that were used during the Korean War aka The Forgotten War. It's sad to think that while so many lives were lost that the U.S. still does not honor those that gave their lives along with so many other countries' soldiers. Josh, himself, were a bit surprised by the number of countries that were involved in the conflict that is still ongoing to this day.
Jamsil Baseball Stadium on May 21, 2016
Arriving at Jamsil Baseball Stadium to watch the LG Twins take on the Nexen Heroes, even though I worked in live sports broadcasting for many years and he still continues to do so, he said he had never experienced a crowd atmosphere for baseball as he did here! And during the Colorado Rockies 2007 run to the World Series, Josh and I attended EVERY single home playoff game, but unfortunately were unable to get tickets to any of the World Series games! Thank you again StubHubⓇ for screwing over local fans by allowing fans in Boston to purchase multiple tickets, while people in Colorado barely got through if at all. I'll never forget being at Sports Column before the first World Series game in Colorado and we were talking with other fans from Boston that told us they were amazed at how they were able to go online and purchase tickets without any ease and they were able to purchase additional tickets that they ended up reselling to pay for their tickets, airfare, hotel, and even meals!
A mockery selfie of us cheering on the #LG Twins!
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