The PC Room Comparison

Meg's laptop is no longer charging up, which provides a little dilemma for our weekend Internet needs. The solution has become going to PC Bongs. These are basically computer labs that cost a little less than a dollar per hour. Hooked up to ultra fast Internet, I'm ready to go.

The sights, smells, and sounds that accompany a trip to a PC Bong are one of a kind. Here is an observation list:

1) I have never seen a woman in here except for Meg, so I'll conservatively estimate a 95% men to women ratio

2) The average age is 17

3) The place smells like a mix between ramen noodles, cigarettes, and BO. The noodles are sold here and you can use a microwave, there is a smoking side but the ventilation is horrible so it wafts over into non, and body odor. Teenage boys playing games for hours in a non-ventilated room, need I say more.

4) They play RPG games. That's it. They're addicted, reminding me of that South Park episode. It's not crack, it's Starcraft.

5) The Sounds include all the sound effects of computer games. No one has headphones on, so with their computer volume blasting it becomes very loud. Picture a very crowded arcade, but every machine plays the same sound.


To be honest it reminds me of my freshman year of college with my roommate Dave, who never did anything but play computer games.

1) Girls were not over ever, our room maybe had a 90% men to women ratio. We were in an all male dorm though...(my excuse)

2) The average age was 18 and 1/2

3) Smelled like teen aged boys, one of whom has questionable hygiene* and pizza. Dave ordered a pizza every other day. Not joking either, IMO's was called more than every other number combined. We weren't smokers.

4) He played RPG games like 8 hours a day. It was a full time job.

5) Dave did wear headphones though. Thanks for the courtesy, Dave.

*Alright, I've been taking heat for the amount of showers I take during a week. No one has ever told me I shower too much, but I don't remember ever being criticized for the amount I shower this much. People gasp at the fact that I don't shower everyday. I, on average, shower 3.8 times a week. I figured this out because 80% of the time I shower 4 times a week, but every once in a while I'll just manage a meager three showers, in an attempt to save the whales and the citizens of Atlanta. Now that I'm working out, I average 5-6 showers a week. For my birthday, I have received a photo album, (from a Korean co-worker) a magnetic dart board, (from Keith and Theresa) a Korean traditional hand fan piece of art, (this is awesome, and it was given to me by the check-in lady at the gym) protein powder (from Meg, this is what I really wanted), a cake, (from the b0ss) and a louffa. Someone is trying to send a message here, and it's not that I need to hone my dart skills.

So, here I am surrounded by geeks once again, feeling right at home even though I'm trillions of miles away from it, and angry that the Won continues to suck, and even angrier that N. Korea plans on turning Seoul to rubble! To the subway, Meg! But it was a celebration of my life yesterday, so lets just push pass the negative. Last night was amazing because of the people who helped me celebrate it.

Here is some insight to my situation: Foreigners all have the same universal experiences while living in Korea, allowing people with nothing in common to come together. Many of my friends over here would not be my friends back home, because of different personalities. Either by working together, living near eachother, or simply because there aren't that many English speaking people, we're forced to overcome adversities in our relationships. This has been the most rewarding part of this journey. One day Meg and I will hang out with a double math major from Cornell, and the next day we'll hang out with somebody representing the opposite end of the spectrum, Zach. Holding one common bond with people has allowed me unique friendship experiences, and I bet this will also be the most beneficial aspect of this experience for the Career World. I'll be able to work with everybody.

The cast of characters that flanked me last night was a diverse group to say the least. There were four Koreans, two people with Asian ancestry, two African-Americans, an American with Middle East descent, and an Australian. I had an unforgettable day with over 15 friends.