A Korean Soccer Coachy

I kid you not! He exists and I spent the entire day with him. Oh MY!!

Only a few of you out there will understand just what I mean when I say, "soccer coachy" but whatever....this will humor a few of you!

He is a student in one of my sister's classes. He recently traveled to India and now LOVES traveling and LOVES foreigners. And because we have that India connection, it makes our relationship that much more special. He isn't a bar tender...oh, it's better than that! He is a pork butcher! And he has his own pork shop! It's a tiny little shop, with four plates of cut pork in the refrigerated glass case. There is a large walk-in meat locker with several cuts of "black" pork hanging from meat hooks. Pork shops here distinguish between if they sell "white" pork or "black" pork. His family owns "black" haired pigs, so it's "black" pork. He proved it to me by showing me the black hairy ankle of a pig leg--too much information!

How do I know all this?? We had lunch with the butcher today, at the pork shop. Guess what we had? Yep, pork!!

Actually, I've been wanting a Korean BBQ, and I got it today. And it doesn't get much fresher than sitting behind the counter at a butcher shop and eating it. He served it up with a side of rice, greens, spicy sauce and sprite. It was a feast! And when we wanted more, he just opened the meat locker and cut off another slab! I'm not joking!

But the day went on! He was dead set on showing me around town. Unfortunately, today is my last day in Sokcho and I've already seen it all. I've been walking non-stop for 2 days. And the town just isn't that big. But I agreed to let him show me around. I came back to the shop after 5pm. He was curled up under a blanket sleeping behind the glass case of pork . Being a pork butcher is hard work and sometimes you just gotta sleep. Anyway, we jumped in the pig butcher pick-up truck and drove around the lake, climbed a rock, watched the sun set, visited the beach, oh no--it was starting to feel a little like a date. Thank goodness he has a girlfriend! Then he mentioned an "animal doctor" friend. So we stopped at the vet's office and ordered pizza. Lunch at a butcher shop and dinner at a vet office! Strange!

Next we were off to the Expo Tower to see the night view. Oh no!! He bought me coffee and a momento from the top of the tower. Oh no!!! And to top it off, I had been there the day before and the same English speaking attendent was working. She was laughing to herself "Wow, these American girls work fast!"

He really is a very kind guy and is extremely generous! But almost to a fault and makes me feel a little uncomfortable. And like the soccer coach, he likes to pat me on the shoulder, and at the end of the night he gave me a shoulder massage!

Oh, and he showed up at our night out eating and drinking with my sister's boss! Wow! I had three meals with him today. I'm exhausted!

Back to Seoul tomorrow!