Greetings, once again. I hope that 2008 is treating you well. I had a great time ringing things in in Seoul.

It was kind of a long road getting there, and my compadres and I almost got stuck in the burbs since a lot of our friends were there and the hour was growing late. I could not be happier that we decided to stick things out and head for the Insadong neighborhood, where the major celebration took place. It should be noted, that most Koreans celebrate the lunar New Year in early February, so January 1st here is not that big a deal...


Or so we thought. When we made our way to Jonggak, where some bells and fireworks were rumored to be going off to mark the turning of the hour to midnight, we were suddenly assaulted by a barrage of roman candles.


This guy thought it would be wise to smoke a cigarette right next to the many roman candles he was selling. Way live on the edge, Mister!


We cheered and sang Auld Lange Sine at the top of our lungs, and my group of peeps ran into more friends, and a lovely night was had by all.

I then proceeded to relapse into my cold of doom on Tuesday, but this time I handled it and worked the whole week. It was tough, but I made it.

So, let us all now fast-forward to the next interesting thing that's happened to me. Yesterday my fearless friend Rachel and I went to lunch, and decided to take a little trip...



To the shooting range. Neither of us had ever fired a gun before, and we are both interested in doing things that intimidate us. I was surprised that the person who welcomed us and helped us choose our weapons and taught us how to shoot was a woman. Korea, sometimes you still surprise me.


This is what I look like while shooting a 9mm (I chose the model that Nicholas Cage shot in Face/Off. I know, how 90's of me).


These are the results. Basically, I am no sharp shot. I hit the actual piece of paper 7 times, out of 10 shots. My favorite is the hole right above the phone number of the gun club. I must say, I really enjoyed it, none-the-less.

My friend Rachel, on the other hand, was a total natural. She hit the 10 six times. The awesome gun lady refused to believe that it was Rachel's first time firing a gun. If we are ever in trouble, I will give Rachel the gun and attempt to distract the bad guys with my impish grin. I guess I had better go work on said impish grin nowish.

After our shooting extravaganza, Rachel and I were feeling too masculine, so we then went to see "P.S. I Love You," which, aside from being very good for what it was, made me cry like 8 times. Ah, balance.

Today, as I had chosen to take a random vacation day, was spent almost entirely with my friend Aleks, and the baby of awesome, Drina. Drina is so small, that she hardly seems real, but she has more personality than some grownups I know. It was great catching up with Aleks after weeks apart and meeting the smartest 3-week old I've ever known.

And, before I leave you, one more piece of noteworthy news. I have been chosen to direct a show for our next season (March-May). This is especially exciting, since the show will be performed in a HUGE theatre in Ilsan, our nearest Seoul-suburb on Saturdays in April. The script is seriously good, and I am stoked, if a bit frightened, to meet this challenge.

In conclusion (remember when your high school English teacher told you never to write that?), way to go 2008, you are rocking out thus far, please continue.