The Ponytail Kisser

I had to work until 9pm on New Years Eve. For those of us working that day there was an interesting energy in the air. It felt like any other day and in many ways it was. It's the beginning of a month long teaching program and the kids (800 of them) who's parents signed them up got here on Monday. Usually we recycle through the kids every week, but we have these little gems for a whole month and I'm actually looking forward to getting to know this bunch a little better than one week provides. So, I ended my work night last night doing an activity with about 45 kids. The plan was to hurry up after work, jump on the bus to Seoul, and find a group of friends who were already there. But after signing out I looked at my two good friends and I knew none of us wanted to do anything. We laughed and decided we were going home. No one felt like hanging out.

I got a couple drunk phone calls from friends like "Where the fuck are you?" and "Awww, man you guys suck!" but over all I think I spent my last New Years Eve in South Korea with good company. It was just me and Temp. She now lays on the lower half of my body when I type on my laptop. I think she enjoys the sound of the keys pressing down. I was busy working on a short story and didn't realize I had missed the count down. Before I knew it the time read 12:10am and 2009 had moved into my apartment like a shadow. I did manage to get a kiss from Temp though and that was good enough for me.

I spoke to a lot of my friends today back in the U.S. getting ready for the New Years Eve experience. It sounds like most of them are taking it pretty easy. I told one of them that New Years Eve parties are for people ages 18-28 and 45-100. So I'm stuck in the "engh,whatever." phase with New Years Eve for the next decade or so. I love the way certain holidays give people free reign to let all their inhibitions out and party like a rock star.

Today (Jan. 1st) is my friends birthday and she went out last night. She was one of the people calling me late into the night hurling insults for my "no show" into the city. I was looking for her today and she was no where to be found. Then I ran into one of her friends who was laughing while looking at a camera. I asked her what was so funny and she said that my friend was still passed out (it was 2:30PM) underneath her bed. Turns she got back around 4am in the morning and walked into this girls room and crawled under her bed and went to sleep or rather passed out. I was on my break and although I thought the image was a funny one I wanted to make sure she was not lying dead in her own vomit. We walked back up to her friends apartment and there lay my friend, eyes closed and slowly breathing away. She was fully clothed (this included her winter jacket and hat) and decked out in thick, bright make-up. It was both horrifying and comical at the same time.

I lay on the floor and whispered her name. A slight smile started to form on her greasy face. I said, "Hey...are you alright?" She didn't say anything but slowly shook her head up and down. At the sight of this her friend started to laugh and I couldn't help but laugh too. I said, "OK, do you wanna keep sleeping here?" She shook her head up and down again and chuckled a little bit. I started to get up from the floor but decided to ask her one last question. I said, "Did you have a good time last night?" There was no movement for a while and I considered the possibility that she just died. But after a moment she started to speak for the first time. With her eyes still closed and what was now a wide smile on her face she said, "I kissed a boy who had a ponytail and was wearing skinny jeans." She giggled and both her friend and I started laughing out of control. I congratulated her on getting some action and then her friend walked me to the door. Her little story made the rest of my day.

Although I'm sure she woke up with quite the hangover it seemed like she had a great time for her New Years. I hope all of you had a wonderful time welcoming 2009 into existence. I hope you brought the New Year in with people (or animals) you love and/or care about. I'm wishing everyone in my life has 365 days that are filled with adventure, growth, surprise and wonder.