I’m very sad today.
This really is the end of a major point in my time in Korea. Chris Patch was, in a way, my savior. He saved me from the grayness of Seoul and brought me to the Land of Green that is Anyang. After ten years here, he is returning to Vancouver. It’s bittersweet for me. I know how much he loves his hometown. I love Fairhope, AL, about as much.
Chris P. is a symbol. It’s unfair of me to place so much significance on him. He IS Anyang. The green mountains. The flowing rivers. The chicken and beer.
He’s such a good friend–a kind I rarely have encountered. It’s just not the same without him here.
Part of me hopes he hates Vancouver. But that’s where he belongs now. Ten years in Korea is enough.
We had a good run. Tonight we all went out for Brazilian. I was gaming for some more hanging out and drinking (the Korean 1-cha, 2-cha, 3-cha) but we spent the whole time at our beloved Brazilian spot–the one that Colin and Barbarian Man introduced us to back in 2006. That was when Lost was sucking and BSG was kickin’ ass. 2006 used to be a date for a far off future time. Now it is in the distant past. Thankfully Churrasco is still around. So many good places have gone under. The one good place in Anyang has not only survived, it has improved.
After hanging out with old and new friends, Chris and I ambled home along the same path. He’s starting to let go of Korea, something I’m not prepared to do yet. I still love this place too much, and much of that affection, I know, is based on a sense of stability that I couldn’t find before.
Chris P. was part of that stability. I need to establish even deeper roots now.
I know, I know. I’m married to an amazing woman with an amazing child on the way. But it’s just the pattern we all have to go through when there are major changes in our lives. Chris P. is going through a major change. Chris W. is going through a major change. And I will be going through something similar very soon. It scares the shit out of me.
The tricky part is that my school is aware of my blog now, so I can’t speak too much about the inner workings. All a can say, and honestly so, is that things are going well. We have a new guy (Andrew), who seems level headed and not an asshole. He’s pretty keen and catches on quickly. He’s a good guy to trust.
I told Andrew tonight that I thought he sounded a lot like Emilio Estevez in Young Guns. He took it as a compliment. Not much of a drinker, but he held his own tonight.
I can’t suggest Churrasco enough. It’s been a consistent good times spot since my time at The School Which Must Not Be Named. We admittedly hadn’t been back there as a group in years, but we shall rectify it.