Double Date in Andong – The Sequel

We had been putting our double date off for weeks now. Corey, Ilana, Ken and I had been sick (thanks to our hoarsely coughing students) on the weekends leading up to this one. There was absolutely nothing that could possibly stand in our way this weekend – Ken and I were going to travel to Andong no matter what infectious diseases would happen to stand in our way.

We started off our evening with a classic American blockbuster Clash of the Titans. We comfortably sat back in our seats for two hours, eating our sticky caramel popcorn and drinking our brown swamp water, laughing at…I mean with the overly stern characters of the movie.

With the adrenaline high we built up during the movie, we decided that the night wasn’t over. Meeting up with some more of Andong’s finest EPIK English teachers, we drank our conscience away with sips of blueberry flavoured macgueli (South Korea’s rice wine) and strawberry, kiwi, and pineapple flavoured soju. Dangerous stuff. It went down like water.

Luckily the next morning, the four of us weren’t plagued with headaches or migraines. In fact, we enjoyed our alcohol-induced state so much, that we planned a spur of the moment picnic at the Andong Dam, complete with two bottles of red wine, one bottle of sparkling wine, two types of real cheeses, and a full box of succulent, ripe, ruby strawberries. Needless to say, our walk back to the downtown area was more like a blissful stumble, I mean stroll along the Andong river. The feathery breeze was soothing and the warm sun was shining brightly, almost blindingly, down upon us. Thank-goodness the sidewalk was wide enough for the four of us, as we supported each other to look as composed as any normal person should be out in public. It was a delightful afternoon.

I guess we couldn’t get enough of each other, because once we reached the bustling streets of the downtown area, we invited them over to our home in Andeok for a relaxing night in the countryside.

I was antsy all night. It was too bad for me that the boys had been building up this night for months. It began when Ken and I were both having a string of hauntings all around us…in our home and even in motel rooms…and they escalated after we watched the movie Paranormal Activity. Despite my warnings, Ken was so excited to show Corey and Ilana the film that he even got Corey excited about having a séance to bring forth the disturbed spirit that was haunting me and Ken. Ilana and I agreed to protect ourselves in a circle of salt.

After many bottles of mind-numbing Hite (a Korean beer) and two bags of salty, spicy chips, we all agreed to skip out on the séance…the movie had scared us into a heightened sense of fear and anxiousness and some of us were kept up all night under the covers with our eyes wide open. Needless to say, it was a long night.

We never know what to expect when we’re all together. I’m antsy to see what’ll happen on our next double-date.

- Jess