Mr Lee, Mr Lee, Oh How We Adore Thee!

So, Friday afternoon I remember that I hadn't yet called Mr Lee to confirm our weekend plans!  Oh no!  He'd explained to me at LEAST half a dozen times how to correctly place a phone call, and when I should be calling him (and how long to wait before calling again, if he didn't answer the first time), and here I almost forget!  Anca and I go to Skype him, only to realize that her computer battery is kaput.  Neither of us have cell phones, and my computer hadn't been working for the past several weeks, so we thought we were stuck. (what DID the world do before phones???)  Anyways, I remembered that there was a phone in our work office, on the floor right next to my desk.  Why it was there (hooked up and then placed on the ground when there are half a dozen empty desks in the room), well, I'm actually just NOW questioning that... I don't know. Regardless, the phone works and I called Mr Lee.

"Juliet? .....Juliet? .....Juliet! Ah! I been waiting so long your phone call! You take too long!" (As far as I'd understood it, our plan was to call Friday afternoon...)  "I so sorry to inform you!  I so busy this weekend!  I tell you before, I have many friends, many friends right?  I so busy on the Saturday and the Sunday.  But Sunday at 5 o'clock pm, 5 o'clock pm, you call me and we take the dinner together.  Yes?  Ok, you tell your friend, I so sooo sorry.  BYE!"

My side of the conversation sounded like this "Mr Lee? Hi Mr Lee!  it's Julia!........ohhhh... ok!..........ok. uh, bye!"  But we had a plan, and we're sticking to it!

Oh, who are kidding?  It's Mr Lee! Where he's involved, sticking to the plan doesn't happen!  Sunday rolls around, and I'm lounging around in my pj's at the early hour of 3pm, when my doorbell rings.  I'm thinking, how the heck does Mr Lee know which apartment is mine???



PSYCHE!

It wasn't Mr Lee (did I getcha??)  It was Anca.  She'd been 'downtown' at a coffee shop and ran into Mr Lee as she was leaving.  He told her "I say 5 o'clock, but the earlier the better!  How you get here?  By yourself? Where's Juliet?  You buy groceries?  How long that take?  One hour? Not so bad. Ok, alright.  I be here."

So we head downtown to find Mr Lee hanging out at the Zoo Coffee, reading, with an empty ice cream cup sitting in front of him. Upon our arrival, he immediately takes charge: "Oh!  I think it is too early to take the dinner.  What is the hour?  Ah, here!  Yes, yes 4 o'clock pm.... too early for the dinner.  Let's have a coffee, or a, uh, what is that called? (ice cream) Ah! Yes the ice cream!  Let's take that!  Come, come!  What do you like? Go sit, he needs time to make it.  Water?  There's no water.  I tell the boy go fill up the water pitcher.  No cups!  Here, one cup of water.  Lazy boy..  This boy so lazy!  I like this, yes? What you call it?  The ice cream?  Yes, I think three, four times a day I take the ice cream.  It is good, I think."

After sorting out the ice cream and the water and making sure the coffee shop was running at full efficiency, Mr Lee caught us up on his week.  "Every day!  Every day I do the golf!  So nice, Korea is for the golf!  More than thirty years I play the golf!  You play the golf? (my response: yes. but only mini-golf) Yeah?! You?!  Oh. The what?  Mini-golf?  No good, no good.  I thought I take you golfing, but that is not golf.  Just mini.  This week, golfing everyday. Tomorrow I take a car to the east coast.  You know east?  North, south, west, east. EAST!  You know?  My friend, he has house there.  I take car there tomorrow, and we golf everyday.  Maybe.  Maybe three, maybe four days, I dunno!  Golf is good!"

I mention that golf is really good for his health, that it helps build muscle.  His response "Maybe for you! Me? I don't need!"

After finishing our ice cream, it's time to head to dinner.  Mr Lee wanted us to try Chinese food, so takes us to a Chinese restaurant in the same mall we usually head to.  "See!  Look at their clothes!  Everyone is dressed like a Chinese! That's how it's Chinese restaurant."

The food was excellent, as always.  We sampled some Chinese liquor (because it helps digestion, duh).  I was definitely not a fan.  It tasted like a combination of anise flavored vodka mixed with rubbing alcohol and a splash of gasoline.  That's just my opinion though.  Mr Lee declared that "Oh! Not so bad, not so bad.  Like soju, I think.  Not strong at all.  Let me see.  Yes, 38% of the  alcohol, not so strong.  Just like the water."

We had a nice time, and enjoyed each other's company. However, the whole evening, Mr Lee seemed a little off, a little down.  Not quite his usual chatty self.  Maybe he was tired, maybe a little hungover. (he was busy Saturday and Sunday because a good friend had come up to stay with him from Busan... which, in my understanding, means they were boozing it up on Saturday.) Maybe he was a little (a lot) sad.  Whatever it was, I'm glad he wasn't eating dinner alone.