Well, yesterday I made it to Los Angeles. Not much to say about the flight. It was long, I tried to sleep. I watched the new Karate Kid movie. (Not to be confused with the movie, The New Karate Kid). Not a bad movie to be honest. I did sit next to a nice looking girl. Well, not a girl, she was 47 but she was fairly attractive. And I did fall asleep and drool on myself at one point.
Finally, however, I got to L.A. and grabbed a cab to take me to my hotel. As we get near I see a tall building that says "Shinhan Bank." I couldn't believe it, I'd flown all the way here only to see my old Korean bank. Then, I start to notice more and more Korean signs. I lean forward and say to my cab driver, "Wow, there's a lot of Korean places around here."
"Oh yes," he tells me. "This neighborhood is all Korean."
The man at the front desk asked me, "So, what brings you to Koreatown?" Amazing coincidence? Cosmic joke?
A note on the hotel. It's a really cool place. I wasn't sure what to expect. It looked nice in the pictures, and it wasn't cheap--though not high-priced either. And the neighborhood looks the same. It looks fairly nice, but everywhere there are gates and fences. Not nice looking white picket fences, but slightly intimidating keep-the-burglars-out fences. So, I'm wondering what exactly I'm in for. Then I step into the elevator to go up to the lobby from the underground parking. Just the elevator told me this was a cool place. Track lighting inside, black wood paneling on the walls, it's just cool. Then I step into the lobby, which doesn't look like a hotel lobby, but more like a little lounge or something, and the guy at the front desk is wearing a Ghostbusters shirt with no sleeves. I wanted to take a picture. I wish I had. Not only did he look totally hip, he was super polite. It's an interesting vibe when a guy in a sleeveless nostalgic t-shirt calls you sir and Mr. Krieg.
The room is cool, too. The view isn't much--I can see the apartment building just next door--but there's a nice TV and a desk and a bed like I've never slept on in my life. This thing is like lying on a thousand bags of marshmallows. It's wonderful.
After a shower I went to get some dinner. Mr. Ghostbusters directed me to a place called H.M.S. Bounty. It was exactly what I was looking for. Think of Cheers, but with a 3rd of the light and a much smaller bar. I got a turkey sandwich, which was so good. And there were pickles. Real dill pickles. Oh god they were great. I even had to ask the waitress for more. But the best part was the beer. Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. That first sip was so amazing. The hops in there, fruity, but like a man's fruit if there ever was one. A little sweet, but bitter too and just so so good. I ate and drank, then decided to park myself up at the bar to finish off my second beer. I sat next to a guy who moved here from up in the bay area and wants to be a musician. We talked a little baseball--the Dodgers and the Rockies were playing. We talked about women and life and what to do with it. Soon he had to go and he says to me, "By the way, I'm John Snow, and I'm going to be famous." Now that's the way to end a conversation.
Then I was left with all the older guys who were talking local politics. The guy on my right was named Bill and he's a left-wing lawyer, and the guy on his right is Peter, whom Bill calls a fascist. Then there was Shin and some dude from Boston on my left. They chat politics and law, and there's a bit of debating, but it's all good-natured, and I got to just listen and laugh for a bit. Then Bill, the bleeding heart of the group turns into a total racist. He starts telling me all about Koreans and what they're like and how he's never going to defend one again. "I know what these people are like. I've worked with them for 10 years," he told me. Which left me with no choice but to try to defend the good name of Koreans. Not sure if it really worked. Bill was more of a talker than a listener. But we also talked about where to live, what kind of jobs to get, going to court for traffic violations, stupid republican farmers, the good and bad of unions and so on. And, after my originally planned one beer turned into four, I finally made my way back to my hotel to fall asleep amongst the marshmallows.
That's all. I'll write about today once more of it has gone by. But, here's a little teaser. I had my first American breakfast. Why does Walgreens smell like that? And, I think I'll get some pictures up, too.
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