In search of the sublime... or something.

2 friends are visiting me in Seoul in 2 weeks time. Despite (I think) both being over 30, their primary interests are booze and women. (One advantage of not even your friends reading your blog is you can comment on them without fear of repercussion. So this is for you, James and Kent.) Seoul should be the perfect city for them to visit! But I can't escape a nagging feeling that it might not be. I really like Seoul, and will try (when not working) to convey some of that enthusiasm. No doubt we will eat some good food, although no Korean bbq because James to his tragic loss is a vegetarian (good luck in Korea mate!). And we will go out, and have fun, and meet people, and drink beer, and... do all of the things that you can do anywhere in the world. And then return to my tiny apartment where there isn't even enough room for barrier pillows, and an air mattress on the floor is pushing it. Jenny, things are going to get really cozy when you are here! (At this point I have to tell my lovely girlfriend that yes, I am joking, or I will get an angry phone call soon).

I hope that we will meet some Koreans, and my friends get a glimpse of the hospitality and warmth on display here. I wonder if they will come to detest my rather soulless neighbourhood. My thoughts around their visit are entirely of baseball games, bars, booze, and birds. Perhaps theirs are as well. But I want them to find something more here, and that is proving a tall order. They are not the museum/palace/gallery type, and I would be surprised if either take any interest in a hike. (Am I making my own friends sound like horribly despicable characters? Perhaps they are, in a wonderfully clever, funny and interesting way.) A couple of neighbourhoods stand out, notably Insa-dong and the Olympic Park. Probably a late night visit to Dongdaemun market (a first for me also). At this point I will happily take suggestions from my 4 readers actually in Korea.

Don't mistake my concerns over their visit for negativity/2nd thoughts about Seoul. My friends are not proxies for me. But Seoul is definitely a city that gets under your skin (and too often on your skin, in your hair, and on your clothes!) in mostly a good, but subtle way. I don't think it offers huge pleasures for the visitor, and as much as I (with your help, Jenny) will attempt to be a "local" guide, I am still lost as to what exactly will provide them with a "wow" moment from their holiday. Perhaps nothing will. Perhaps their happiest memories will be of friends around a table, sharing beers and stories, flirting, laughing, shouting, dancing, maybe even singing. And actually, as often as I have pushed myself to take holidays to beautiful, interesting, and culturally stimulating places, maybe I've just described a perfect holiday.

God, I just totally went for a sappy, saccharine ending. What happened to the angry man who moved to Sweden (that is perhaps a blog post in itself)? I'm not really so mellow, I think I just really, really have a love/hate relationship with blogging. I started this blog over 3 times for example, and it isn't even the blog I really want to write. That would be a rant about foreigners in Korea that I should probably share only privately with a few of you. But I digress...