Korean Game and Swine Flu

Korean Game as it is called over here is an extremely important part of a middle-aged man's life
here in Korea. These machines are located outside every bodega and market in the city, as well as the country from what I have noticed. It costs two-hundred won to play one turn. The game itself is direct descendent of our grabber games in America that we see in arcades, the doors of Kmart, as well as many other locations. You know the game! The ones with the three-pronged grabber that moves on two moving rails and never picks up anything; it just eats your money like popcorn.

Well men here love this game. They get good and hammered drunk and then play Korean game until all hours of the night. Sometimes a person who is really good will draw a crowd of spectators. The really good players, one of which I know, a local neighboorhood business owner by the name of Mr. Choi, can get a lot of merchandise out of these machines and really make a killing. Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you, these machines have merchandise--no stuffed animals, no candy. These machines have MP3 players, cologne, money, electronics, and much more. I have come to find that there is quite an art to winning at Korean game and that it is more than chance. I hope to learn the art because I have played many times but have yet to win anything. Mr. Choi recently promised me an MP3 player; he won many things for the guy who lived in my apartment before me, so I know he can pull through.

A little note about the Swine Flu in Korea. Only one suspected case has been reported in S. Korea. A 51-year old woman on a flight arriving from Mexico tested positive for Type-A influenza; it is yet to be determined if it is of the Swine Flu strain. She has been quarantined in a Seoul Hospital.

KICKS ASS: This weekend I am going to Busan for a nice long weekend with friends. I am really excited. If you read my other blogs then you know that Busan is my favorite place that I have been on planet earth.

SUCKS ASS: Going back to Swine Flu, if it gets a stronghold in Korea, we are screwed. As I have mentioned in previous blogs, no one in Korea is the least bit worried about drinking or eating out of the same cups and dishes. No one covers their mouths or noses when they sneeze or cough--ever! Just today I was sitting in class and, having Swine Flu in the back of my mind, was thinking--Damn, if this really becomes a pandemic, if it really takes hold in S. Korea, then I am surely S.O.L.!!! Why was I thinking this? Every kid in all my classes were hacking all over me. I had become immune to it and stopped noticing it until recent events in Global Health.