Joe’s gone this week playing GI Joe with the Army. I always hate it when he leaves because that means my sole source of entertainment (i.e. watching Joe’s spot-on impersonations of myself) is gone. Well, it also means that things that are not normally logical now seem completely rational and I find myself saying things like this, “Sure, pop-tarts for dinner – sounds like an awesome idea.” And “No, I’m sure won’t have a hard time getting up tomorrow if I stay up until 2 AM reading.” They don’t call it ill-logic for nothing.

The only good thing about Joe going away is that I get tons of crafting done and I spend more time with Ally. And then I have a new source of entertainment, trying to decipher Ally’s humorous grasp of the English language. Things like, “Mel, your hand phone is crying,” (translation – your cell phone is ringing) and “when Joe gets back, don’t scratch him” (translation – when Joe gets back, don’t argue with him.) You see how utterly amusing this can be? Don’t feel bad for Ally, she does quite well for having taught herself English from a book. And she reciprocates the teasing. She once spent an entire hour-long train ride mocking my attempts at pronouncing the numbers 1 – 10 in Hangul, I’d say we’re even!

This weekend there was a Korean/American Friendship Festival here in Songtan. I steered clear of the crowds on Saturday but Ally dragged me downtown for dinner last night and the festivities were still bustling. There was a large stage aglow with spotlights and live entertainment. We managed to catch a glimpse of a female dance troupe from North Korea. I asked Ally how they were allowed to leave North Korea and perform anywhere else and she wasn’t sure. I asked another friend today and she said she thinks they escaped from North Korea. That made them even cooler in my book.

Me and Ally at Nolboo for some Hot Pork Galbi.

If you can’t read the sign it says ‘We Go Together and Be A Good Neighbor.” I love Konglish!

If you have 44 seconds take a look, it’s not the best footage since we were standing in the back of the crowd but the music is really expressive of North Korea.