You sign up for a song and then when it's your turn to sing, the microphone cord can be slid down this guided-track type thingy to make sure it can reach any seat! It was incredible!
The ride was practically empty - it was me, Mike, Michael and like three or four other Koreans. So then the ride starts up and we realize that what's unique about it is that the guy controlling the ride has a microphone and uses it to interrogate/torture the riders by asking them questions and then shaking and/or bouncing the shit out of them while they try to answer. Since non-Koreans are kind of a rarity in this part of Korea, we were instant celebrities, and the guy controlling the ride WOULD NOT LEAVE US alone. The bleachers totally filled up as he spent the next 30 minutes (literally!) asking us questions in broken English while making fun of us in Korean to the audience and spinning us around and bumping us up and down. It was INSANITY.
The worst part was that the only handles that you could use to hold on while being bounced or spun were behind you at shoulder height. But when you reached back to hang on, every time the ride bounced, your triceps would get smashed against the ride. (But, in retrospect, it was still the best ride-value I've ever gotten for three tickets!)
The flight from San Francisco arrived, and when Micheal was at the baggage carousel about to grab his bag, I snuck up behind him and was like "Excuse me sir, I think that's my suitcase!" He turned around to explain that it was his, and then there was like a 10 second pause while his brain tried to reconcile seeing an unexpected friend that lives in New York standing at the baggage claim in Korea with him. He was like "Holy, coincidence! What the heck are YOU doing here?" I was like "I'm teaching English with you and Mike! Surprise!" Hahahah. Here's us on the bus, heading to our first camp.
Hoodie Michael (looking like the Emperor from Star Wars, Ha!) me and Mary making a drunky-drunk face. After leaving Arrow Bar, Michael suggested we head over to the Haight and check out a house party he'd heard was going on. We were just about to all pile in his car when...
San Francisco definitely has a leg-up on NYC when it comes to the non-ironic appreciation of metal. There are waaaaay too many people in NYC that wear 80s metal shirts because they think it's funny or kitschy - but in SF you would only wear a Slayer shirt if you thought that Slayer FUCKING RULZ (which they do).
They have an empty school bus parked out front that you can sit in and we used it as an opportunity to get our BYOB on. Here's Michael and the Tins warming up with a Sparks.
After Mike was finished up at Casanova (PS - Mike, I have no recollection of where that box of Rice-a-Roni came from. Do you remember?), we piled into Michael's car and headed to a secret destination known only as "The Slides."
After the party, Mike had to go back to Casanova and DJ so I ended up teaming up with Mike's best friend Michael. Michael and I ended up going to some other bar in the neighborhood so that he could...
