Changwon Crew

There is no shortage of foreigners doing various things in Changwon, but I’m fortunate to have hooked up with a small community of friends who are good-natured and fun along with being responsible and trustworthy.  This is a group from which I see one or more members virtually day.  I’ve come to call it the Changwon Crew and Saturday night was one of the most fun I’ve had with the group.  It was the perfect storm, I suppose…this was the first weekend since we had all started working longer hours for the winter schedule.  It had been some time before the last major get-together because some were away during Christmas and New Year’s Eve and there was some underlying expectation of seeing everyone.  It started innocuously — a message on Facebook suggesting the Indonesian restaurant at 7pm — and after a bundle of emails and phone calls and coordination and taxi rides, there we were.  Who was there?  Cliff, of course, and Sarah, Johnny and Laurel, Pieter, Paul, Luke, Josh, Levi, WhatUpThen, Tina and even Max Kim.  I know the listing of names does nothing for readers who aren’t a part of this group but, trust me, it’s pretty meaningful.

After dinner, I finally made my first trip in Kevin’s Bar with the group.  We were joined by Roger, Vicky and Virginia, imbibed on 1,000 won beers and 3,000 won gin & tonics (but they still don’t have limes!!) and stayed for hours; just took over the place.  I said before that I go to the bar more frequently now than ever in my life, but when everyone in the place is a friend of yours, it’s a whole new awesome experience.  There we were reconnecting, talking about coworkers and vacation plans, playing darts, flirting with the Korean bar girls, choosing songs on the playlist and collectively letting off steam.  Incidentally, we learned to never let Pieter choose the fucking music. Maybe it had just been awhile since I’d been out, but I was legitimately happy to see each person there.  And the part about them being cool is important, too.  Lately, I’ve dealt with a few people who are deficient in parts of their personalities and it’s refreshing to have the Changwon Crew, from all different parts of the world, and to know that they are each appealing persons in their own rights.  Unfortunately, there are no photos.  It’s too bad because it would be nice to commemorate something that was obviously special to me and because Tina was scorching hot in that cold weather!  But hopefully this blogger post will serve to keep our night out fresh in my memory.