Trouble seems to surround me when I drink Hennessy. I’ll upload the pictures as soon as I get them off my computer, but let me tell you: it will be a while before I drink that again. Most of you know how rarely I drink, or at least how often I try not to. On Saturday we lounged around and eventually headed to Los Angeles and Hollywood. My friend Todd, the tallest of our group, had a connection at a new and up-and-coming club called Vanguard. We first got dressed up and went for sushi. Pav bought a bottle of Hennessy, which we finished quickly at the table. Hennessy and sushi? I don’t recommend it. After dinner we went to the club, where Todd whispered the name of someone who worked there, and we were instantly treated like royalty. We were escorted from the front door to special VIP rooms overlooking the lively dance floor. The Incredible Hulk cocktails began to flow, and a $10 tip ensured that they were strong. There were drinks, photos, and plenty of dancing. Eventually, the cocktails caught up with me, and I drank far too much. I remember sitting outside a petrol station and then waking in the back of Todd’s car at 7:00 a.m. My flight left at 11:00.

The journey to the airport was unhappy, and I knew the flight would be unpleasant. Somehow I checked in, still intoxicated from the night before, and boarded my flight to San Francisco. Looking back, drinking to that point and travelling while impaired was irresponsible, and I was fortunate that nobody was harmed. In San Francisco, I took a quick nap before getting on the much longer flight to Seoul. Coincidentally, a co-worker was leaving San Francisco for China at exactly the same time. Unfortunately, I just missed her, although I saw her plane leave the gate. I found the coincidence amusing. The 12-hour flight was painful, despite the individual monitors and 60 films to choose from.

I eventually landed in Seoul and made my way through customs. The line moved very slowly, but when I reached the desk, the officer barely looked at me. One of my friends living in Seoul picked me up at the airport. I already owed Amara for collecting me, and she also gave me a prepaid subway card. Eventually we made our way to her house, where I tried to contribute to the conversation. Who was I kidding? I felt rough and had slept only two hours, in the back of Todd’s car, over the previous three days. I was like a brick wall.