I met up with Nadiya the other night and we both figured we'd head up to Beer More, a local bar in our neighborhood. Yep, that's actually the name. They have beer from all over the world, for a price, and it's nice with a friendly owner. So, we trudged up the steps and stepped inside. The beer stand being on the other side, I sauntered on over and looked over what was chilled and ready to drink. You see, you don't really order there, unless you want Corean beer. You just grab out of this big table-like thing that's filled with beer, water and ice. I saw a San Miguel and grabbed it chuckling. No reason, just made me smile. As I was walking away to go to our table, I heard some others laughing. I looked up and lo and behold....a table with 3 Filipinos! They had seen me grab the beer and apparently thought it was funny too. After going back to our table, I smiled to myself and thought of the past as I sipped away. In true filipino fashion, the two guys soon sent over the lady of the group to ask if we wanted to join them. What ensued can only be described as a forey into the true filipino way of hanging out with a foreigner. All the usual questions, name, age, religion....blah blah blah. I could hardly keep from laughing aloud the whole time. Then came the usual reference to relatives in the states. One of the men claimed to have a relative in Texas. Nadiya, a true Texan, asked him where abouts. Nebraska. Yes, he actually said it. Nebraska, Texas. It never ceases to amaze me that for a culture that idolizes Americans so much, that almost no one knows the geography. Yeah....I could be a little more sympathetic, but come on! This guys brother has been living in the states for 10 years. One would think he'd know where by now. They were nice though, and I do plan on giving the girl a call up again one of these days. She seemed much more educated and could speak English very well. She's married to a Korean man and has 2 kids here. Not sure that that has any bearing on anything, but thought I'd mention it anyhow. Oh.....and lastly.....apparently I look American and blond, blue eyed Nadiya didn't. Go figure.

Corean side-note......apparently arrogance here can often be a good thing. After a little misunderstanding with my boss in reference to this, I figured this out. He was trying to help me with the computer one day and called himself arrogant. I laughed and said he wished he could be, but it would never happen. He looked at me puzzlingly and said he wouldn't help me then. Huh? Don't know why it dawned on me, but I thought something was up, so I asked him about arrogance. He told me it's usually a good thing when they say it in Corean. How bout that? Interesting little tid-bit. Oh...and he did end up still helping me out with the computer.