2011 Year's End: Chance Encounter with Bruno Littlemore!

Yesterday around midday, I took an end-of-the-year walk with Sun-Ae along Seoul's old city wall on the east side of town upon the hill known as Naksan, as you see below.

The day was cold, but to my surprise as we descended into the Daehangno neighborhood, I ran into an old friend from the States, Bruno Littlemore! He looks less dressed for the chilly weather, but Bruno's a Chicago boy and thus accustomed to cold weather.

I've never seen Chicago, only passed through on Amtrack back in 1984, so I didn't meet Bruno there in his hometown, but we have a mutual acquaintance in Benjamin Hale, the son of one of my high school buddies, Pete Hale, both of us being Ozark Mountain boys.

Bruno and I had a lot of catching up to do. Last I'd heard, he was in Georgia, incarcerated for murder (though I consider that killing justifiable homicide), so I wondered how he'd escaped. Seems some woman named Gwen Gupta had fallen for him big time and had slipped him a key to liberate himself -- "Shades of Paradise Lost!" I actually exclaimed that, but Bruno merely smiled. He did mention that he'd ended up in Seoul by stowing away on a merchant marine ship headed for the Far East. Discovered in the hold, he'd offered to work his way across the Pacific. When they realized his strength and agility and noted that he was a quick study, they'd offered him a permanent job, but he jumped ship in Busan Harbor and made his way to Korea's capital, where he teaches English to get by. He doesn't have a 'real' college diploma, but the local academies will hire anything on two legs that can speak American English, so he figures he'll be around for a while.

I couldn't chat long with Bruno since Sun-Ae and I were hungry, so we bade goodbye, promising to meet sometime for brews -- I intend to take him to the Taphouse! -- and my wife and I wandered on till we came upon a place called Queen's Town Public Restaurant and decided to try the place. I ordered a Budweiser on tap, against my better judgment, but when it appeared, I was so taken by its excessive carbonation that I could only admire the head of foam that built up and overflowed. You see my admiring glance below.

As you perceive, I'm now in shock at the continuing wellspring of foam!

The day went on after our meal as Sun-Ae and I sought out a café and talked until past four in the afternoon about what we'd achieved in 2011 and hoped to achieve in 2012. We then started the troublesome, too-long journey homeward.

I would have included photos of my wife, but she's camera shy and refused even the rare photo from being posted, so you'll just have to imagine her stunning beauty . . .