The Place to Be

The first 2S2 meeting was fabulous. I had so much fun meeting new people, meeting commenters here (hi, Charity!), and hanging out with some of my coworkers outside of school. We met at a coffee shop, went ice skating, and then warmed up at another coffee shop. Which is how I believe all events should be: bookended by coffee. And chocolate cake in a cup. And good conversation that didn't revolve around massive generalizations about Korean  society. Which is sometimes hard to find when a bunch of expats get together. But apparently Wonju draws the laid back, open-eyed, and warm-hearted crowd. I mean, take a look at these faces. How could you not want to hang out with these guys??

Also, Ryan was there! But the only pictures I got  of him were really blurry because apparently he's an ice skating champ and doesn't stay still for very long. So, everyone, meet Ryan:

Not that hard to pick out of the crowd, eh?

Anyhow, I was totally doing the wobbly arm wiggle on the ice. Mostly I blame my ankles. And also my back fat. Because y'all, that extra padding around the back and the belly, it was messing with my usually exquisite sense of balance. (Also, I lost a kilo this week. Woot.) However, my frantic arm circles and ice skate jig didn't intimidate the youngsters. I was told to "Be quiet," "Shuddupshuddupshuddup," and also to "Do handshake. Handshake," by a number of small monsters called children. I think the kid who shook my hand won some kind of bet with his friends. I mean, I do what I can for the little ones.

Also, people skated:

After everyone's toes were sufficiently frozen, we headed off the ice and down the road toward MaryJane, a local cafe that serves THE BEST CHOCOLATE CUP CAKE IN THE WORLD. Actually, it's not quite a cup cake. It's more like cake, in a cup. And it's ooey and gooey and pretty much like eating the entire batch of brownies off the spatula without cooking them thoroughly. Isn't that everyone's dream, anyway? I always feel cheated when I taste the final brownie or cupcake and it doesn't taste like the stuff I liked out of the bowl. But this, this is how it's done.

Yum, right? Anyway, the "cupcakes" were delicious and the coffee was good. But the company was better.

Thanks to everyone who took time out of their Saturday to join us. And if you didn't take the time, then you can leave your apologies and also promises that you'll come next time in the comments section.