The Belfast Boys

I had the chance to meet some of the most interesting people while working in Gumi. Two of the most memorable characters were two guys from Belfast, Northern Ireland. I'll call them "Ivan" and "Al". "Al" worked at my school. He was a red-headed, soccer-player guy. "Ivan" worked at another school but he was a good friend who I dated casually. We used to hang out at PSYCHO a foreigner bar in Gumi on weekends. It was lots of fun and "Al" and "Ivan" got along great and were the best of friends.

By coincidence a couple of months later both their contracts were finished [at the same time] and they went home to Belfast for a vacation and to see their families. I kept in touch with them via e-mail and sometimes by phone. So, the first time I talked to "Al" I asked him, "So, how is 'Ivan'? Have you seen him lately?" To which he responded, "That no good protestant *%^*&... I don't associate with the likes of him here in Ireland." I was shocked and somewhat taken back not having known either of their religions - and truthfully not caring. I knew that Northern Ireland was infamous for problems between Catholics and Protestants but I had never really thought about it before and certainly not in the connection to the two of them.

Several weeks later both guys had returned from Belfast. I was in PSYCHO with "Ivan" and we were sitting around drinking draft beer [Koreans call it "Hof"] and talking when "Al" walked in and came over to our table. I was nervous not knowing what to expect. But "Al" said to "Ivan" "Hey, man let me buy you a pint." and with that they hugged each other and that was that. We spent the rest of the evening drinking together and they got along fine. They were the best of friends again.

I guess this just goes to show that when you are in Korea the rules you follow in the rest of the world just don't apply.