Knee-deep in Science

In the spring of 2011, Alan and I took a trip to Korea together. Our cousin Sunghoon and his wife were our gracious hosts. On the flight there, we were across the aisle from each other. Alan was next to a couple who had never had Korean food before, and he helped them figure out how to eat everything. I got stuck next to an elderly Chinese man who elbowed me for most of the flight, spoke no English or Korean, and yelled incessantly at the flight attendants whenever he wanted something.

We arrived at their tiny apartment late in the evening, and went out for samgyupsal, grilled pork belly, which was one of Alan's favorite foods. The next couple weeks were a whirlwind of activity, with us touring the east coast, the south coast, and the southeast, as well as Seoul and visiting our aunt in Daejeon. Despite this jam packed schedule, there was plenty of time, especially in the evening and morning when the two of us would talk in our room.

Alan told me about the delay -- his friends would count to ten before expecting a response and getting mad at him or repeating themselves. He had to stop smoking weed while we were there, but he was dismayed to note that he was "only 10% less spacy" clean.

He told me about how hard it was for him to start the day without a cigarette. Despite my wanting him to quit, I would pack the pack a few times, pull out a cigarette, set out an ashtray and lighter by the open window, and then wake him up. This was the only way we could get started each morning.

While we were there, Sunghoon, asked us why you couldn't say, "Oh my f---" in English, which he felt should be the obvious phrase to say for something more intense than "Oh my God." He charged us with trying to get it to take off in the US.

We compared music notes, and found a weird little overlap in Electro swing -- club and dance worthy electronic music with heavy Big Band and swing influence. When Sunghoon played it, we had never heard of it before, but it first grabbed Alan's attention, then mine.

I still can't figure out the words to this track -- Don't have a tiger, we're knee-deep in science?

When I returned (earlier than Alan, who stayed behind), there was a strange emptiness in my life. I remember thinking the world felt hollow back in Chicago. The same sights that brought me joy just didn't do it for me. For ten days, I just lacked my normal contentedness with life. Maybe it was Alan withdrawal. Maybe it was just jet lag. Maybe it was the let-down of ending that trip, full of amazing "Oh my f---" moments shared with my brother, and returning to the real world.