Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
– Shakespeare, Henry V
Or close the wall up with our English dead!
Once more I made an attempt at my oft-desired burrito. Friday night I found myself back downtown. The others had some sort of super-lame workshop seminar (mandatory attendance), giving advice on things like classroom management, classroom apps, activities, and so on. Stuff that might have been useful a month earlier, but at this point they’re all veteran teachers. I, however, was exempt because my school is super-weird (it’s a private academy, so I alone amongst my peers do not work for the Gwangju Metropolitan Office of Education). SO! I joined them downtown after the seminar.
We wandered around the Asian Culture Center, where there was some kind of festival going on, lots of vendors, a stage blasting K-pop, and a lovely walkway lined with umbrellas. We had to pause for a photoshoot:
This was not a voluntary photoshoot. I was soon forced into taking a photo myself. Maria coached me. “Now, look off into the distance. No, more into the distance. Try and look more heroic, will you? There you go: noble adventurer.”
Anyway, we went for a walk out the backside of the culture center, when suddenly I saw a gigantic glowing sign: Dozen’s Bar.
Suddenly, the neighborhood snapped into place. Just beyond Dozen’s was a small alley. And down that alley was Ahorita – the Mexican restaurant I had so fruitlessly camped outside for two hours a few weeks ago. I STILL hadn’t had a burrito. And around me? The others were debating where a good dinner restaurant might be found.
I led the way. We found Ahorita. It was open. Full of anticipation, I followed the others inside and sat at our table. The restaurant was bright and cheery, with the usual Mexican decorations you’d find back in the States – a few rural paintings, some plants, the obligatory sombrero hanging on the wall. Eagerly I snatched up the menu and started flipping through pages.
And kept flipping.
First page? Nothing. Just appetizers. Well, no worries. Next page, we’ve got…ah, some enchiladas, very nice, nachos, always a favorite…hm, third page? Tacos, well, naturally…page four is, hm, taquitos and other dishes…fifth page? Oh, that’s drinks.
I flipped through again, just to be sure.
Then once again, in case I missed something.
I didn’t miss anything.
Ahorita, it turns out, does not serve burritos.
Gwangju Dreaming 