So, what do we do on weekends?

Well, since I asked .... Here's one thing that we never did at Newsday (or any other paper, that I can remember). Two weeks ago on Friday, we closed the paper early and the entire staff headed up north to this "rustic" spot, where we got to use a big cottage in the middle of a whole bunch of big cottages. There were food and drinks. And our top boss, the equivalent of the publisher, was going around with a bottle of whiskey offering a favorite Korean drink: the boilermaker. Basically, you put a shot of whiskey into a glass of beer and slam. The idea, of course, is to get drunk as fast as possible. And in a society where everything fast is valued "pali, pali," or "quick, quick," Koreans don't even waste time sipping their booze. Anyway, there were also prizes (I won a wallet), and of course, another Korean staple: no re bang, known elsewhere as karaoke.


Here's an overview, before things got too crazy.
This guy is my boss -- at the same level as the editor of the newspaper. He's got some fans. The words underneath come from the guy who took the picture, one of the business editors. It just means, basically, "yahoo, Mr. Kim...."
This is one of the American editors -- the youngest guy. To Patty's sheer amazement, he speaks perfect Korean. Here he is, singing a traditional Korean folk song.
The guy on the right is our esteemed editor. He, too, speaks Korean, -- and worked for four years in North Korea Without him, who knows where we'd be.