Of Jet-Lag, Starcraft, and DMZ's

I'm speaking, of course, of that lovable, cuddly, but ineptly located nation capital that everyone knows has got...well... Seoul. Though my visit here is all of two hours, I have to say it seems very nice. It's like China, except clean, and is one of the most wired cities in the world. While their northern cousin play hide-and-seek with American journalists and Japanese tourists, many South Koreans get their kicks in a very different way: Starcraft. Yes, the Blizzard Ent. 1998 mega blockbuster smash RTS game. While the game received high praise and widespread - even today - replayability for it's US fans, for Koreans, the game has taken on the kind of life that most software development companies would kill for. It's got its own TV channel for competitive matches, and the e-thletes who professionally play can make thousands of dollars (or hundreds of millions of won) just for showing up, much less any prize money they win.

Crazy.

But then again, saying the word "crazy" about South Koreans sounds more than a little hollow standing so close to the DMZ. Maybe it runs in the family... but between going crazy for computer games, and going crazy for nuclear war-games, I'll pick the people with the PC's, thank you very much.

I've still got a hop over the Korean Sea to get to my final destination: Shanghai. But let me just say, I've been very impressed with the airline service I booked - Asiana. Clean, nice planes (with seatback TV's - a major plus!), very nice, professional staff... and best of all, free booze. And not just wine and beer... Beefeater gin, vodka, etc etc etc... it was a nice first few hours, suffice it to say. My only complaint was that there were only 3 movies to choose from... and even though Star Trek was billed (I was pumped), I had to end up settling for Terminator: Salvation... definitely a air-out-of-the-balloon moment.

The sunset here (and yes, it's that time of the day right now) is beautiful, though. Throughly Asian and the kind of sun set China has largely forgotten exists behind it's perpetual veil of smog.

(CS) TAW Out.

A simple love with a complex touch