Back home for first time since Friday morning.

All the tests are done, with varying degrees of success. A couple of us went out for lunch afterwards and then, since I was plan-less, Aki invited me to come with her to the newest sauna in Shinchon: a three story affair, co-ed, with four different steam rooms, an exercise room, massage and facial services, and showers. Five bucks. Most pleasant. Found out that Aki, who is from Japan and can drink like no one else I've ever seen (save, perhaps, another Japanese girl I know!), majored in Tourism in college and worked for JAL before coming here.

We met up with two other schoolmates and went to a bar/restaurant, where one by one, others trickled in: Yoko, the Japanese language teacher; our teacher; my and everyone's friend Etsuko; and our resident American soldier and his wife. Our teacher tried eliciting stories about our love lives from everyone, with varying degrees of success. Three of the Japanese women are dating Korean men (Aki met hers when she went to see Panmunjeom in the DMZ -- he was stationed there), Etsuko is dating a Mongolian fellow, and I -- well, of course, I am not seeing anyone, and I wasn't about to share my recent adventure with them, as they all know KB, so I reverted to "No comment."

Much was drunk there, followed by the ever-requisite karaoke place. At around 2 am, we broke for home, which for me was Mayu's tiny room in her guesthouse. Mayu is 26 and acts and dresses like she's 17, but without the attitude and with the sweetest disposition I've ever encountered. That in itself might be annoying, but the endearing thing is that she also possesses tastes that veer toward the outer edge of normal -- she adores horror movies, reads Seventeen (the Japanese version), insists she only likes unattractive men, has two tattoos, loves reading ghost stories, and is obssessed with prairie dogs. Yeah, you read that right. She's got one as a pet at home in Japan. Last night she asked me again to verify her pronunciation with the all-important phrase she plans to use whenever she gets to visit America: "I came to see prairie dogs. Where can I go to see prairie dogs?"

Mayu's boyfriend is serving his two years in the Korean army now, and I was treated to several dozen photos of him last night at her house. In the midst of all the pictures, there were also a couple of KB at his going away party, which, in my boozy state, took me by surprise and then ushered me toward a rather sober state of mind. I'd write about my thoughts of that night, except that 1. they're boring and 2. I try to keep my appearances as a neurosis-ridden ninny limited to, say, two or three times a week.

I woke up early to meet my mother's professor friend, who wanted me to do some work for her, but as she implied that the compensation would be low, I demurred with rather impressive finesse, if I do say so myself. Afterwards, having nothing much to do, I called up Maiko and invited myself over to her house, where I read Michael J. Fox's autobiography and the second Bridget Jones book while she studied for her finals.

Over a lovely lunch/dinner of pasta that Maiko whipped up, I finally told her about KB. It was a relief, though I had a hard time getting the words out through my embarrassment. When I apologized for not telling her earlier, she said, "No, no, even if you had, I couldn't have done anything to help you feel better, so it's best that you took your time," a statement said with sweet compassion that brought me closer to crying than at any other time in the past two weeks.

Like a true friend, she offered up an explanation of events that was flattering to me and highly improbably, though upon reflection, it's possible that the way KB viewed things is entirely different from the way I imagine he did. Like most things, the truth is probably in between. And, like most things, I'll never really know.

Miss BC arrives tonight. Whee!