A Cough From Afar

Due to foreseen amounts of yellow dust , blown in from the Gobi of all places in an unenviable annual Korean event, I have contracted an illness which wholehearted denial of is unfortunately not the cure. I shall visit a doctor soon, although I have a healthy fear of Korean medics, who diagnosed my friend, who had also been coughing for a lengthy amount of time, with bronchial asthma. It's a tough case to call when your doctor is the flaming hypochondriac.

Mike's father returned to the Land of Beavers and A-Plenty today, and it was sad to see him go. He wasn't just a formidable drinker, he was also a genuinely lovely man, with a cracking sense of humour that his Irish ancestors would have tilted a pint of Guinness at. We went, rather ironically, to a Canadian brunch in a Canadian bar in the least Korean part of Seoul for his last meal but it was strangely fitting.

Speaking of Canadians, I wish to rally opinion about a particular social oddity which has plagued me ever since I alighted in this lovely city - that of wanton public nudity. I am (vaguely) acquainted with a multi-national frisbee team (it is comprised, predominantly, of Canucks and Yanks) and everytime there is a public gathering, such as for a birthday in a bar, they have this untempered desire to remove large amounts of their clothing. Obviously, their garments were not inhibiting their dance moves (believe me when I say that these most certainly did not improve post clothes-shedding), nor did they serve any woman-magnetising, beer goggle improving effect as far as I could see. So why is this on-going travesty considered a necessity for a good night out for these people, much as the rest of us would be dependent on the much less offensive laying-bare-of-the-soul that alcohol abundantly produces? I have no idea - all I know is that:

a) the odour of the bar became significantly less smoky, and much more pheromone-y
b) reaching the bar became instantly more hazardous as a meticulously planned route through the least sweat-glazed gyrating part of the pub became an urgent necessity
c) people began to surreptitiously leave but the revellers' behaviour also encouraged others to follow suit - including a middle aged Korean woman, who wore something that suspiciously resembled bloomers.

Am I being prudish? Is all this lascivious nakedity and blatant nipple tugging a true sign of burgeoning equality (all naked idiots look the same)? Is this topic worthy of any kind of social commentary? Am I merely conforming to the opinions of the (largely) clothed masses, who have no real urge to be confronted by a sweaty Ontarian with artistically flattened chest hair and threadbare boxer shorts? Bring on the opposition...