What Comes Up

I started my day in the lounge again, writing a new blog post and finally booking my ticket for the other day of MAMA (fingers crossed it all works out). I spent the morning reviewing code, handling some communication, and fixing smaller bugs. My energy levels were high — I’d slept well, my tasks were under control, and the sun was shining bright. Right before heading out for lunch, I took a few minutes on the balcony to just stand there, eyes closed, soaking in the warmth.

I found a nearby restaurant serving a dish I’d wanted to try for a while: 감자탕 (gamjatang — potato soup). It’s made with pork bones, vegetables, spicy peppers, and sometimes potatoes. It was lunchtime, and the place was packed. A stressed-out server hurried over to take my order, and I gave it my best shot in Korean. She replied with a long sentence I only half understood, so I smiled and pointed at the menu again. She sighed, tried once more, then gave up halfway through and stormed off.

A few minutes later, my soup arrived — steaming hot, filled with pork bones, greens, and peppers. It looked just like what everyone else was eating, so I figured I was doing something right. It was delicious, but the bones made it tricky to eat. I kept sneaking glances at other diners to see how they managed to get the meat off more gracefully. When I finished, I went to pay — and the total was only about half of what I expected.

On my way back, I checked the receipt and realized I’d actually been served 뼈해장국밥 (pyeo-haejang-gukbap — pork backbone hangover soup). Apparently, it’s almost the same dish but with fewer potatoes and meant for one person.

Must Come Down

Back at the office, I dove back into fixing my Docker image. I’d finally gotten it running yesterday — or so I thought. Testing again today, I found more issues and realized I’d missed a few things. I spent hours debugging, but the testing loop was slow, and progress was glacial. The clock kept ticking, and before I knew it, I’d missed my workout window.

I eventually found a subpar workaround, which brought some relief but left me drained. Then came the afternoon meetings. One of my colleagues wasn’t too happy with the approach I’d taken for a new feature. I tried to explain my reasoning, but finding common ground was harder than I expected.

The two tasks that I have to finish on this trip moved from inside, to outside of the proverbial 'bag' in a single working day. Four workdays left. How am I going to pull this off?

Winding Down

For dinner, I met up with Katherine again. After a day like this, I wanted one thing: 치맥 (chimaek — fried chicken and beer). We found a cozy spot near our hotel, ordered some food, and talked the stress away.

When the restaurant got too crowded, we headed back to the hotel and continued our conversation on the rooftop balcony. The cold eventually chased us back inside. I glanced at my watch — way past bedtime. We said our goodbyes and promised to meet again once I’m back from Tokyo.

A stressful day, but one with a soft landing luckily. Let's hope this stressfull feeling won't last too long.