{"id":161,"date":"2008-07-27T03:38:43","date_gmt":"2008-07-27T08:38:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/?p=161"},"modified":"2023-03-20T11:07:57","modified_gmt":"2023-03-20T16:07:57","slug":"the-last-asian-wednesday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/2008\/07\/27\/the-last-asian-wednesday\/","title":{"rendered":"The Last Asian Wednesday"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>No, this is not a short story about Asia being destroyed on a Wednesday, or switching over to some crazy calendar that doesn&#8217;t have Wednesdays (although you are welcome to write one in the comments&#8230; I will give you a dollar if it&#8217;s good).  Rather it describes an event, known as &#8220;Asian Wednesday.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"They are like stairs!\" title=\"They are like stairs!\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-167\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2883-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Tell us about the origin of Asian Wednesday!!&#8221; clamors a mob of nearby teenagers.<\/p>\n<p>Well mob of teenagers, Asian Wednesday has a long and glonous tradition &#8212; and cultual.  Tuk under thurnb and held firmly.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;WHAT?!&#8221; they yell angstily.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/hobowilson.blogspot.com\/2006\/12\/glonous-history-cultual.html\">Now you can pick up anything<\/a>!  &#8230;never mind.  When I returned to Omaha from Seoul last March, I met up with my Korean friend Jong-hun, who had come over to Omaha to study English.  He ended up living at an awesome place called <a href=\"http:\/\/www.capitolcourt.net\/\">Capitol Court<\/a>, which is kind of like a dorm for international students, where he met many other international students, such as Mina Kang and Rumiko Niijima:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"A chingu and a tomodachi.\" title=\"A chingu and a tomodachi.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-165\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2879-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I and some of my friends decided to have a get-together with these people every Wednesday, wherein we would eat food and watch Asian videos.  President Bush, upon learning of our weekly outing, said, &#8220;I like to say, if America can&#8217;t have Asian Wednesdays, it&#8217;s not the America I know.&#8221;  The name stuck.*<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/bush.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/bush-238x300.jpg\" alt=\"President Bush talking about possibly instating Asian Wednesdays as an American holiday.\" title=\"President Bush talking about possibly instating Asian Wednesdays as an American holiday.\" width=\"238\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-173\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/bush-238x300.jpg 238w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/bush.jpg 298w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 238px) 100vw, 238px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Last Tuesday (yes, Tuesday) we had a special Asian Wednesday &#8212; the last one of its kind.  Mina was leaving the next day on a two-week vacation to see America before she goes back to Korea, and I was about to leave on my second Leaf.  What&#8217;s more, Jong-hun is going to accompany me for several weeks of this Leaf, and Rumiko moved from Capitol Court just two days prior.  It just goes to show that Things Change.<\/p>\n<p>Some things, however, don&#8217;t change.  For example, men like cars:<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Nice car, Shusei!\" title=\"Nice car, Shusei!\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-164\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2880-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Even better, cars and girls!<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Idyllic scene?\" title=\"Idyllic scene?\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2885-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And pretty much <em>everyone<\/em> likes great food.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Idyllic scene.\" title=\"Idyllic scene.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-170\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2888-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We ate at a place called Jam&#8217;s American Grill.  Not only was it ranked highly on websites about Omaha restaurants, but it had the word American in the name, which made it an excellent place to take international students for a final, special outing.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"I posed them, like plastic toys!  But one of them moved.\" title=\"I posed them, like plastic toys!  But one of them moved.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-166\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2882-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I would like to mention that Rumiko is an excellent girlfriend.  She has been my girlfriend for a while now, and I am her boyfriend number two, after Kim Jong-Il (President of North Korea).  My efforts to oust Mr. Kim have thus far been unsuccessful.  She is always interested in more boyfriends, so if you are interested let me know and I&#8217;ll submit your information to her.  Unqualified applicants can expect to be boyfriend 500 or more, but applicants with appropriate qualifications (lots of money, President of a totalitarian nation) can expect to rank higher.  Rumiko reserves the right to reject all applicants for any reason.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"Rumiko is also a popular toy! Everyone likes to play with Rumiko.\" title=\"Rumiko is also a popular toy! Everyone likes to play with Rumiko.\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-168\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884-225x300.jpg 225w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884-768x1024.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884-1152x1536.jpg 1152w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884-1536x2048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2884-scaled.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Following our adventure eating at Jam&#8217;s, we went to the Shark Club.  We were totally not sharks, but they let us in anyway.  We played a fun game known as &#8220;pool.&#8221;  We tried to act like sharks while we were there.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Rumiko the Pool Shark.\" title=\"Rumiko the Pool Shark.\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-171\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2891-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>We also sometimes acted like humans.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"Asian Wednesday's Asians\" title=\"Asian Wednesday's Asians\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-172\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2894-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>And aliens.<\/p>\n<p align=\"center\"><a href=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"&quot;It's like E.T.&quot; -Jong-hun\" title=\"&quot;It's like E.T.&quot; -Jong-hun\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-162\" srcset=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-1024x768.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-1536x1152.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-2048x1536.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-content\/uploads\/img_2896-400x300.jpg 400w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>It is my wish that the spirit of Asian Wednesday will live on.<\/p>\n<h3>How to Have Your Own Asian Wednesday<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Find an Asian.<\/li>\n<li>Eat some food with the Asian.<\/li>\n<li>Maybe watch a movie or something.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>That&#8217;s it!  Note that it does not even have to be Wednesday.  Good luck!<\/p>\n<p><small>* That part about the President is a lie.<\/small><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>No, this is not a short story about Asia being destroyed on a Wednesday, or switching over to some crazy calendar that doesn&#8217;t have Wednesdays (although you are welcome to write one in the comments&#8230; I will give you a &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/2008\/07\/27\/the-last-asian-wednesday\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[76,77,78,80,79],"class_list":["post-161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-food","tag-asian-wednesday","tag-omaha-restaurant","tag-pool","tag-porsche","tag-sharks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1334,"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161\/revisions\/1334"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zachbardon.com\/tour\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}