Part 8.

    When I first was in Korea and after David Johns arrived there, we’d go out occasionally to gamble. I’ve never been big on casinos, but there was one at the opening to our group of apartment complexes at Hannam Heitz. It was an American Legion Post, placed brilliantly there, which contained a casino, bar, etc. We usually played ‘21’ (Blackjack), when we were there, and David usually won something. I didn’t generally, which is why I always quit playing after I’d lost my first 10,000 won (about $12 then).

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     Even though I’ve never gambled in casinos much – that may have been the only period in my life I did – I have often risked some things, and occasionally money, to obtain goals I work for. Betting on Suk-Hee, my then-wife, in 1986-87, may have been the biggest gamble of my life. I spent a lot more money on her than I’d ever spent on any other woman.

     For instance, though she’d been in the habit of taking care of obtaining her own lunch, etc., all these years, in addition to my paying for rent, utilities, and food at home, I was also asked to kick in an allowance, so she could take care of her daytime expenses, too. Of course, I didn’t know if she’d ever chip in any of her profits from her business, for our household expenses. That was a big risk.

     Also, you may recall in previous essays, I’ve spoke about the tiredness or fatigue I felt much of the time the first time I was in Seoul. That fatigue bothered me somewhat, too, when I was in Seoul the second time. The second time, though, I was taking something that helped me sleep.

     However, Suk-Hee said my tiredness was mainly in my head, and I just needed something for my stamina. First, she had the guts to hide the regular medicine that usually helped me sleep. In addition, I had to eat and/or drink plenty of ginseng-based products, plus she also had me invest $550 of my own money in an herbal concoction that tasted dreadful. She’d boil up that infamous little brew every day for two weeks, and I choked it down. It didn’t help me rest; in fact, I probably lost sleep at night sometimes, dreading getting up to that stuff first thing the next morning. I was so run-down by the time we arrived in Wisconsin in April 1987, that my doctor had me spend two weeks in hospital, to get proper fluids, nutrition, tests, and rest.