Rant #1,695: Filet of Seoul

Well, the cat is out of the bag now, so I can tell you all about it.

I was sworn to secrecy on this site before yesterday, but now, everything is public, so I can talk about something special that is going to be happening to my wife and I in the coming weeks.

We are going to Korea, yes, South Korea, and it is because of the fact that I am one of the grand prize winners of a contest sponsored by Kia, the Korean-based car company that has made a big splash in the States with its low-cost, high-quality cars.

What happened is that several weeks ago, Kia announced on Facebook that they were going to have a contest related to various facets of the car, and what driving a Kia means to people.

I took "the best driving experience" portion of the contest, and wrote a very short essay on my own best driving experience with a Kia, which, unfortunately, was also the worst driving experience I ever had, when I was in my massive accident two years ago, when some kid went through a Stop sign on a dreary, rainy Saturday afternoon, hit my car, and the impact of his car hitting mine nearly killed us.

If not for the strength of our Kia, I wouldn't be here now, and neither would my wife and son.

Anyway, it is impossible to turn that day into diamonds. We won the ultimate contest that day, because we were spared with only a few cuts and scrapes, but I figured "what the heck" and I gave in my submission with a photo of the damaged car.

I submitted my story, and pretty much forgot about it.

Then I received a call from those running the contest that I was one of 12 finalists, and six would be chosen by public vote as the grand prize winners.

I told the contest people that I would not publicize the contest here, only on Facebook.

I did it kind of subtly, although there were a few people I did target, and the race was on for the past two weeks or so to see who would reach the finish line.

And I did, one of six people whose stories earned the most votes from the social media public on Facebook.

I found out about this at 12:30 p.m. yesterday, right before lunch, and my wife and I are thrilled.

We will be going in mid to late September, and we expect to hear from Kia very soon about transportation, where we are staying while there, and our itinerary--I only know that we will be visiting the Kia plant there, as well as participating in a Korean cultural festival.

To say this came out of left field is an understatement. I have never won anything much in my life--I once won a turkey in a bowling tournament and a microwave at another bowling tournament, but that really is about it--and I am really excited about this.

I now have to tell my work about this, which is akin to getting a root canal, and I hope they are understanding.

I want to thank those readers here who knew about the contest and kept quiet about it, and I also want to thank everyone on Facebook who voted for me in this contest.

Again, it doesn't make the incident into diamonds, but it kind of puts a cherry on top of an absolutely horrific situation that I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

Now I have to do some research on Korea. I know we have a military presence there that is moving to the southernmost reaches of the country in one of the largest mass construction efforts in the history of that region.

I also know that the weather is kind of like in my neck of the woods right now, in the 70s and 80s and pretty mild. I have no idea what the weather will be in September.

I also need to find out a little about their customs, and how to say "thank you" in Korean. I don't want to offend my hosts by not knowing at least this in their native language.

"Kamsahamnida" to Kia, the contest people, and to all the people who voted for me.

Thank you all very much.

But before I go to Korea, I have to go to get my eyes examined by a specialist, something I do twice a year. It is a completely wasted day, as I can't see clearly for much of the day.

So tomorrow, I will not be writing my usual Rant.

Have a great Father's Day--the holiest day of the year for me--and I will speak to you again on Monday as we rev up for Rant No. 1,700 later in the week.