My Joie Club.

A couple years ago, I visited my friend Liz in Korea where she lived for a year teaching English. Early into the trip we spent an afternoon wandering around Gyeongbokgung Palace, admiring the odd animal statues and flurry of tiny Koreans girls, giggling into cupped hands. Gyeongbokgung is smack dab in the middle of a busy area of Seoul so it was interesting to look right and see an ancient temple, and then immediately to your left you could see a giant skyscraper with scrolling advertisements.

"It's an interesting juxtaposition, isn't it?" Liz asked. "I think juxtaposition might be my favorite word.... what's yours?"

"...Sandwich," I responded.

I might have dropped the intellectual level of that conversation considerably that day, but it's the truth. Sandwich is a great word. A great food, too. For those of you who read Stuff White People Like, you might recall that expensive sandwiches made the list and I can't even begin to raise argument with that. I like sandwiches - especially the expensive ones. The truth is, no matter what kind of sandwich is, I have a theory that it will always tastes better when someone else makes it.

So the day I discovered Ninth Street Deli, a sleepy little Mom and Pop operation carrying the sandwich known as the North Village Club? Well, let's just say I've already decided I will never find a better sandwich. Ever. Forget it. Columbia, Missouri might not be the eighth wonder of the world, but what it lacks in glamour it makes up for in sandwiches.

After a long day of work and class, I usually grab the North Village Club to-go with a pickle, but the walk home seems like an eternity. So if you're ever on that side of town and you see me speeding towards my apartment with a stupid grin on my face, just assume I have precious cargo in my backpack. And don't even bother trying to get my attention until I am down to just the crumbs - I can only focus on one joy at a time.