White Water Madness

I returned to Korea full of energy and ready to finish my two remaining weeks before our 5 week break. I got back on Tuesday and was told that we only had four days till the break. Seems that they changed the schedule but never bothered to tell me. Of course if they did tell me I would have stayed in the US for a few more weeks instead of sitting around Korea doing nothing...

Well, I guess that is not entirely true. I was also told that the teachers and staff were all going on an overnight trip. We were to go rafting on Monday then stay overnight somewhere and head home Tuesday. Wow! I had never rafted until 2 weeks prior, now I had the chance to do it again.

After 4 days of watching "Titanic"(a horror movie for my soon to be seafaring students) with the students I had 2 days relaxation before the big trip. On Monday we all piled into buses and headed out to the river. It took forever to get there since we seemed to have stopped at every rest-stop there was. I am not sure by what standard the restaurants were chosen but they sure as hell didn't consult me.


We stopped off at a zoo type place for a nice walk around. It made me sad to see the animals, they looked quite depressed and one ostrich looked like it was on its last leg.


We finally made it to the river where I was promptly given proof that the Koreans would suck every bit of fun to be had out of this trip. We all had to line up and do stretches which I stayed away from...lots of bounce stretches and hand clapping. We were then instructed for 15 minutes on how to properly put on a life vest and helmet. Our guide seemed desperate for me to have my helmet snapped in place during our kilometer walk to the river.


After playing some "let's get the rafters wet" games we crammed into the rafts. We had to fit 10 people plus guide into each raft. They were no bigger than what we had 6 people in when we went rafting in Pennsylvania a couple weeks ago. Not much room to move and then having to strap our feet down (so we don't go flying overboard) left us all nice and cramped. Because of the lack of room, we all had to paddle in unison "Ching chong due qua!" (Er..."one two three four!") I don't think anybody got it right.

I will admit that we did have fun and the guides were good people. At one point they piled up all the rafts and made a sort of waterslide for us. As with all of Korea, there is a dirty underbelly to this. We are covered with safety gear from head to toe, but while doing the waterslide (where the slidee couldn't see the slided until it was too late) everyone was landing on each other. I almost destroyed one man but somehow Cirque du Soleil'd my way over him much to the delight of my co-workers.

At one point I was nominated to be "Jack" and to hold "Rose" as she flung her arms out Christ like to a catchy tune by Celine Dion. I was so sick of "Rose" by then (having watched "Titanic" 12 times the week prior) that she was soon laying face-down in the murky river and I was soon to join her thanks to my shipmates.

After rafting we went to a Jimjaebang (sp?) which is just a spa of sorts (no, not that kind of spa, think pubic* baths). We all took a group shower (separated by sex) in which I noticed quite a few of the Korean teachers sneaking a peek (maybe to see if the rumors are true...they are). I could go on, but as this is a family site I will refrain.

We later headed to our dwellings for the night (a few little one room houses) and had some grilled pork and a whole lot of booze. Many of the teachers began signing songs and after much begging, got me to sing a few lines of "Piano Man". I wasn't in the right mindset to remember much more than that. Around 2AM I searched for a free place in one of the houses to no avail so I stole a blanket and plopped down under one of the covered outdoor tables. I woke at 5 covered in mosquito bites and went for a walk before stealing another early riser's sleeping spot inside one of the little houses to grab a little bug-free shut-eye.



All in all, a good trip and I am glad I went.


Created with Paul's flickrSLiDR.


*Oops! Freudian slip!!