This is for what I was secretly hoping:
And this is what I received...
If there is anything I learned on this past weekend's adventure, it is one has never truly been to the "sticks" until he or she has been to the Korean "sticks," and one has never been bitten by a mosquito until he or she has been bitten by a Korean mosquito, for both are SCARY.
Our adventure began in a nice little caravan. I was in the unofficial wae-gook car, which contained four very chatty Americans and one Canadian who, regretfully, forgot his earplugs at home. (William, did we mention we love you for driving???)
Somehow, our caravan dispersed, and we found ourselves in a very "The Hills Have Eyes" situation. I'm not sure how common banjos are in Korea, but at one point, I swear I heard them.
We kept saying things like, "Surely this is not right." and "Where is the ocean?"
But after turning up and down many tiny, bumpy dirt roads, we found our destination, an abandoned house in the woods. To be honest, I felt right at home because it brought back memories of scary nights at my Uncle John's cabin on the Bouie River. It was at said cabin, at the age of three, that I first discovered that I was indeed a city girl.
I want to be outdoorsy. Really, I do, but I suppose some things come with great difficulty. For example. It never occurred to me that I should bring a pillow, blanket, sheet, towel, etc. I knew we would be sleeping on the floor, but bringing something to sleep on completely slipped my mind. I was too busy trying to pack as lightly as possible because I'm tired of being the over packing princess. Speaking of "princess," did I mention that William abandoned us and slept in his car? So did Eunice, but she is eight months pregnant and most definitely deserves comfort. As far as I know, William is not pregnant. Just sayin'...
Anyway, I did my best and tried to sleep on the floor, but it just was not working, so I ended up having some Laura/Sarah bonding and cleaning time until the sun came up. I am dumbfounded by that girl's energy. Seriously, she should be studied.
After everyone woke a few hours later (bedtime was around 4am), we had a western breakfast of toast, bananas, cereal, and COFFEE. Watching someone eat cereal with chopsticks is wicked impressive, FYI. Then it was time to head to the beach!
Jebu-do Island is popular because of the fact that twice a day low tide causes a higher ground under the water to surface. It appears as if the water has parted, and is, therefore, referred to as the Miracle of Moses. It is only during the low tide periods that one is able to drive to and from the island.
As soon as we got there, Ashley spotted a jellyfish, and the infamous "Friends" episode became the topic of discussion. Ashley and I pinkie-swore to be each other's pee partner, if necessary, and encouraged others to pee partner up as well. No one listened, but Ash and I ignored our full bladders all day, prepared to extinguish our partner's pain at a moment's notice. It turned out to be unnecessary, and we both now have bladder infections, but one can never be too careful when in battle with nature. (Side note: No, we don't really have bladder infections. Pick up a sense of humor sometime.)
As it turned out, maybe I should have partnered up with someone with a bit more intelligence because Ashley tried to channel her inner little mermaid by jumping onto a rock while singing "Part of Your World" and sliced her foot off on a piece of barnacle. She then spent the rest of the day calling the little mermaid a series of words that are illegal in most countries.
Meanwhile, Hardcore-Hannah (or was it Becky?) ran around kidnapping poor little crabs from their homes and putting them in her shoe. She may look sweet and delicate, but that girl is not squeamish when I comes to grabbing random sea creatures as they try to run away. The word on the street is that she once bit the head off a live bat on stage in concert.
And whoever said Chivalry is dead was most definitely correct. Ashley and Sarah almost drowned in some man-eating Korean quicksand. Beau saw them and immediately said "Sorry, there is nothing we can do for you" and high-tailed it toward the shore. I, on the other hand, ran toward them ready to pee, if needed. They eventually escaped, and Beau is pretty much going to hell.
Later, I lounged on the mud and watched everyone play freeze tag and red light/green light in the water. I love the fact that growing up is optional at times!!!
I'll end this blog by saying that although I said the word "ocean" many times, we were in fact at the Yellow Sea, which I find completely racist and will from this day forward refer to as the Asian Sea.
Happy 4th of July!
Oh! And Happy Canada Day!
