Fortnight's and fortitudes, part 1

(I decided to split this post into two parts.  Part 2 tomorrow or later on tonight)

So it's been two weeks or so since my last blog and a whole lot has happened.  Most importantly, the internet service and AC that was guaranteed in my contract were finally provided after 3 months of promises.  I've also gone on two more mini-trips; one was awesome despite random acts of buffoonery, the other left much to be desired.  I've also made a decision to take a more proactive role in cutting a few pounds.  Eating right over here is a fairly easy thing to do as long as you avoid the quick and easy pitfalls, but the copious amounts of alcohol that seem to be consumed on random Wednesdays needs to be curtailed a bit.  I've also been a lot more active on the weekends with these trips, but a little effort through the week will go a long way I think.  Unfortunately, gym memberships are two to three times the cost of a membership in the United States.  We shall see.

I'm gonna put a bit of a disclaimer for this particular blog entry.  The second weekend trip involved one drunken individual that did many annoying things.  The problem is that several of those things would be ridiculously embarrassing for him and I'm just not as malicious as I was in the past(or at least I'm trying to not be.)  I still want to write about the trip and everything that he did adds a helluva lot to the story.  So, there's my dilemma.  I have a little catching up to do before that tale gets told, so maybe I'll change my mind by then.

I've been going on weekend trips with a guy here in Pusan that organizes everything for us in advance and then acts as a guide the entire trip.  He's been hosting these events for 12 years now and everyone that I've been on as been a blast so far, until this particular weekend, that is.  First things first, none of the disappointment was the fault of the organizer.  Things just didn't quite work out right.  I still continued the trend of meeting more like minded individuals and that aspect of the trip was a success. 

The weekend was billed as a White Water Rafting & Tofu Making excursion.  The day started off slow with several stragglers that pushed our start time back.  It wasn't an overnight trip, so there wasn't as much wiggle room with the itinerary.  When we arrived at the rafting location, I could immediately tell that this might not be what I was hoping for in the trip.  To start, you could see a lot of rafts in the water... water that was calmly rolling down the river.  I've honestly seen more white water coming from my faucet, but I was pretty sure that there would be more actual rapids down the river.  We could only see the launching area from the road, so of course it was going to be calm.  When we got to the equipment shack we were given life vests and helmets and made to put them on immediately. 

I thought both were a bit ridiculous, but in general, Koreans can't swim.  Or at least they can't swim very well.  If you go to the beach and you get out past your chest, a swarm of ninja's on jet skis will descend on you and corral you back to the beach.  (I call them ninja's because they are covered from nose to toes in a wet suit and many of them also wear a mask and hat of some sort to keep their bodies from seeing any sort of sun at all.)

Our group of 22 were split into two separate groups because they only had two guides available.  The boats were crowded to say the least.  This is where the experience split for the group.  The ten that ended up on the first boat had a blast;  their guide was fun, they were organized, and he spoke at least a little English.  My group of twelve was not so lucky.  Our guide was always in a rush, he couldn't speak any English at all (or he refused to), and he was terrible at steering.  We managed to get stuck on protruding rocks at least four times on a two hour float trip.  That was the other problem: despite the helmet and life jacket requirement, the water was calm for 95% of the trip.  The overloaded boat also meant that we bottomed out every time the water got the least bit shallow.  The guide's lack of competency, lack of English, or our own lack of ability pushed us into every major rock in the river.  After about an hour of this, our boat had a full on mutiny.  Helmets and vests were flung to the side and we jumped out of the boat for a swim.  The guide of course was not happy, but we couldn't understand him anyway. 

After we got back to the equipment shed, it became apparent that we would not have enough time for the tofu-making portion of our trip.  I was looking forward to that portion of the trip, but I wasn't that broken up when it had to be cancelled.  After getting a bite to eat and drinking a few more beers, it was decided to call it a day and head back to Pusan.  I'm not sure what the soup was at this particular restaurant, but it tasted like the juice from homegrown jars of green cooked in bacon fat for hours and hours..... delicious.  The beer, of course, just tasted like beer.

Despite the poor turn to the day, the trip was one of smiles.  Back home, its just not that easy to get a large group of people together for anything.  At SIU-C and in Las Vegas, it was a little easier, but most of the time everything was a still a last minute decision.  It takes a bit of an adventurous soul to decide to move to the other side of the world, to start.  The majority of us are twenty or thirty-somethings, unmarried and without children.  There are exceptions, of course, but it seems to be the exact opposite of back home where getting settled down and raising a family seems to be the norm.  I'm just not that guy right now.  I might never be.... sorry, Mom.