Let me just say this: it was a near-perfect weekend. We left Incheon ferry terminal at around 9 a.m. and go to the island right around noon. The we is: Me, Bekah, Beth, Cat, Adam, Tweezy, Yong, and later joined by Dave, Liz & Chase. I had been worried about the weather being a bit chilly, but it was of no concern upon arrival. The sun was shining, the breeze was blowing, and the ocean was calling. We got to our hotel (hooray, not camping), which is a Korean-style hotel. This means: no beds. It means yos, which are very thin pads upon which you sleep fitfully and minimally. This also means that there was a rice cooker in our room. haha. There were four people per room, and it was 100 won for two night, so 12 won/night/person, or about 10 bucks, which is pretty good. My room had me, Beth, Cat and Tweezy (Bekah and Adam camped on the beach... suckas). We were a five minute walk from the beach, which is also wonderful.
We got to our hotel, got settled a bit. By that I mean, we laid out the yos, I changed into my bathing suit, and we drank some beers and ate some corn pop like sugary snacks. We hit the beach shortly thereafter, and I got some quality time with the sunshine. Although the scenery looked nothing like Palm Beach(lots of mountains and shittier sand), if I closed my eyes and imagined, it was almost like I was back at home. I could almost feel Sarah laying out next to me, listening to the ipod or reading a trashy chick book. :-) Anyways, we laid out, threw a disc around a bit, and ultimately ended up moving towards the back of the beach, where fervent games of cups was being played. For those unfamiliar. Cups in a game of skill and drinking. Rules: 1. there are two pairs of sticks (about 5 1/2 ft long) stuck in the sand about 20 paces from each other. The sticks are a disc and a thumb's length apart. Resting upon each stick is a small plastic cup. Often, they are solo cups, but solo cups do not exist in Korea 2. Games are played 2 vs. 2. 3. The goal is to throw a frisbee either into one of the sticks or between the two sticks. By hitting a stick, the cup, in theory, flies off. 4. When a cup falls off the sticks, the opposing team, standing behind the sticks has the opportunity to catch the cup before it hits the ground. By catching the cup (one handed, without trapping it against the body), that team gains a point. If the cup does hit the ground, the other teams gets a point. 5. By throwing the disc between the sticks (without touching the sticks at all) the throwing team earns 2 points. 6. Games are to 13. 7. All of this must be done with a drink cup (or a cigarette, depending on your vice) in one hand. Spilling liquid is not illegal or punished, although it is firmly looked down upon.
So, we played a whole lotta cups this weeked. We drank a whole lotta Hite (if there is one link you click, this is the one... BIGBANG) and Cass (Korean beer, which sucks) and a whoooole lotta soju (and orange juice). The game is really fun, although it was nearly impossible for anyone to beat Endes and Tweezy, so that was kind of lame.
We had Samgyeopsal Friday night, and then went back to the hotel for a bit of a reprise for a few minutes. We ended up returning to the beach, where a small fire was being built, and people were setting off fireworks (totally legal here, and way better than back home). The "beach party" was fairly lame, but I stayed for a little while, chatting and watching fireworks and looking at the stars. Ended up back at the hotel on the rooftop for a bit, then back to the room. Spent the rest of the night tossing and turning on hard wooden floors.
Saturday: repeat Friday, but with more cups, more soju, more craziness. Samgyeopsal for dinner, with a delicious side of catchphrase. Back to the hotel, more catchphrase, to the beach, to the hotel, Century Club. Now I had never heard of century club before, but let's just put it this way. It is a power hour, but 100 minutes. Everyone who was with our group at this point (so roughly 15 people) decided to partake in the festivities. I only made it to minute 33 before I took myself out of the game (we had already been playing drinking games at dinner, so I knew my limits), but 2 gallant men made it to the bitter end. And trust me, it was bitter. But the getting there was awesome. Dave was laying down beats and Tweezy freestyled. Everyone was dancing. We were all laughing. However, at the 100th minute, only 2 men were left standing, and then a mere 5 minutes later, one was in the bushes.
Spent that night looking after a very very drunk person, which was part hilarious, part scary, part disgusting. He made it through alright though, and by the next morning was ready to go. Sunday morning, hit the beach one last time for a quick throwing session. Packed up, and hit the road/sea home. Back in Incheon, everyone got Pizza Hut in my neck of the woods (hooray). I saw two students en route to pizza hut (I also saw a student at the ferry terminal friday morning) and they were quite excited to see me (as they always are).
Headed to Seoul Sunday with the group (no school monday, at least for me). Spent the night at Bekah's, and woke up the next morning ready for some SHOPPING. We went to Itaewon first for some breakfast (omg, so delicious: omelet, ricotta cheese, spinach, tomatoes, basil pesto, and toast) and then hit up MyeongDong. Got a whole bunch of goodies at Forever 21 (necklace, long sleeve shirts, blue pinstripe shorts, navy v-neck top) and then window shopped the rest of the way. Had some thai food for dinner in Yongsan and then hit the subway for home.
Also, sorry no pictures. This was one of those weekends that will live on in memories instead of concrete images. :-)
This is all I have:
So to the left is the bridge that is being built from Incheon directly to the airport. It is supposed to open next year sometime and will be AWESOME. To the right is an image from the boat. You will note that people are sitting on a blanket. There were no seats on the boat. Only floors. Additionally, you will notice the very Korean way in which everyone has removed their shoes and left them 
immediately next to the blanket. You may also note the overturned soju bottle on the blanket, along with it's partner soju bottle still in the tray. That's right, folks, it's 10 a.m. and these gentleman (and ajumma) are already getting their soju on (for those that have forgotten soju is that most intense of all Korean alcohols). They drink soju li
ke water here. It's disgusting. Note also the old lady (aka ajumma) with her enormous sun visor. It was not sunny at this point. However, it is requisite that all women over 45 wear these hideous visors. I vow to leave Korea before I turn 45. Also to the left is Me lying on the boat next to Tweezy, who is playing with Lamonte (sp?), the doggy owned by one of the people who came to Deokjeok-do with us. I don't know if you can really tell, but this dog has ridiculous hair. David Bowie-esque. That's all folks. Nothing from the island, only from the ferry there. haha.The weather is supposed to be getting cooler this week, about which I am very happy. Thank you gods, for watching over me this weekend and holding off the colder weather until just now. Mommy and Daddy just got my North Face coat, and I can't wait for it to get here!!!!!
xoxo,
A
Love this super long post. We haven't gchatted in a while. Maybe tomorrow night (for me) / the morning at work (for you)? Is that the correct time exchange?
ReplyDelete