something to thank god for. . .

some friends and i decided to head out to samcheok again for the long weekend. last time we checked out the penis park, and this time, we thought it might make for a nice getaway place. . . pretty scenery and all.

it was buddha’s birthday. . . so we had it set up. . . beach, badminton, beers, block (sunblock), bats (samcheok’s mascot is a bat because there are caves nearby), bangers (we brought some fireworks), and bubbles (also fun at the beach).

we understand the traffic here. don’t know if i’ve mentioned it, but it can be utterly ridiculous for all holidays. last trip to samcheok, a trip that should’ve taken 3.5 to 4 hours, took 6 to 7 hours both ways. we thought that was bad!

we decided to leave early in the morning. we were on the highway at about 6:30 am friday morning. we didn’t get into samcheok till nearly 5:30 pm. if you add the hour that holly drove to get the car and pick us up that makes for a grand total of 12 hours. and bizarrely, it felt like we were moving more often through the traffic this time. it really makes no sense to me.

well, we made due with music and madlibs.

anyway, we finally got in and immediately went to sit on the beach. . . dip our toes in and such. saturday we drove around to check out the beach areas we missed last time. we did actually play some badminton. . .ate some snacks, drank and relaxed for a bit. the weather wasn’t the greatest of cooperators. it was windy and cloudy. i didn’t mind the lack of sun too much. . . but it wasn’t as picturesque.

it was nice to see the area with green trees on the mountains. we hunted around for activities. . . found a cave you could take a monorail through- but it required reservations in advance. . . so we opted for the omnimax movie version of the caves. at some point the area will have bike rails that you can tour around on- that would be nice. . . . hmmmm- maybe another time.

our room had a tv that we envied for movie nights. . . when it got too chilly and rainy for fireworks and beach badminton, we settled for tv and some laughter filled cranium. - go ahead, you try to mime ‘washboard abs.’

we had a small scuff with another car and met possibly the nicest and most understanding korean couple. (kinda nice that car insurance is compulsory in korea). that killed an hour.

we saw a number of other foreigners, apparently most were vacationing as well. we had drinks with a couple from seoul who seemed real nice. in fact, all the foreigners we spotted were real nice. hand waves, smiles, ‘hellos’ all around- something we don’t have in the handeaup area much.

i had one of the worst chicken restaurant experiences. i ordered the chicken salad, which looked delicious on the menu. . . what i received was a plate full of cut up, over cooked chicken tenders on a bed of chopped up lettuce doused in mayo and ketchup. that’s it. no carrots. . . no peppers. . . . just ketchup and mayo. i only stomached about half of it. everyone else’s chicken sandwiches were just a hunk of chicken thigh deep fried and thrown between bread. made me really miss the chicken place back here.

sunday, we decided we needed to leave just as early, if we were gonna make it back at a decent hour. again, we left around 6:30. we were all tired and pretty much passed out, except for holly, who i can’t commend enough for taking on all the driving.

we left at 6:30 and arrived between 9:30 and 10 am. about the time it actually should take. the way traffic works around here, everyone that was vacationing and driving on friday should’ve also been driving back on sunday. the only thing we can attribute our amazing success to, is church. perhaps everyone vacationing still went to church and therefore didn’t start their travels until we were long gone.

so, while i’m thankful that i no longer subscribe to god and church. . . i’m real thankful today that other people do.

i suddenly had a whole day that i didn’t plan on. it’s like christmas, and your present is a free do over day. i could clean, finish report cards, see a movie, write a blog, sleep a little more, read, listen to podcasts, spend the whole day watching tv. . . . so many options. and i actually accomplished a couple of them. :)

other than that. the first semester of year two is just finishing. . . report cards, new book, and finals fill my days.