Mudfest!

I've got some pictures now so it's time to post about mudfest and last weekend in general. Here's the cliffnotes. Friday was a school sponsored "field trip" for the foriegn teachers to the DMZ (demilitarized zone), followed by one of th palaces and shopping in Insadong. Also a call to wish my wonderful wife a happy birthday :) Saturday meant getting up early to catch a bus to Boryeong and Mudfest. Sunday morning and afternoon in Boryeong with the night reserved for unwinding and recovery. Now for the details.

The those who dont know, the DMZ is the area between North and South Korea. It's a thin strip of land between the two where, excepting certain heavily watched roads, neither army goes and nothing is built (though apparently the whole thing is filled with mines). Its kind of crazy. Each side has various things just across the border. For instance North Korea has a "propaganda village" which means a nice tidy perfect looking little village with a huge flag pole and accompanying flag. South Korea on the other hand has tourist facilities. Shows the contrast between the two quite nicely doesn't it? There were a ton of restrictions on pictures sadly so we dont have any good shots. Part of this trip was getting to go into the "3rd invasion tunnel." The North Koreans are pretty determined it seems. They've dug three tunnels that we know of across the DMZ and possibly more. Of the three that have found two are now tourist attractions. It was a steep 11% incline down to the actually tunnel. We wore hardhats in the tunnel because of the low ceilings. Melissa was short enough it didn't really matter but Aaron and I would have been in a world of hurt without them. We each bumped our heads at least ten times. Afterward the field trip was supposed to go to one of the palaces followed by shopping in Insadong but the weather was really crappy. So a lot of people, including my little expeditionary group, opted out. Instead we went to Namdaemun. Namdaemun is the primary shopping center for the country. It is also the site of a burnt down national teasure. Seems "The South Gate", from whence the area got its name, was burnt down by a disgruntled citizen. See in Korea land is a huge and solid investment. This citizen invested a lot in land then had the government forcibly buy it out from under him at a fraction of its worth ruining him. He decided the correct nswer was to burn down a 600+ year old national treasure. I kinda can't blame him but I bet the jail time has made him reconsider his position on the matter. Len really wanted to check out some camera stores and Namdaemun has a camera district. We did so then vacated the premises and made our way to the much loved Smokey Saloon for burgers. This was a trickier than usual proposition due to a torrential downpour. The trade off was no line to get our burgers for once. I accepted this trade, ate burger, then headed home. Now Saturday was going to be a long day. In order to catch the bus to Mudfest we were going to have to get up at about 5 am. Instead of doing that we all opted for early naps at our respective home followed by getting up at 1am and hanging out until it was time to go then trying to catch some zzz's on the bus. Great Success!

After catching our bus then sleeping on it we found ourselves at the Boryeong mud flats. They gave us some snacks and free beer (mine was passed on to Aaron). We went and played for a bit on the well packed mud flats before being called in to change into some camo pants and long sleeved shirts. The whole time they were pumping some pretty crappy music out at us. I'm pretty sure they played "Toxic" by Britney Spear at least four times. Not sure if they were trying to tell us something or not. We got changed but missed the beginning activity; all the guys split into two teams and tryed to toss each other out of a "ring" defined by a rope. Kinda sad I missed it. The next activity was a game of mud rugby. The girls had their own seperate rugby game. It was a good time for sure. I did alright when I had the energy to do anything. I wore out pretty quickly. Afterwards we built me an impressive mud hump. No pics though, far too muddy for a camera. Though the Adventure Korea (the company I went through) people had cameramen wandering and they took pics. They may even be up on their website at some point. We built a mud castle but it's was pretty pitiful for the amount of work we had to put in. Afterwards we showered and reloaded onto the bus to hit Boryeong proper. The rest of the night was spent dinking around town and exploring. Our hotel was right next to the beach so it was quite beautiful. Then sleep.

We had until about 4pm to do as we wished. Despite it being mudfest and many mud related activities being available, we all decided we'd much rather play in the ocean and on the beach. We found a spot to set our towels out and the rented a couple inner tubes. Aaron and I spent a bunch of time playing around in the water while Mel relaxed up on the beach. Mostly we swam out past the breaks, got up into our tubes, and relaxed until the swells dragged us far enough in for the waves to break. Then we tried to catch the biggest and best break and ride it into shore so we could do it all over again. Mel joined us for a bit before going off in search of some lunch for us all.

After lunch we began the greatest achievement of the weekend. Our sandcastle! Heck yeah sandcastle. We just kind of went for it since we lacked the tools of true sand artists but we sure had a fun time! Mel made it lok all pretty and Aaron and I did the grunt work.

Good times. The trip home was more bus and more sleeping. It was a weekend to be remembered for sure. It was so nice to play in the ocean. I only wish we hadn't been surrounded by a thousand+ other people. Well worth the price, which included a wicked sunburn. I'm mostly recovered now and ready to tackle my 29th birthday weekend!

Home for keeps

Ok, so if you haven't figured it out from the last two posts, or you didn't already know, Justin is coming home soon. And I am back for good. I figured we should make an actual announcement. We hadn't really decided whether it should be on the blog or not, but now we have.

Korea isn't really our thing. We had (and Justin's still having) fun. We are so glad that we did go. The experience was amazing. But we are ready to be home. We had some stress and issues with housing and the school Justin works for. Plus, everyone is pretty upset about N. Korea. Since I had already decided to come home for the wedding, we just planned on me not going back.

We don't have much of a plan yet, but it will work out. We'll be looking for jobs and living simply. I'll be staying with family until he gets back. It is so good to be here. I know we made the right decision.

Back in Texas

We made it through all the wedding festivities. And we are back in Texas. It was so much fun! My brother's wedding was beautiful. The ceremony was in Sinks Canyon in Wyoming. Awesome setting. The reception was back in Riverton, WY at the baptist church. There was some silly dancing and amazing toasts. It was really neat to see Charlie's groomsmen there with him. We have known both Clint and Jeff for at least 15 years. Clint lives in Utah, and we had met him several times before. Jeff lives in California. We had never met him in person. To see all 3 guys together in the same place was crazy.

After the wedding was over, Mom and I went to Cody, WY. On the way there we stopped in Thermopolis. There is a hot springs there, and a bison pasture. We observed a large family of bison. A couple of them came up on the road near the car. We stayed at the Big Bear Motel. Great place to stay. I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting to go to Yellowstone or Cody. It was clean with nice beds, and the owner Bob was awesome. We spent one day in Yellowstone. That was all we could handle. We did see some deer and pronghorn, then Old Faithful!

The next day we spent at the Buffalo Bill Museum. It is actually 5 museums in one, and we made it through 2 of them. The Plains Indian museum and the natural history museum. It was so much fun. The rest of the trip was spent admiring the mountains and relaxing. Another recommendation is the Chuckwagon in Cody. They serve a breakfast buffet, lunch, and have a dinner show. We made it to a couple breakfasts and a lunch. Never made the show, but I'm sure it's entertaining. The owner of the Chuckwagon is extremely nice.

On Wednesday, we drove 8 hours back down to Fort Collins. The next morning we took my brother and his wife (!) to the airport and made a stop in Pueblo. Justin's mom lives in Pueblo. We spent several hours with her eating a yummy lunch and talking. This is the first time our moms had met! Then we drove 7 more hours down to Amarillo, TX. Friday morning (my birthday!), in the car again and 10 hours down to Austin. Not the most exciting birthday ever. In fact, I was pretty grumpy after a long day of driving and the HEAT. But we were able to fix that with an awesome dinner at Whole Foods (cheesecake....) and some sleep. Saturday we were up early and off to Blanco to set up for my brother's reception. It went very smoothly and it was so great to see everyone there! Rachelle's parents were there, all our family, and Charlie's friends from Blanco.

As you can imagine, we crashed on Saturday night. Sunday and Monday were laid back and easy. I am going to see my cousin Lacey tonight, then go to stay with my Nana tomorrow. Saturday is my baby shower here in Austin. I am so glad I have this time to spend with my family. I miss Justin though, and I wish he could be here sharing this with me. At least the time is passing quickly. He'll be home before we know it.

Me, Myself, and Justin.

Being alone in Korea is tough. If I didn't have friends to hang out with I think I'd probably go crazy. I've had a couple freak out days to be sure but nothing I wasn't able to handle and it's getting easier. I'm glad the time between now and my triumphant return to the states is short. I've got the next two weeks off for summer vacation, then three weeks of summer camp, and a few more weeks before heading home. With all the things I have to do between now and then it should go pretty quickly.
This last weekend was pretty packed. Friday was a trip up to the DMZ. Saturday and Sunday hosted the much anticipated Mudfest. I'll be doing a seperate post for those once I round up the pictures for said events. To give you a little taste though, I will say this. Sandcastle. Oh yes, a magnificent sandcastle was built by myself and Melissa with Aaron's assistance. We did a mudcastle as well but it wasnt nearly as magnificent. More on this later.

Colorado

We made it to Fort Collins. It has been one crazy week.

The flight from Korea went surprisingly fast. It was 13 hours, and there is a 13 hour time difference. So I departed from Korean on Wed., July 1st at 6:15pm and arrived in Atlanta, GA on Wed., July 1st at 6:15pm. There was a couple hours layover in Atlanta. It was timed perfectly because I still had to go through immigration, pick up my checked baggage, and re-check it. I checked in with my mom, and then had a 2 hour flight to Austin. I had a great seat-mate. She was very sweet. I hadn't slept well on the planes but it worked out. We got to my mom's house around midnight. I had a good night's sleep, and didn't really get off schedule.

That same night my aunt Karen was having problems and was taken to the hospital. The next day my mom and I picked up my grandmother and visited her in the ICU. She was unresponsive when we arrived. She had had a stroke. Karen has been fighting kidney failure and diabetes for years. She passed away the next morning. I'm so glad that I was able to see her one last time, but especially to be with my Uncle Fred. It has been rough losing such a wonderful woman. My aunt Karen did not want to have a funeral or anything at a funeral home. Her wishes were for us to have a party. So we will be having a Memorial/Party for her in August. For anyone who knew Karen, we have a memorial website for her at karenscottmemorial.com.

So we have now made the first leg of our July trip. We left Austin yesterday morning, spent the night in Amarillo, TX, and have arrived in Fort Collins, CO. We had an awesome dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Nyala Ethiopian. Mmmm. We'll be in town until Thursday. Then we head up to Wyoming to start the wedding festivities!! We have so much we want to fit in these few days that we have here. I know it will be hardest for my mom. Normally she is able to spend a month or so every summer in Colorado. She only gets a few days this year. But at least she will be coming back to see the baby when he's born!

I'm full of yummy Ethiopian food and tired from a long car ride. I'm thinking nap time! Oh, and to everyone in Korea, I miss you so much already!! I hope you are taking care of my man!

A few more hours

I'm all packed up and ready for my flight to the States. It leaves tonight (Wed. here) at 6:15pm. I will arrive tomorrow (Wed. there) at around 11:00pm. Around 19 hours of travel. Should be fun. I am prepared with lots of snacks, the ipod, book, and sudoku. I'm just hoping the two HUGE suitcases I packed won't be overweight. I'm sure they will be, though.

Sigh. Can't wait to be home. And see everyone I miss so much!