Fridays are for sleeping in, right? Wrong. Get up early, get to the train station. to take the train to the big event: the Boryeong Mud Festival! We meet some college kids who are studying in Seoul who are also going. Most of the Americans I met in Korea were in the military or studying.
Our hotel was only a few blocks from the festivities. It was less awesome than the other hotels we stayed at, and more expensive but when you consider how muddy everything in the bathroom got you understand the price increases a little.
We changed as quickly as we could and were off. The sun was hot but the air wasn't as humid as Seoul. We stopped at a chicken and beer place for lunch. I have a lot to learn from Anthony. Just order the fried Chicken. But NOOOO, I had to order the spicy chicken stir-fry. By chicken stir-fry they meant green and white onions and chicken feet. Now, I've never had chicken feet before, but they weren't horrible. I wouldn't want to have them again, though. The best thing about the meal was the soju and OJ.
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| Leg Room! |
We walked along the beach to the main event area. It was my first time out in public while wearing a bikini... and other people could see me. I'm still shy but at some point I'll have to get over it. We entered into the festival where drums were being played by festival workers and tourists alike. The sound almost drowned out all other noise in the area. Anthony and I walked along the outer edges looking at the tents that were set up. We saw souvenir shops, currency exchange, food, information tents. emergency care, mud crafts and picture tents. There were several drums of mud open for people to use as they like. People were decorating themselves with designs or painting their entire bodies. We walked over to the colored mud area. Anthony said that a few years ago people could paint themselves with the colored mud, but this year it had to be done by a worker.
I couldn't think of a design, so I just got some colors on me. Anthony got a Captain Planet-themed paint job.At some point we sat down at a table outside to drink a few liters of water and take the scene in. There weren't too many people around. There was a mud arena that took up most of the event area. It cost $5 to enter for a few hours. It held 3 adult slides, 2 or 3 kid slides, 1 or 2 obstacle courses. There was also a mud prison where people had to go to get mud splashed on them. While we were hydrating under the shade of the umbrella we saw a Sapporo truck and they set up a game where you have to shake a can that was attached to a meeter and if all the lights lit up you would be given a prize. So after watching a few guys try it out we see our first winner. He's Asian and he crouches over and starts jerking the can. 0_0 I CRACKED UP! An American went after, big old muscle man, but he was shaking it and couldn't get it. You had to jerk it. Anthony tried it in the afternoon and he won a Sapporo battery-powered hand held fan. The fan was destroyed by over-muddying.
At another point while we were lounging around two people came up and asked us to fill out a survey about Mud Fest. We hadn't been there long or done much with the festival but we filled the surveys out anyway. Its really awesome how many people speak English and the forms were in English as well. I really understood how powerful America and the UK are politically, economically and culturally.
When we finally got to the Mud City I was forced to do things. Horrible things. Just kidding, I really didn't want to get mud in my hair or on my face, but there was really no avoiding it. The first place we went to was the obstacle course. It was the inflated kind so it was hard to get a grip on anything with all the mud splashing everywhere. Volunteers threw mud on the participants at random intervals and once before the race starts. The next thing we tried was the mud pool. I got mud in my eye from the splashing. No bueno. Then we went on the inflated slides. They were all fun! It was a race to the top with guards throwing mud down on the stairs. On the first slide Anthony pushed me and I slid down sideways. It felt weirder than going down head first. There was another game where you and 3 people are strapped into a bungee cord and whoever gets tot he middle first wins. I can't imagine how hard that would be with all the mud. I even almost fell a few times just walking around.
I got a chance to make some mud soap, and that evening we walked around the beach. There was supposed to be a "Hip-Hop Global Rave Party" but the acts we saw were more pop. There was one twosome who really blew us away with their rapping skills. I didn't get the group's name though. So Anthony and I walked around and took note of how the main mud area is being expanded. There was a little park of statues that lit up at night. It was beautiful although a little run down. Finally we rested on the steep stairs that led to a side beach. There were bands paying and people walking around. The tide was WAY out and the beach was covered in blue and yellow lights.
Saturday was an interesting day. We got up early and ate at the Loteria for lunch. Its Korea's McDonald's. We went out onto the beach and threw a Frisbee around for a while. I swear Anthony was pulling a "Daria." He just looked at the Frisbee as it fell to the ground a foot away from him. After a bit we walked toward the main event area. I don't like large crowds or lots of people in a packed area, so Anthony was being extra sweet to me. We couldn't find an umbrealla to rent in the area, but we found a nice area to put our things down. We went into the water for a while. The Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) helicopter there taking footage of people on the beach and in the water. It reminded me of MTV spring break footage. I had a good time and probably ended up on TV. Speaking of being on TV Anthony and I had several photographers come up to us on Friday and a few on Saturday who wanted pictures of us. One guy from KBS interviewed us about the festival. His English wasn't so great, but I think we got the majority of what the other was saying. I imagined how we would look on Korean television and laughed. I hope they subtitle it well. On Saturday we were stopped by some people with the World Peace Initiative. They asked us what peace meant to us and took our picture for a project. Here's the photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/81838232@N07/7648651012/
On the beach we were seated near a stage. While we were baking in the sun we heard one rock band who did mostly other band's songs and then we heard an Australian/ Canadian punk goes crunk... band. It was interesting to say the least and Anthony really liked it. The sun was SUPER intense and I had to take off most of my clothes to deal with it. I got sooo sunburned. I guess I needed the SPF 50. It didn't help that I didn't drink enough water. I really wasn't thirsty though. During the hottest part of the day they asked everyone to a special part of the beach where they shot off water and mud cannons. Great shots for photographers and KBS video. The best part of Saturday, for me, was Saturday night. We got to see AKON and The Wonder Girls.
The show wasn't as heavily advertised as I thought it would be. It only cost $33! I heard from someone that The Wonder Girls have been playing in the US. I'm not sure if they mean just touring or on the TV. Some one update me. But the show was really better than I thought it was going to be. Akon did a little bit of all his popular songs and at one point he was crowd surfing in a clear plastic ball. He wasn't lip syncing and he was dancing. And he took his shirt off. =) I always appreciate a good looking body. After that there was a real kind of rave with dueling DJs and laser lights. I had enough of the crowd though, so I sat outside at a table while Anthony went to dance. I sat down alone with my soju and juice and then I joined a Canadian and a Korean who were sitting nearby. We had a really great conversation and I made a new friend. Then they had to go because one of them was feeling sick and somehow I found myself sitting with 3 Koreans who were really cool. One guy asked me what I thought of Korea and here's my observations:
There is the smell of garbage and kimchi everywhere. This is because its common for trash to be left out in the open. Japan is very clean in comparison. Everyone separates their recyclables and place everything at a community trash collection point. Even in the cities it's hard to find public trash cans. Instead of people putting trash on the ground, they find a good place to put it. The next difference is the price. Things in Korea are inexpensive partially because of the exchange rate of dollar to won, but I think there is something else driving prices down. How else could I explain a 2-liter bottle of beer for $3? Its crazy. Japan is expensive because of the yen to dollar exchange rate and because almost everything but rice is imported. Also, Japanese people do not get tips. All employees are payed a wage that they can afford to live on. I don't know what it's like in Korea, but I know that many people in the USA are working at minimum wage and they can't live on that. To go along with pricing, there is almost an expectation to haggle at some of the shops. I don't think Japanese ever haggle.The next thing is the number of what looks like displaced people. I didn't see many people outwardly begging in Korea, but there seemed to be a lot of men who looked unkempt and who were sleeping on the stairs to the subway, or other public areas. While we were in Tokyo I only saw one homeless man. The Seoul metro was much more complicated for tourists than the Tokyo metro. I don't know what the metro in USA urban areas are like. I hadn't even been on a train until I came to Japan. Then there is the fashion. Korea is much more like the USA. Tattoos are acceptable in Korea, and girls wear anything comfortable. I've only seen some Japanese girls wear things that show their skin and they were very Americanized, or they were for hire in some way. Japanese people are mostly traditional with not showing arms and midriffs.
Maybe part of the reason that Koreans are so Americanized is because Americans helped South Korea battle the north. We haven't really done something like that for the Japanese. But I respect the Japanese for keeping to their traditions. It helps to have a national identity and national history. Americans no longer have that. We frown on assimilating. We encourage pride with out humility. I believe that part of the reason we are struggling a little is because we don't have a common history. We are from all over the world, we have different family histories and expectations. Even people from different areas of the country have different constructs of history and relations with other peoples. The conversations we have in the South aren't the same as the ones they have in the Northwest. I think that we really have to teach more respect in our culture. Respect for self, for others, for elders. That and humility.
My new friends and I talked and drank until 4AM. I must say that this is my favorite way to spend an evening. Most people who have been out with me know that I try to be home by 2AM. Mostly its because I don't like going to clubs and being around loud obnoxious drunk people for a long time. Anthony and I had to be at the train station early, so you can imagine how hard the 4 hour trip back to Osan was for me. We took a taxi to the train station. I thought I was going to be sick. They drive crazy as it is and I'm pretty sure I was still drunk. The train to Suwon (a few hour ride) didn't have seats, so we had to find a different empty seat at each station. I had to stand up for a while. No bueno. Then I had to stand on the train from Suwon to Osan. But I held strong until we got to the hotel room and I could pass out! For the next two days we relaxed, treated sunburns and ordered our Halloween costumes. I ate at a Brazilian Barbecue restaurant. The servers came out with 9 different kinds of meat for us to try. Then for dessert there was cooked pineapple covered in a cinnamon glaze. I couldn't eat all the meat. Most of it was really good though.
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