Tubing Madness Taking Chances and Drinking wine in the rain.

Oh how wonderful feelings bubble up from your insides when you and a crew of foreign troublemakers set forth to test the high seas with blackened tire tubes blown up so big, nearly bursting at the seams (good thing we noticed one seam splitter before we submerged it!)

A few weekends ago, my good buddy, Qasim had the grand idea to take advantage of the rainy season and float down the river near my old town, Jucheon. This South Korean nature haven has inspired many a bushwhack during my year and a half stint. Now living in the bustling city, the calm serenity of the country is a welcomed change of pace. Despite the downpour, we raged against the intermittent rapids and indulged in weir sliding – as in the weir totally sucked a few of us in and left us bleeding from several limbs. Hannah seeing me in near turmoil quickly came to my aide but got sucked in herself as I was left clinging to the threshold. My mighty forearms were my saving grace (umm, admittedly cheating as the fact was that I could reach Justin’s hand for help before I was swallowed).

Once a chill set into our bones, I thought of a quick warm-up activity; boulder some of the surrounding bridges. That is exactly what we did – repeatedly. As the night approached, we retreated into the spicy kitchen of my old apartment where Michelle now lives. She also has my old job. With a smorgasbord of ingredients, we took to the bar-be-que and I prepared veggie burgers that fell apart and Terra smoked up some roasted eggplant and zucchini while the others cooked their meat. Plenty bottles of red wine later we moved to Qasim’s old penthouse where the dance party ensued complete with break dancing and Michael Jackson Beat It choreography! We saved the fireworks for last. Sauntering slovenly back to the beach, I “fell asleep” and missed the explosions in the sky. Upon waking, I could barely get my head together and with a grunt, Justin had to carry me home. What are friends for? This was until a burst of energy seized me and I took off running down the road like a black cat in the night. Quite the paradoxical performance.