The weekend I almost died.....TWICE

I know what you're thinking. HA HA very funny. Don't over exaggerate. I'm not. I came about this close ( ______ ) to dying. And it was a blast! ....minus the part where I almost choked to death.

I traveled with 20 other native teachers on Cheosuk, the Korean Thanksgiving, to the island of DeokJeok-do (you can find links to the island in the notes below). It's a gorgeous island off the coast of Incheon by about an hour and twenty minutes by boat. The ride there was fantastic. You ride a Victoria Clipper like boat to the island. You go under the Incheon Bridge and out into the sea.

That's a real photo not a postcard. Although I didn't take it. Fastbreak Drake did.

When we got to the island the hotel provided a van to transport us across the island to Seopori beach. It was a pretty interesting ride. I rode with a guy named Brad. I'm going to give him a separate post. You can check it out below this post.

So, when I arrived at the hotel my roommates, Sam, Racine, and Seo Hee, saved me a spot in the room. It was a nice room and a good group. I got to know each of them pretty well over the course of this short trip. My new homeboy Sam --- the hilarious Brit who has done a lot of traveling who is leaning on me fast asleep right now. Racine --- An artistic South African gal who is very sweet and very tough as I found out on the trip. A real monkey climber. Finally, Seo-Hee. She has dual citizenship in South Africa and South Korea, which is actually illegal because you have to tell the South Korean government around 20 which one you will choose. Shh….she hasn’t told them. Anyway, she speaks fluent English and Korean and is quite cynical at times. She’s a doll though. We shared a bed for two nights if you can call it sharing. Don't worry Mom and Dad you know I do not share a bed.

For those of you who have “shared” a bed with me you know it’s not sharing at all. I dominate all aspects of sleeping. I sleep diagonally, on the covers, under all the covers. Elbows are flying everywhere. Knees spring up from hell to wake you up on Earth. It’s like sleeping with a ufc fighter. Sorry, Seo-Hee, I owe you dinner.

Anyway, I got some really good photos. Until I woke up the next morning and my camera was broken. Sand infiltrated the lens and is preventing the lens from retracting in and out. So, half the trip is going undocumented. Deokjeok-do: 1 ; Justin's electronics: 0

TO THE DEATH!

On the way to the island we met Jeremy and Mii Jin, the married couple who set up the entire trip for us. Jeremy is pretty adventurous. He asked us to go on a pretty tough "hike" around the island on the second day. The word hike conjures up thoughts of walking up hills and over somewhat tough terrain. That word is not a word I would use to describe any part of this adventure except the part where we hitchhiked. I prefer the words rock climbing, swimming, bleeding, hidden beaches, and gorgeous views. We put survivor man to shame at some points. In fact you can just call me Mr. Bear Grylls.

Jemery tried his best to describe this trek to everyone but you couldn't appreciate how difficult it was until you took part in it. When we started there were nine of us. After the first 30 minutes of climbing steep rocks over a watery grave 3 people dropped out. And props to them for making it that far. They are no less of a man or a woman for making it as far as they did. I actually have more respect for them. But it only got worse from there.

We would climb up and down steep and sometimes very sharp rocks. There were some drops inbetween and off the rocks that would have broken your brittle bones and left the group in a bind. And when we came to a ridge we couldn't cross we would have to swim around the rocks in open sea water next to the rocks. We did this for about a 2 and a half to 3 hours. I can't really describe how tough and somewhat scary it was at times. When one of the 6, Sean, fell I really thought he was going to be seriously injured. Luckily, he escaped with only a slight muscle tear in his shoulder. When we climbed over the last series of rocks we were all elated to be on solid, flat ground. Luckily, no one died. And everyone escaped with only scratches and bruises on their arms and legs (mine are on my stomach). BUT IT WAS A BLAST! I haven't done anything like that before. And I don't think I'll ever do it again.

I brought my phone on this trek. Needless to say it didn't make it. It's drying out in a DRY bag of rice right now. Deokjeok: 2 ; Justin's electronics: 0

When we got back to the main road we were going to have to HIKE back over the mountain on the road. Lucky for us, a bongo truck showed up. And Jeremy and Racine flagged it down. I was the last one into the back of the truck and the driver hit the gas before I got my second leg in. I had to grab the side of the truck and pull myself back into the moving truck.

When the endorphines and andreline wore off, I was dead tired. I lounged around for a few hours to refresh myself. And watched the thunder and lightning storm from my room. Too bad my camera was broken.

Anyway, after another night of meeting people from all over the world and making friends with the local restaurant owner, we went to breakfast at his local restaurant. They served toast, eggs, and sausages. But it takes forever to cook. And we were in a serious rush. I was telling the others that when the food arrived I was going to inhale it in less than 30 seconds.

When, the food finally arrived I stuffed half a toast sandwich in my mouth and tried to swallow more than I could chew. Literally. It got stuck in my throat. It hurt. I tried to choke it down and down. But it wouldn't budge. I am panicking. I don't know if I can breathe. The other members at the table were disgusted by how much.I stuffed in my mouth. Sam's laughing at me. And I'm choking! I'm pointing to my back. Like HELP HELP! My eyes are bugged out. They aren't going to help me. I've given up on trying to choke it down. I'm trying to throw it back up. When I finally get half of it back up and the other half drops into my abyss, I am struggling for air. I'm trying to explain to them I was choking. They are laughing at me. Bastards. And Sam who was in a rush as well already finished his meal before I could get back to eating mine. That was a meal I really didn't want to have choke down again.

DeokJeok put me to shame. But I will definitely go back. All the beautiful views, bonfires and exploring made this trip worth it.

The Photos:

The random, stone carved putt-putt course.

The gang at dinner Friday night:

The gorgeous sunset on Seopori beach

Throw up your gang signs and make your best Thizz face:

NOTES:

Deok Jeok-do LINKS (do means island for those of you who don't know)

Wikipedia page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deokjeokdo

Photos of the island and a little info
http://english.visitincheon.org/travel/view.jsp?tour_id=74&c_page=1&class_id=A

Thanks

I owe a lot of thanks to Jon, a native teacher from Seattle who helped get this together.

But all the native teachers owe a bigger thanks to MII JIN, Jeremy's wife, who made this trip possible by fronting the money and booking all of this. We owe her big time. Thankfully, she got all the money back.