Once we arrived, we were given safety instructions like how to sit on the raft and how our feet should be placed so we don't fall out. We had two guides that were our steersmen and one of them gave a demonstration on my friend Tori, on how you could get swept out of the raft by the rapids. He had her sit on the raft, place one foot in the strap with the other tucked underneath and all of a sudden yanked her out of the boat with so much strength. We were all really surprised because we didn't know what he was doing at first. He had Tori do it again and this time her feet were more secured and she didn't go out, but it looked kind of painful because of how hard he was pulling her. Once the safety guides were understood, we split into two rafts and headed to the river. Now the nerves and adrenaline were kicking in more as we entered the rafts. Once in, we were given the last set of instructions which were when the steersman says ready, we'd reply ready and when he says "one, two", we'd repeat after him along with paddling for each number. We did some practice runs before he headed out on the main course.
My raft headed out first and right away we headed straight into some rapids. Screams of excitement and fear burst out of all of us as the boat rocked hard and waves of water rushed over us. We were definitely not expecting that first rapid but it was amazing and the adrenaline within us raised up even higher. It wasn't raining anymore but it was still very cold. The water steadied out and everyone was shivering but laughing about the first rapid. We could here the same kind of yells from the other boat behind us as they entered the first rapid. Then we began our one, two paddling across the calm river. We encountered some small drops along the way before facing a couple more heavy rapids. As we paddled, my eyes scanned the surrounding environment and a was speechless. The scenery was so beautiful, filled with trees of different shades of green on both sides, accompanied with walls of different shaped rocks standing so high and mighty. We also saw a waterfall and a Korean traditional looking temple. We all wish we could be taking pictures but thinking about it now, I think you'd have to see it with your own eyes. These words can't even compare to what I saw. The view was just gorgeous.
Suddenly the ready command was given and we can see and hear more sets of heavy rapids ahead. We paddled forward a little bit more and then braced ourselves for the impact. We entered the rapids and our boat rocked in every direction possible with more gushes of water toppling over us. At the final rapid, the image that I can remember clearly was a giant wave just eating my friend Anna, who was sitting at the front of the boat just hanging on the the rope along the inside of the raft since she couldn't paddle in order to balance out the boat. It was such a funny sight because the giant wave only went over her. Luckily she wasn't swept away. On the other boat however, my friend Christina was tugged out of the raft at the last set of rapids. Luckily they got her back safe with no major injuries. We stopped at a little rest spot of sand and the guides flipped over one of the rafts for us to slide on into the water. We all took turns running and jumping on either our backs or bellies on the under side of the raft and into the river. It was lots of fun, full of laughter and smiles and then eventually the dunking began. One by one people started pushing and throwing each other into the river. Unfortunately, we started to have a little too much fun and an accident occurred. Me and some of my friends decided to push our other friend Kevin into the river together since he dunked them so many times. On his way running into the river along with the momentum of the shoves, he hyper-extended his left knee. He's doing better now but it was still scary and if you read this Kevin, I'm sorry!!
Overall the trip was so amazing and I will definitely never forget it.
Sorry I only have one picture! And it's not even of everyone :(
Next is about my first day of class here at Dankook University, which was today. Don't worry it won't be too long. I'm taking Introduction to Korean Culture and Society from 9-12 in the morning with Ria Chae. She doesn't want us to call her professor because she isn't one yet, so instead, we call her 선 생 님 , which is teacher in Korean. I already forgot where she was born, but when you see her, she looks Caucasian but has Korean citizenship and grew up here in South Korea since she was a little girl. She studied at Seoul University which is the top university here and is married to a Korean man which I think is awesome. We had a lecture already about the brief overview of Korea's history like where it got its name, what the territory was like in the past and how it came to be, etc. Her class looks like it's going to be lots of fun because we will be covering many interesting topics. We have our first field trip tomorrow at the Dankook museum which I am looking forward to.
Matching clothes on the our first day! :) (Talyn and Anna)
Backpack I got as a present from my morning class student April!
It was weird not teaching today, not seeing my students, and now being the student. Oh well, I'll hang out with them again soon and time to take a nap. Redondo out!
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