Unfortunately, the river we went to was really shallow and didn't have a very strong current so we were forced to row most of the time. I was hoping things would get better towards the end, but nope -- we had calm waters the whole way. A lot of the time, our boat would get stuck on the rocks and our river guide would have to hop out and push the boat to a place where we could start rowing again. I felt kind of bad for him having to work so hard, but on the other hand we were the best boat out of the three and didn't get into scrapes nearly as much as the other ones did.
This is pretty much what the rafting journey looked like
Fellow co-workers
However, despite the calm waters, rafting was still fun. We played a lot of games on the boats and swam in the water for a while (relatively clean, but still pretty gross). Everytime two boats passed each other we would flick water to each other using our paddles. At one point, the three boats decided to have a race, with the loser having to buy the winner ice cream. We were sure we were going to win because we had been coasting in first from the beginning, but one of the other teams used their boat to block us from going ahead, the little cheaters. However, we were able to break free and come in second; the important thing to note is we didn't have to buy ice cream for another team.
After we went rafting, we came back to our campsite to freshen up. We only had three bathrooms and it took a while for everyone to shower, so while we were waiting some of the guys and I played some basketball. Unfortunately, I ended up slipping and hurt my foot doing so; the court was made of sand and there was no friction at all. I ended up walking with a bit of a limp the rest of the trip but I didn't really notice the pain because after showering, we had some Korean barbecue, and you always, always drink alcohol with Korean barbecue.
Nice cabins!
Suffice it to say things got pretty loud and drunk fast. One of the directors started making rounds and started pouring us "so-maek" (소맥), that is, soju and beer mixed together. Typically you'd only put in a little bit of soju to compliment the beer, except he was pouring everyone half beer and half soju. Soju happens to be one of my least favorite liquors, and I imagine the taste of it to be similar to drinking nail polish remover. Unfortunately, that and really bad Korean beer is the only thing Korean people drink.
I was worried they might force me to perform an "individual talent" (개인기), like singing a song or dancing, neither of which I am adept at. Fortunately, everyone was too drunk to really care or take notice. I guess you can say Korean companies are a lot like frat houses in the sense that both of them haze a lot. From what I've heard from my co-workers however, this company is definitely not as bad as some other ones out there -- I've noticed there aren't nearly as many after-work drinking sessions as I had initially expected.
I ended up staying up until 3 in the morning where the night ended with rounds of Go-Stop, a Korean card gambling game. I learned how to play but in the process lost W4000 (~$4) in the first round. To give you some basis of comparison as to how much I lost, people typically only lose about W1000 or even less per round. I decided to call it quits after three rounds because it was getting late and I didn't want to go broke.
Despite losing W4000 just like that, it was nice to get out of the city and breathe some fresh county air. The whole trip was a great bonding experience and I definitely feel like I've gotten to know the other people in my department better.
Korean countryside
-Emoinacloset
Additional Pictures
1 COMMENTS:
looks beautiful.
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