Chronicle of the Boryeong Mud Festival

10:00AM - Train leaves Suwon for Boryeong
10:20AM - It's morning, so that calls for some really cheap mimosas.


11:00AM - Watch in amazement as our organizer talks to two people simultaneously on two cell phones.


12:10PM - Train arrives in Boryeong.  Time for a group photo!


1:00PM - Arrive at our pension/hotel thingy.  It's more like an open room with no furniture.  That's probably better, though, as we will be putting about 5 people in each room.
1:15PM - Find first batch of mud in some mud sinks.  They have helpfully provided paint brushes so that we can apply much quicker.
1:30PM - Watch as another teacher gets put into many pictures holding a bottle of soju.  Somehow, I think this will be on either an 1) advertisement for soju or 2) a billboard for next year's mudfest.  For those of you unfamiliar with soju, it is kinda like the Korean vodka, but it tastes like a mixture of vodka and lighter fluid.
1:45PM - Go to the wrestling/mud pit.  Did not stay for long as there seemed to be not so much mud and too much hard ground.


2:00PM - Go to the end of the line for the mud mountain/slide.


2:15PM - Said line is slow, so we get some beer to pass the time.
2:20PM - Still in line, we have now filled a plastic duck with soju and are shooting soju in our mouths.  I learn that the word in Korean for duck is "ori", so now Koreans can understand me when I yell "Soju Ori!!"
2:40PM - Someone passes by the line with free Crocs visors and blow up bats.  We pass some time by hitting each other with the bats.
3:00PM - Still in line, we get more beer.  It starts to get cold and windy at this point.
3:30PM - Finally we are at the beginning of the line.  Bessie climbs up one side successfully, while I fall and slide down in shame.  When I finally get to the top, we both slide down the mud slide, but the mud seems to be more sandy than soothing.
3:45PM - Return to pension and clean off all of the "healthy" mud.
5:00PM - Arrive at a pizza restaurant and order beer and pizza.
6:00PM - Still hungry, so we order another pizza and devour it.
6:10PM - A fellow teacher, Tim, suggests to the pizza shop owner that he should sell slices of the pizza to people waiting in the line for the slide.  The owner thinks this is a good idea, so Tim convinces him to give us beer in exchange for the excellent idea.
6:30PM - After leaving the restaurant, we run into the "Restaurant for Foreigners".  We don't try the food, but it's good to know they're looking out for us.


6:35PM - We're all about to fall asleep, so we find a coffee stand.  Tim convinces the barista that he should do it, so he is let behind the counter and makes some good lattes.  Or at least, what I imagine are good lattes, as I don't really drink that much coffee.


6:45PM - Walk around aimlessly looking for something to do that doesn't involve mud.
7:30PM - Some sort of drum show is happening on the main stage.  Watch a bit of it while also watching some drunk foreigner get carried away by the police for trying to kiss everyone.  Sigh.
8:00PM - Find a seafood restaurant that has a shark in one of its tanks.  It apparently costs around $800 if you want to eat a small shark.


8:15PM - We hear that a Korean pop group called Girls Generation has arrived in some vans.  We don't really know who they are, but they seem popular, so we wait to see if they come out.


8:30PM - Notice that 2 of the security guards for the famous pop group are holding hands.  We take a picture.  We should be used to this by now, but we still find this kind of thing amusing.  Men here like to hold hands.


8:45PM - Still no pop group, so we decide to buy some official t-shirts instead.
9:00PM - After buying some shirts, we notice that the group still hasn't come out of the vans.  It was kind of exciting at first to wait for them, but now we just don't care.
9:45PM - Notice that the fireworks show is starting, so we try to find a view.
9:50PM - Begins to rain as if it is going out of style.


9:55PM - Move to the beach to get an unobstructed view.  The rain comes down even harder.


10:15PM - Fireworks end.  It is one of the better fireworks shows that I have seen.
10:30PM - Head back to the pension to dry off a bit.
11:00PM - Still hungry, so we head to one of the many shellfish restaurants.  Order clams, beer, and soju.  The rain has yet to let up. 



11:20PM - Eating the clams is fun as it involves a Michael Jackson glove to hold the hot shells.


11:45PM  - Outside of the restaurant, we spot the drunk foreigner trying to hug and kiss everyone again.  Apparently, the police let completely drunk people roam the streets at will.

12:00AM - Bessie meets some middle school students who practice their English on her.



12:30AM - Go to sleep on the floor of the pension.
2:00AM - Woken up by others returning to the room.
6:15AM - Woken up by grunting and farting noises.
6:30AM - Woken up by more grunting and farting.
7:00AM - Woken up by one of the other teachers saying "Who are you?  No, seriously, who are you?".  Apparently, the farting and grunting noises were coming from some guy who passed out in the wrong room.  We send him on his way when the only thing he can tell us is "I work with my friends"


9:00AM - Wait outside a fast food chain until it opens.  We have a breakfast of hamburgers and french fries.  It's the breakfast of champions if you ask me.
11:30AM - Find one of the few places that doesn't serve only shellfish.  Eat a tofu stew.  Watch as the wind and rain blow most things over.
12:30PM - Find a juice restaurant.  We place orders for juices and shakes.
1:00PM - Take a nap on the table listening to Phil Colins on the PA system.
1:30PM - Finally get the juices and shakes that we ordered.  Totally not worth the wait.
2:00PM - Arrive at the train station for some more waiting indoors, outside of the rain.  Does the rain ever stop?
3:00PM - Get on the train back home.  Fall asleep nearly instantly for the whole 2 hour ride.
5:45PM - Arrive in Anyang station. Take a taxi home.
6:00PM - Feel glad to be back home.