Chapter 42: "I Got Skillz"

Plumbing skillz, that is. I'm feeling particularly proud of myself for unclogging my bathroom sink with out the help of an actual plumber. For a couple weeks now, I've been having to avoid using my sink, because the water was backed up so bad. It was nasty, let me tell you. But I cleaned it out! And now I know that when I shed, truly, I shed everywhere. Especially the bathroom sink.

This post is dedicated to Danny, who makes up like a third of my fandom, and was lamenting to me just today that I had not posted recently. Sorry, I'll try to make it relatively interesting.

Well, I wish I had some nice pictures of the mud festival, but I don't, someone else has the best ones. When I get them, I'll post them.

Last weekend I went rafting...somewhere. We went with a tour group up from Seoul to some remote river. It was really fun, since it was my first time rafting. Our guide didn't speak much English, but there were a couple of people on the raft who were bilingual, so it was okay. I was sitting nearest to the guide from my side of the raft, and he kept rapping on my life jacket, or my helmet, and when I looked to see what he wanted, he'd be pointing at another raft, filled with Koreans. I'd smile and wave and say hello, and splash them with water, the usual. Sometimes the guide would say, "Speak English!" like we were going to strike up English conversation with the other Korean strangers out on the river. Maybe he was just trying to show off that he had a boatful of white people? It's not the strangest thing, white people are quite the novelty. I myself sometimes feel like standing in a store window, just to show off my unique caucasian physical attributes....

Later that day some people went bungee jumping. This is the bridge they jumped off of:

I did not join them.

Last week I was in Shanghai with friends. Twas lovely, if not a bit hot. I really like shopping, and I managed to snag the most realistic (and comfiest) fake Abercrombie and Fitch sweatpants ever. I mean, seriously, either the person who faked them is a genius, or they just fell off the back of the A&F truck. I want to wear them for the rest of my life, they are so comfortable. Here is the essence of the trip:

This is the view from my friends' apartment where I stayed.

These are some pretty fish from the aquarium. Some of the fish looked a bit ill though, which made me sad. Still, aquariums are really awesome!

This is me with the statues of some tourists.

Me on a motorbike. It was fun!

Pedestrian shopping place/street/thing. Hello friend, you like watch, bag, Louis Vuitton?

Yuyuan Gardens. Don't know if I spelled that right.

The etiquette bell. This was in a bathroom in the Seoul airport. Apparently you push it and it makes a convincing flushing sound, if you have stage fright, or don't want other people to hear. When I first saw it, I thought it was to ring for an attendant or something. The thought of a little old Korean custodian lady arriving to help me with my various bathroom needs was a bit disturbing, so I didn't push it. And even though now I know its true purpose, I'm still too scared to push it, just in case it does call for an attendant....

Well, that's it. Today is my 6 month anniversary here, hooray. Downhill (sort of) from here! I feel refreshed (a little) and ready (as I'll ever be) to start another week of school!