Storms rock. There's the sunshine afterward to look forward to.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Outward Bound Korea Winter Leadership Training Camp Experience
I'm finally back from South Korea, and it was one hell of a ride, especially with the unexpected disaster that happened along the way, but I'm back, alive and warm. So I'm gonna give a rundown of the 11 days, but sadly, there won't be any pictures, since the connection's too bad to upload too many, and besides, the group is still in the midst of collating the whole stack of photos.
Day 0.9 to Day 1 (10/12 to 11/12):
We arrive at Changi, and typically of strangers meeting each other, we gather together in our groups and talk quite a lot of cock about how we think this person and this person and this person will probably be like. The TJC group did it much more than the HCI group, most obviously because Jacob was in our group. But yeah, anyway, we checked in, and got on the plane. And displayed the kiasuism of Singaporeans to the Korean stewardesses. I immediately asked for a pack of cards. The stewardess ran around flustered for a while, and finally found a pack of cards to give me. Seeing this, Ting Hui and Shanmin asked for packs of cards from different stewardesses (of course! They had to conceal their true objective of draining the stocks...) and they got the packs. Then Darryl asked for a pack from a particularly observant stewardess, who said, "My colleagues have given to all your friends already." Nuts. We knew we shouldn't have all listened to our OBS instructor and all worn the same shirt. And so, we started a new conspiracy, one they couldn't probably refuse us. We started bombarding them with requests for water, coke, orange juice, peanuts, etc. In hindsight, it was rather cruel to the poor ladies, but we sadly were too caught up in the kiasuism moment. I would have asked for root beer, but then again, I was banned. I doubt they had it on board anyway. We took off, I plugged in their headphones and listened to some classical music to help me sleep and I slept pretty darn well, too, until Bach's I-don't-know-which concerto was interrupted rudely by the PA system to say a passenger was in need of medical care, and so they called for any medical practitioner on board to render his or her services. Immediately, the TJ group looked expectantly at the Bio student. Me. I groaned, and waved them off.
At around 0428, Korea time, we were woken up to breakfast, at which point it was obvious who knew what were the names of Korean dishes and who didn't. We had a choice between scrambled eggs and bibimbap, a Korean rice dish. The people up front had no idea what bibimbap was, and so they chose the familiar and reassuring scrambled eggs. Down the line somewhere, the stewardesses realised this, and started to say "Korean rice dish" instead of bibimbap. But even so, because of the headstart the scrambled eggs had, they ran out by the time they reached our rows, at which point the stewardesses started proclaiming the scrambled eggs were "out of service". Those in our group who were already eating started choking on their bibimbap in laughter. Too bad the dudes in front weren't adventurous, though. The bibimbap was delicious. We touched down at 0543, and Dicky stood up and banged his head on the overhead baggage compartment. He wallowed in shame for a few minutes, then stood up................................................................................................. and banged his head again.
We got on a bus outside the airport that was bound for the OBK base camp, and stopped by at a petrol shop cum convenience store along the way. After we had bought a lot of snacks and gone to the toilet, we returned to the bus and grimaced at the sight of Dicky banging his head again on the overhead baggage compartment of the bus. After trundling down the road some, we stopped by at a restaurant to eat lunch and rendezvous with Ji Ho, the chief instructor for our course. He impressed us with his english which was even better than the air stewardesses, and also his moustache, not to mention his monotonous "What. The hell." that would become famous over the next few days. He said we would be served kimchi, kimchi and vegetables. Liar. It was more like kimchi, kimchi, kimchi, kimchi, veg, veg, veg and rice.
After that, we trundled all the way to base camp and were introduced to our instructors (In Sook, Chol Dong, Chong Hon, Hana, with Jimmy and Chong Hun in the support team) and winter equipment, and split into two groups for the course. After a crash course in tent-pitching, we did so. Or at least, endeavoured to do so. During the tutorial, I had said it was idiotproof, and yet we still managed to get it wrong. We set up our sleeping bags that the instructors demonstrated would wrap us up like mummies or burritos, depending on how hungry you were. We surrendered our valuables to the instructors and immediately some started to suffer from withdrawal from handphones and iPods. We washed our cooking equipment for use and all swore as one at the cold air beating on our wet hands. Still, we managed to get to dinner, where my hypermetabolism proved useful in generating warmth instantly and also finished all leftovers, a feat which would later make me the prime choice for food dustbin, since the culture of the Koreans is to finish every last morsel. After we had washed the stuff (and swore again), we had our first night session, where we introduced ourselves formally to each other and the instructors, and revealed our reasons for signing up. I did my own introduction and gave my reasons for coming, those being to push my limits, and to see the wonder of nature from the summit of the mountain. My right knee twinged at that moment, and little did I know that would later turn my whole OBK experience upside down. We also settled a lot of group administrative stuff, like the leaders' cycle and our group name, to which we provided a lot of weird suggestions like: The Persimmons (in honour of the first fruit we were introduced to in Seoul), Somebody, Undecided (ironic and dramatic), Sesame Oil, Chicken Breast (needless to say, we were still hungry). However, we finally decided on Nobody, because that was the name of the #1 KPop song in South Korea at that point, and also because it was symbolic of how we all came to the course as nobodies in a sense, to be trained to be somebodies. Oh, and because it was funny. Of course, that was the primary reason why I suggested it in the first place. Then, after thinking about it, we thought it would be good. We ended the night session there and burritoed ourselves up to sleep.
Day 2 (12/12):
It was incredibly entertaining to be woken up by a resonant "Nobody wake up!" by In Sook at 0530. Ting Hui and I made it to the PT grounds the fastest and we spent some time passing a soccer ball between ourselves and Chol Dong, at which point I was sorely reminded of the reason why I never started playing soccer before. After a while of kicking, my right knee started protesting, so I stopped and rested until PT started for real, with 10 laps around the circuit, which I completed, but uneasily, because my right knee was starting to hurt, but I forgot about it once the pain subsided when we played Frisbee Soccer or whatever they called it.
For breakfast, our cooks whipped up a huge omelette with ham and mushrooms, and we were introduced to basic mountain hiking skills by hiking up a nearby hill-mountain hybrid. We grabbed branched here, pushes branches there, kicked roots here, swept leaves there, and finally made it to the top, only to eat some granola bars and hike down. On the walk back to base camp, my knee finally gave way, and I was struck by an incredible pain in my right knee and had to grit my teeth and hobble back to base camp, where Ji Ho said if it did not subside by the next day I would have to go to a doctor.
We had lunch (when I say lunch, I really mean a pathetic handful of dry rations with surprisingly enough sugar to last us until dinner), and Ting Hui taught me that it is important never to bite down hard on Mentos when it first enters the mouth in South Korea, due to its frozen nature.
The post-lunch activity was rappelling and a Flying Fox lesson, which I had to forgo because of my knee (the activity itself would be no problem, but the rocky steep way to the place would be a huge one), but I had a lot of fun watching them scream in exhilaration.
Ting Hui had an idea for dinner which involved frying the rice we had and mixing in kimchi. It was a damn smart idea, so he went ahead with it, and we were treated to a great meal. The group accidentally cooked too much, so Jacob and I finished a whole pot in one sitting. And my hypermetabolism growled for more, to which I refused. I had to tame this wild animal.
Our night session involved drawing (rather pathetically, I must say, but then again, we all weren't Art students) symbols of our pasts, present and hoped futures, mostly to bond the group together by knowing a bit more about the person. Ji Ho then revealed the schedule for the next 2 days, which would be a mini expedition up another small hill-mountain hybrid as a simulation of the main one up Mt.Soeraksan. Which I wouldn't go for if my leg was still KO'ed the next day.
Day 3 (13/12):
Woke up, moved my leg and my resulting whimper woke the rest of the tent up. Yup, leg still KO'ed. The group woke up and we all got a jumpstart on packing for the mini expedition, even me, since it would be easier to move my equipment as one big chunk wherever they were going to put me while they were off mini-'expediting'.
Needless to point out, I skipped the PT. The cooks cooked instant ramyun for breakfast, of which there was too much, so much that even Jacob and I left leftovers. We ran around (Ok, so i hobbled) begging people to help us eat it, but to no avail. In the end, some of Nobody's members decided to all eat one chopstickful. Which was quite unfair because some people have a better grip than others. Anyhow, the group prepared for the mini expedition, and Chong Hun and Jimmy, accompanied by Mr. Lim, whisked me to the hospital in the meantime.
Hospitals in South Korea are crazy. Walk in, pay a registration fee, walk to the related specialist, pay ANOTHER registration fee, then pay for all the treatment. Burn money only... An X-ray was done and a lot of muscular testing by the doctor who could have applied to be a masseur, and it was concluded it was not a bone problem but most likely a problem in a particular ligament. He recommended an MRI in Singapore or Brunei and called for a splint to be applied to my leg. A piece of quick-set plaster was applied to my leg and molded to it, after which, when I had gotten up, I immediately realised that bathing and sitting cross-legged would be slightly difficult. And it was crazily obvious that there was no way I could follow the main expedition up the mountain.
We ate at the hospital food court, and my eyes were opened to the huge portions the Koreans ate. I was in food paradise. The fact that I liked kimchi helped greatly. After we had finished, Jimmy told us how the Koreans always clear their trays after their meals and asked the same of us (that is, Mr. Lim and I). We did so without hesitation, smirking with the realisation that Koreans would probably be infinitely disgusted with Singaporeans.
After returning to base camp, Mr. Lim took off after the mini-expeditioners, and I was placed in the heated room nearby for the night. It was ok, since Mr. Lim left me a good book, and Jimmy told me stories of his 5 year time in London (which was the reason why his English was even better than Ji Ho's). He was a fun person to talk to, and he reminded me of me (even all the instructors said I looked like his younger brother), especially in the way he was so crazy. A bee attacked the heated room and he went ballistic, swearing and shooting flames at it with insecticide and his camping lighter. He failed to burn anything, even the surroundings. His aim sucked. He produced a damn good kimchi dish for dinner. It was at that point I knew you could do anything with kimchi, fry it, boil it, eat it, use it for decoration, appetizer, you name it. But we had more than just dinner. We ate a freaking lot of stuff at random times. Of course, to the support team with me, it was normal. The Koreans eat 5 times a day. I knew I was in food paradise.
Day 4 (14/12):
Woke up at 1035. I was sure the rest would have to wake up at 0530. Well, that was ONE perk of having a screwed up leg. The support team already had a meal at 8, so I joined them for their 2nd meal of the day, kimchi porridge (told you you could do anything. Kimchi is the miracle veg.). Read the book until lunch, which was just a mix of assorted breads.
The group came back from the mini-expedition all complaining, after I had reunited with them. They experienced ice on the tents in the morning, colder than usual temperatures and going to the toilet utilising the tools of nature, something I had already went through during OBS and had no desire to repeat again. They all told me of Darryl's 'treasure bag', given to him because he was the one who had to shit the most (obviously they couldn't leave toilet paper in the mountain). Later on, we would keep count of the number of times he had 'Darryl-ed', since he became so famous for it. They all envied my heated room experience, and it was made even worse when Jimmy LIED to them and said I had kimchi pizza. I assured them I would have rather suffered along with them.
I helped Ting Hui cook the fried rice (his kimchi fried rice had already established him as THE cook), cutting garlic and Spam for the rice, and found out something dearly important that a lot of us do not know. EVEN WHEN you are SITTING, you still need BOTH YOUR LEGS for balance. I'm serious. With my incapacitated leg, a few morsels dropped when I lost my balance and tipped over. I felt like one of those paperweights that wobble from side to side. During the night session, we talked about what we would expect to get out of the next day's CIP (we were going to do CIP for poor people).
Before we slept, we stared up at the sky at the stars which appeared so visibly due to the lack of all the obstructions we have in Singapore, and also because it was in the Northern Hemisphere of the world (the stars are the least abundant in equatorial countries). We caught views of three shooting stars at different times, each one punctuated by an ear-splitting scream of joy from the girls. To the guys who still had no idea I had a splint (it was concealed by the pants), I challenged them to hit the back of my leg as hard as they could. And being guys, they all tried. And tried to trick the others into whacking it as well. We had a good laugh about all the disguised grimaces. No lasting injuries to their fists, though, which was good.
Day 5 (15/12):
The morning game after the PT was quite interesting. It was one of those "All those who have *insert whatever here* run into the hula hoop" games. It was interesting because of all the things people were calling, like "All with beanies" (everybody), "All with thermals" (to which everybody ran, although some might be debatable) and the surreal, like "All who shit yesterday" and "Nobody".
When we returned to the main tent area, Chol Dong decided that my exposed sock from the slipper supporting my splint would not be enough in the cold and lent me one of his down puffy socks, which felt damn good on. We had cup noodles for breakfast, and took a bus down to the place we would be doing the CIP. We had already been subdivided into three groups, one for the catering center to old people, one for cleaning a kids' home, and one for carrying charcoal to the poor. I was put in the catering center along with a few who were also feeling a bit woozy from the mini-expedition, since it seemed to be the easiest of the three. Despite that, though, I tried to work hard, cutting the Jab Che (noodles) for the kitchen aunties and scooping up servings for the old people. The kitchen aunties, with incredible unheard-of perceptiveness, guessed I was hypermetabolic and forced me to eat a plate of Jab Che before I started serving. It shocked me to no end.
I, wanting to make sure I was useful despite my leg, served as much as I could, from food to chopsticks and goodie bags. The three groups all came together after the old people left and we had lunch. I ate two people's portions even after the Jab Che earlier and acted as food dustbin again, alth0ugh I failed to finish off everyone's leftovers. It turned out that the charcoal delivery wasn't completed yet, so we all set off after lunch to complete it. We tried to compete with the old man who was unloading the charcoal along with us, but just couldn't. He had the strength to carry four at once while we could at most manage two. We went through the delivery, and made it an enjoyable experience for ourselves, even me, who had to suffer through an itchy back all the way and couldn't scratch for fear of blackening my down jacket.
From there we hiked to a communal bath to soak away the previous four and a half days of terror. It was funny going in because over at the guys' side, we were all reluctant to strip and had to resort to tactics like waiting for the first guy to strip, and negotiating a mass simultaneous strip, which we did eventually after Mr. Lim, Mr. Kau and the instructors just whipped off their clothes and ran to the tubs. There was every form of bathing imaginable. Showers, ground showers for those who preferred to sit, a jacuzzi-ish hot seawater tub, a freaking cold ice water tub, a tub with jets of water for massaging and two saunas. Ji Ho helped me take off my splint for the bath and I enjoyed a sudden ecstasy that came with the freedom, and my leg felt fine, although I conceded that that was most probably because I hadn't moved it for so long. After the bath, Chol Dong put the splint back on, although I was incredibly reluctant to do so.
We were provided fried rice for dinner in a nearby restaurant, a pretty uneventful dinner, after which we went back to the base camp to plan the food to bring for the main expedition. I was quite irritated that I wouldn't be going, but I surpressed that, so I wouldn't ruin the others' experience by insisting they worry about me. Ting Hui had a toothache running for quite some time, so he would be going to the dentist the next day and miss the first day of the expedition. Apart from the rest, Clayton, our OBS instructor, told me he would let me go for the lesser part of the expedition if I really wanted it, and Ji Ho seconded it, and they told me to sleep on it and give an answer the next day. On the way to the tent to sleep, I was bombarded with questions of whether I would follow the expedition. And when I heard them, all I could choke out was that I didn't know, and went to the tent for the most tormenting night of the whole trip.
Day 6 (16/12):
I woke up to a freezing morning with ice on the tent (so I experienced something they had after all). I spent the time they had for PT and packing deciding on what I should do. The winter wind blew, and with it the peace of God. He whispered the truths I had to hear, no matter what. He whispered He was in control all the time. He whispered what a worse condition of my leg would make my parents feel. So I made my decision, and walked to Clayton's tent, my steps getting stronger with every metre closer, the Spirit of God as my crutch, and told him I wasn't going for the expedition. Ji Ho and Clayton asked if I was sure about this. When I replied in the affirmative, they assured me I had made the right decision, and told me what would be happening to me while they were up the mountain. I packed my equipment for my own 'expedition', gathered books from the teachers (interesting foresight they had), bequeathed all my hot chocolate to Nobody and wished them luck on the mountain from the entrance gate. Chol Dong said "see you tonight" to Ting Hui, which made him a bit scared of how fast exactly he would be walking to catch up with them. Ting Hui and I left for the dentist then in the support vehicle with Ji Ho and Chong Hun.
We arrived very early, so we walked around for a bit in that town, eating a freaking cheap lunch at a popular hangout for high school students mostly. I think we spent only the equivalent of $12, and we had kimbab (the Korean sushi which they claim the Japs copied), ramyun, ddukbokgi, kimchi, and you get the idea. After that we went for Ting Hui's appointment, where they sucked all the pus out of the inflamed area. They must have sucked out a whole root beer bottle of the stuff. Yeech. While waiting, Ji Ho revealed an interesting fact: the Outward Bound personnel all around the world were supposed to come to OB Brunei for the regular conference but it was cancelled because a lot of them COULD NOT GET A VISA TO BRUNEI. What was that all about?
We went back to the base of the mountain and Ting Hui went up with Ji Ho the imba chionger, who said "I'd like to hike without stopping". Explained Chol Dong's "see you tonight". Chong Hun and I went to a nearby camping ground and set up a tent there within range of walkie-talkie in case support was needed. We went to a nearby mart to buy supplies for dinner and the whole group (now I knew how our food was replenished...) and I was interested by the trolleys that only needed 100 won (12 cents) to unhook, as opposed to Singapore's $1, as well as the Christmas music that was translated into Korean.
Chong Hun cooked rice and ddukbokgi for dinner and we fell asleep quite quickly after that. Before I drifted off, I noted sardonically to myself that with all the bending I had to do with the stiff leg, my sit-and-reach was probably becoming quite pro already. It was colder there than base camp, so I had to curl up as best as I could with that irritating splinted leg.
Day 7 (17/12):
Woke up at 0927 and ate a huge breakfast of really oily and eggy French toast. It was needed in such cold weather. We all needed something good to metabolise, not just the hypermetabolic. I had a rather boring morning, reading while Chong Hun stayed in contact with the instructors up on the mountain.
Hana came back down in the afternoon to join Chong Hun in a support capacity and we ate instant noodles for lunch, before they took me around like a tourist, always in walkie talkie range of the mountain, though. I wasn't complaining. I went to Shokso Beach, where the winds were so strong that there was a sandstorm right there after some point, and walked through Shokso Fish Market, bustling with activity and very interesting. It was drizzling all this while, but it was quite negligible until that point, where it got heavier and alternated between snow and rain, so they then brought me to Yangyang Osan-ri Prehistory Museum, a very detailed museum with artefacts from the people living in the area during the Neolithic Period all the way to the Bronze Age.
After that, they drove to a field full of shamanic carvings and told me to roam around while they waited there for 3 hours waiting for contact from the mountain to confirm that they need not be in range anymore. After they received that message, they then drove back to base camp where I would be deposited in the heated room again. Chong Hun used pancake mix to create kimchi pizza so I could finally see some truth to the lies that Jimmy had been passing around. He fried around 15 pancakes, and the three of us finished off every single one.
Day 8 (18/12):
Woken up by Hana at 8 to eat something so we could get a move on at 0930. We were going to drive to the Buddhist temple where the expedition group was going to stay the night on the way down the mountain, and the road was much longer and winding than the hiking trail, so we needed a really big headstart. We drove and drove and drove and drove, and I saw snow litter the mountains along the side as my ears popped from the difference in air pressure. We stopped at a mountainside restaurant to eat lunch, where the road was slick with ice and I needed Hana's hiking stick to make sure my slipper didn't slip, or at least to make sure I could stay upright. As it was, I was straining my right hand (that was holding the stick) and my left good leg to support all the weight my right leg was supporting, so it was quite tiring. I had bibimbap and a snowball, courtesy of Chong Hun, who was determined that I should experience as much as I could despite my leg. Needless to say, I replied his snowball with my own barrage, needing numbers since I could not produce the quality of his snowballs.
We arrived at the Buddhist temple, where I unpacked in one of the rooms they had loaned to us and waited a long long long long long time for the teachers, who arrived half an hour before the 2 groups, who arrived 10 minutes before the instructors, who made sure there were no stragglers. After the guys had unpacked, they all started telling me stories of the vicious snowstorm they had at the same time I had rain the previous day which even blew away a thermos flask and seating mat, as well as reduced visibility to around 3 metres. Then there were the other complaints, like blisters and the cold, and the fact that it took 2 hours to walk 0.2 km at the last stretch, and the way they slid down 2 steps for every 3 steps they took, and how they were all slipping and falling on snow and ice even with the spikes on their shoes, not to mention cooking in that weather. At that point they all said they were wondering why they had come. Of course, the feeling passed by the time they had finished, although the complaints continued.
We had dinner courtesy of the monks, who, although I was grateful for their intentions, I could not bring myself to swallow the food. Everyone seemed to share my feelings, and pretty soon we had people having a Fear Factor match with one particular kimchi which no one could stomach, not even the instructors, though of course, the instructors had perfectly straight faces. After the night session, where they reflected upon the expedition and me upon my incapacitation, we played Bridge all the way until Clayton stomped to our room and ordered us to sleep. So we did, Jacob's snores resonating loudly like an earthquake through the room.
Day 9 (19/12):
Our breakfast that morning wasn't as disgusting as the dinner the previous day, although everybody shied away from the kimchi, a first for our group. The group then finished the hike down the mountain while I waited for them at the bottom, having reached there first by support vehicle, and Jimmy teasing me about kimchi pizza. Ting Hui then took the support vehicle for his final dentist appointment while I went along with the rest by bus to the base camp for the trademark of the Outward Bound courses: Solo time.
We were given 3 hours, in which we could do anything provided we didn't disturb anyone else (staying out of sight was recommended). I was in a grass patch in an open field, wheat stalks swaying above my head while the clouds and the mountains were perfectly visible. As they had asked, I wrote a letter to myself which I would receive in 6 months from the OBK staff. Now as I look back on the time, I can hardly remember what I wrote there. All I remember is that I had asked God to guide my hand to write whatever He wanted me to read in 6 months. And as I sealed the envelope, I knew that He was the one writing, not me. I spent the rest of the time reflecting on my situation, and I realised something. I had said on Day One that I had come to test my limits and see the wonder of nature from the summit of Mt. Soeraksan. However, as usual, God worked in mysterious ways and made it such that what was tested was not my physical limits, but the limits of my positivity and my dependence and faith in the God who has great plans for all of His children. Also, I was so focused on the view from the summit that I had failed to realise that God's wonderful creation is everywhere, and I enjoyed the view from my spot on the ground.
I shared that during our final night session, adding that it was important to keep an open mind in every situation, because every experience has something to be drawn out of it. Everyone delivered their reflections as well and we ended off with the certification, giving a cert each to another teammate, my 'certifier' assuring me that I deserved it as much as the rest did, even if I had not climbed the mountain. We ended the night with performances, of which both were hopeless parodies of everything that had happened on the mountain.
Day 10 (20/12):
Some of the group went to take a hot shower in the morning, a privilege granted by the instructors. I, however, forwent the bath to concentrate on packing my luggage, since I didn't want to take off my splint and put it on again. By now, all the pain wasn't coming from my knee, but the blisters the splint was giving me.
We packed up all our equipment and returned it, although certain mysteries will never be solved, like how we ended up with an extra pot lid and triple the number of ladles we were supposed to have, while losing forks and chopsticks and whistles. Clearly some transmutation was at work here. Maybe the Koreans had heard about the new Full Metal Alchemist remake coming out soon.
We got on the bus and went off to Seoul downtown, shopping for a while (and getting souvenirs, of which I lost a small bag of them the next day) before we hotfooted (or coldfooted?) to the Imperial Palace to sightsee, which we didn't really enjoy because we would have rather continued shopping. What was worse, the palace was buffeted by high speed cold winds from the surrounding mountains, which made it almost unbearable, even to those with a lot more layers on. Our tour guide, while earnest about his job, and quite professional, had a bit of a pronunciation problem, as to be expected, I guess, and a large portion could not listen to him because they were too busy laughing at his pronunciation of "phoenix" and "breathtaking", among other words.
We then walked to the place we were going to have dinner, a barbeque-y kind of place like Seoul Garden, except better and more authentic. The kimchi went back to its usual nice-ness, the appetite for it of almost all not very much whetted by the horrendous experience at the temple. After that, In Sook and Hana gave us free rein, and we shopped and shopped and shopped. All of us went quite overboard with our spending, which for the guys meant we actually bought something on impulse, and for the girls meant they used up all their money and had to change more at the money changer or borrow from the guys. As it was, I had 30000 won whisked away from my wallet.
Satisfied with our purchases, and purring with happiness following the release of endorphins because of the satisfaction, we went to the hostel we were going to stay the night, passing along very interesting things along the way, like a road sign which pointed to Dreamland and a petrol kiosk with the petrol guns hanging from the ceiling (Singapore should do that to save space). The place was in such an obscure location that even the bus driver's GPS got him lost. I suspect we stayed there because the instructors overheard Jacob saying he wanted to go clubbing all night. Anyway, it was a great place, almost like a mini hotel (to me anyway, the rest are more picky than me), and I took off my splint with great relish, needing to do so to bathe and also in preparation for the airplane (because I couldn't sit on a plane with my leg sticking out like that, could I?) We took that bath we so badly wanted, by now not caring about the fact the baths were shared.
We played cards for very long, Bridge, Indian Poker, Slapjack all having some role in our fun, along with the food we had bought, until we decided to sleep.
Day 11 (21/12):
We slept in (kinda, considering that 0730 is late compared to the times everyone woke up at 0530...) and after breakfast, wasted time at Nam San National Park (going to the airport would be dumb at this point). It was a hill from which one could see the whole of Seoul, which, may I remind, is really really big. On the way up, needless to say, I was left behind since I could only utilise one of my legs for climbing. But it was ok, since the gaming dudes stayed behind and took my mind off my knee with constant chatter about different games. We made it to the top, where we saw the whole of Seoul, took pictures, bought a LOT of snacks (what can I say? Climbing up so many stairs is tiring) and visited what they called the Teddy Bear Museum.
After that we went to the airport, and after we cleared immigration, all the people dispersed looking for ways to finish spending their money before boarding. I just had lunch with some of the guys and then boarded the plane. On the plane, since there wasn't a need for sleep, we were much more rowdy than we were on the coming trip. I pity the stewardesses, and silently praised their professionalism. I copied a list of KPop songs to try and find, realising by that point that KPop was every bit as good as JPop (to me, anyway). We landed in Singapore, and I don't think I've ever been so homesick before for a country that wasn't even my own. We met up with Gideon, the OBS instructor who had been briefing us all the while when we were still in Singapore, and after our final debrief and certification Singapore-side, we were dismissed. We said our goodbyes and the group all went to their parents complaining about the mountain hike and the cold.
As for Dicky and me, we faded into the distance and made for a taxi, our reunions going to come a bit later.
