Multi-purpose

Sunday (7/17) was our last day at Mudfest.  There wasn't much we could really do though, since we had to be back on the bus to Busan by 3; so we spent the day on the beach relaxing and getting some sun.

Too much sun!

Monday morning had me wishing I had put even the smallest amount of sunscreen on!!  This is what you look like after 4hours on the Korean beach without sunscreen...

Everything hurt.  My shoulders and arms were fried, my chest ached, my legs were tender.  I was miserable.  The smallest movement has my skin screaming!  I just wanted to be naked so nothing could touch me and cause pain.   

I managed to make it through the school day by remaining as stationary as possible, this is the only time you'll hear me be thankful for a day of deskwarming!  After school I managed to make my way to the market to get some after sun lotion.  It offered a bit of relief - in the form of blisters! :(

That was a first for me!  I've gotten sunburns before, but this one is tops!  Red, yes.  Burnt, yes.  Blistered!?  Oohhh no!!  That's a whole new level of eww!

Tuesday the school nurse put a thick cream on my shoulders that calmed down the burn.  So after another day of deskwarming and a guest appearance at a friend's summer camp, I went to the pharmacy for some burn ointment.  

All I did was say 'Hello' and show the man my shoulders.  He moved with confidence to a cabinet, grabbed a box of something and laid it on the counter.  I paid and left, happy relief was only a few minutes away!

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But… what?!  The dude sold me diaper rash cream?!!  For my blistering, crispy, fried shoulders?!  A bit confused.  Actually, more like a LOT confused, but I went with it.  I put a good thick layer of the stuff on my shoulders.  I wasn't exactly singing with relief, I mean I did just put butt cream on my shoulders, but it helped.  So I've been reapplying.  Reapplying butt cream and things are improving.  

It turns out you can use diaper rash cream for all sorts of injuries.  Who knew!?  

Mud is for big kids too!

For one week every year, the city of Boryeong hosts Mud Festival.  An event intended to promote the mud's rich, natural, cosmetic properties.  

However, that idea when out the window a few years back; now it's just a chance for waygooks to come and relive Spring Break for a few days.  Top activities include: drinking, getting muddy, cleaning off in the ocean, getting muddy, mud wrestling, mud slide, drinking, cleaning off in the ocean, and somewhere along the days events you eat some chicken and pizza.

My expereince with Mudfest started at 5am on Saturday morning (7/16).  A rough time to wake up, but I had an hour transit within Busan to get to the meeting spot and then 5 hours on the road to get to Boryeong.  

The day had to start early in order to allow for a full day of muddy mayhem!  However, rain, not mud, was the first thing we encountered.

A short stroll and we were at our pension, still standing in the rain as we worked out who was in what room.  What's a pension?  Well, it's an empty house that guest can pay cheap rates to sleep/shower.  You get what you pay for though.  Our penison was going to provided sleeping/shower services to 87 people!!  The lower rooms were smaller, limiting the number of people in them.  Not my room.  I was on the top floor - a room for 40!  Time to get cozy to your neighbor! ;)

A quick change and it was time for mud!  Or beers and food first.  Definitely needed beers for the courage to get muddy.  The whole week leading up to Mudfest I was soo nervous.  I don't know what's happened to me.  I used to be very sporty - mud wouldn't have been a problem - but now... eeeee!  Can't do it!! Or at least I didn't think I could...

But back to the timeline!

We head out in the direction of the mud and stop at a food tent for the amazingly tasty combo of pizza, chicken and beers!  A large bill later and on to the mud!  Nope, more beers first :)  Remember I did say this was Spring Break relived!

Now it was time for mud!  But you can't actually get to the mud without waiting in long lines that wind their way slowly towards giant blow-up events (ie mud slide, mud pool, mud wrestling). Who came here to wait in line!?  Not really what I was imagining:  Mud festival = big-blow-up-bouncey-things-slicked-down-with-mud.  

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A bit more beer, a Long Island Ice Tea made extra strong with an extra splash of gin and next thing you know I've "slipped" over the edge of the mud wrestling ring and am trying to take down a few of my guys friends (who have roughly 50lbs and several inches on me) only to go down like a leaf every time!  Didn't stop me though!!  I kept charging.  If it wasn't enough to do mud wrestling, I continued to wrestle - but really it wasn't wrestling, more like "lift up Meagan and throw her down" - on the beach and in the ocean.  What a mess.

Two skinned knees, a scrapped butt, and a bump on the head; it was time to call it quits and settle down for the night.  Of course we didn't really call it quits, more just toned it down enough to have dinner, get cleaned up and head back out to the beach to watch fireworks while drinking some more beers.  A late night round of pizza, chicken and beers and a few of us were ready for bed around 2am.  

 

Can I get that?

Three days of deskwarming is difficult!  

Facebook has gone to crap, you can only play Angry Birds for so long, and with young children running around screaming at levels that never fall below jet engine likeness, watching movies can be a bit challenging.  

But it is best to always be prepared!  So, I've brought my iPod, Kindle and even a USB full of movies!  Yet even with a full arsenal of entertainment I have a desire to just sit.  I put my head down for a bit, but that's going a bit too far with the deskwarming so I've come to my blog to do some work.  

The intent was to blog about Mudfest (which I will, do not worry!  There are stories there to share!).... but BAM!  I'm suddenly struck with a thought of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!!  

Am I at risk to get it?  

I do spend many hours sitting on the computer, typing away at a keyboard that rests on a pull-out shelf that has a very nerve-damaging-able lip that I rest my wrists on!  My wrist do get sore after a few hours here....  

Oh gosh!  ;)