Paintball

#84.  Koreans talk with their mouths full.  This does not just pertain to younger children.  All ages do this.  In America children are taught at a very young age to chew with their mouths shut.  In Korea that is just not the case.  Mouths gaping open. Talking with a full view of your lunch to Bob across from you.  Half eaten pieces of kimbop is exactly what I want to see. Yes please.

#85.  Yellow dust.  What is yellow dust you may ask?  The specific definition is  a "seasonal meteorological phenomenon" that affects much of East Asia during the springtime.  Thank you Wikipedia. For the rest of us who don't understand that fancy pants definition...it is basically pollution coming over from China in the form of yellow dust.  The wind blows it through our open windows and onto our floor.  Into buses.  Into our lungs.

Imagine breathing in tiny particles of sand at the beach, make it yellow and pump it full of sulfur and other chemicals.  That's what we get to breathe during the spring.  April showers bring May flowers?  Nope. Not in Korea.  April flowers bring yellow dust.  Nice-suh.

#86.  May 5th is officially recognized as Children's Day.  It is a national holiday.  No work for the parents.  No school for the itty bitties.  All fun and games.  And gifts.  On my Children's Day I got bruises from paintball.  My kids got phones.  New bikes.  Puppies.  They win.  Point Korea.

I had my very first paintball experience on Wednesday.  I can now say that I have done paintball in Korea.  I can also say that it is something I will not do again.  The idea of being a human target for people to mercilessly shoot tiny balls of paint (that leave painful welts) is just not appealing to me.  The uniforms are also not ideal.  Think of a huge black jumpsuit, 2 vests, 2 pairs of gloves and a helmet.  Imagine running up and down hills all while trying to avoid getting pelted.  The statement "we were sweating" is the understatment of the century.

 I spent the majority of the games unsuccessfully hiding behind the barricades trying not to get shot.

I had a blast hanging out with friends and experiencing something new but it will be a one time thing.  When else will I be able to say that I played paintball in Korea?

Paintballin' Pohangsters

Barrels of oil acting as our stepping stools for our photo shoot