The next morning, I woke up around 8 and the women were already in the kitchen preparing breakfast. About an hour and a half later, the grandfather went outside to cook some fish over a brick grill in the yard. Dinner was served about half an hour later. I couldn't believe how long it took to prepare or how many dishes were on the table! That fish was delicious, too. Someone had mentioned that we would go swimming after breakfast, then go for a hike in the afternoon, so I put on my suit and a dress. After breakfast, my neighbor told me I should go get dressed. Confused, I asked if we weren't going swimming. He said he didn't know. I said I was dressed for swimming, but would change if we were going hiking. My neighbor called his friend into the room, and they had a conversation that lasted about 5 minutes. At the end, my neighbor turned to me and said "We're going swimming." We went hiking. I had the feeling no one knew where we were actually going until we got there.
After the hike, we went swimming in a gorgeous river right below a cliff with a huge waterfall.
The kids all had tubes even though the water was only a few feet deep and there was no current. None of the other adults swam, but I had a ton of fun spinning the kids in their tubes and dragging them around the river. After swimming, I told the mother I was going to the bathroom to change clothes. She told me I should change in the car! (It was a very crowded parking lot.) When I told her I'd rather change in the bathroom, she called out to me to be careful. I'm not sure what I was supposed to be careful about...
We said good-bye to my neighbors' friends and started our trip to the coast. The east coast here is beautiful! The water is amazing. This is near Uljin, where we stayed for half of the first night:
We got to Uljin, and the father sent the mother and me into a guesthouse to make sure it was ok. The mother kept asking me my opinion. I had no idea what their standards wore, nor what else would be available. The rooms were clean, they had fans, and looked plenty big enough for two people, so I said sure. Turns out the room would be big enough for four people, and then I understood why they wouldn't let me help pay for any of the accommodation. We would all be staying together.
We unloaded the car and the mother, daughter, and I went swimming while the father rested in the room. The water was clear, rather warm, and calmer than I've ever seen. There were almost no waves - it was like being at a lake. The sand sloped down very quickly, so that if you walk out a few feet, you're several feet deeper in the water. I had been looking forward to throwing the daughter in the water and splashing around with her, but she wouldn't get in past her waist because she didn't have her swim cap.
After swimming, we went to have sashimi, which is raw fish. I am not a fan. My neighbors were nice and ordered some more of that amazing grilled fish for me. We went to bed after that. My neighbors were watching a slapstick comedy show, and I was drifting in and out of sleep. After a couple hours, around 11pm I think, the father sat up and asked "How can you sleep?" I think I said something like "Mwueah?" He said "It's so hot! How can you sleep?" I didn't want to say that the tv was keeping me up, so I just said I didn't know. He must have been really hot, because he then said "Let's go. Let's find another place to stay." What. What the what.
We got up, packed our things, and loaded the car. I forgot all my toiletries in the bathroom On the way down the stairs, I knocked my head on the concrete overhang from the second story. I told my neighbors, complete with miming actions, and they said sorry. I was not a happy camper, but thought we would just drive down the road to another guesthouse. Nope. We drove to the next town. The mother and father looked around (like, literally looked around. Like, out their windows. Not at a map. Not at their GPS. Not at their smartphones. Out the windows.) for a hotel. They found one, the dad ran in and said it was full. They repeated this process a few times. Finally, the fourth hotel told him there was a soccer tournament that weekend and all the hotels would be booked. I was shocked. I thought for sure he had asked the front desk at the first hotel to call around and ask about empty rooms, but apparently not.
They finally turned the GPS on, located a hotel, and drove 20 minutes to the next town. We started driving up a huge private drive-way towards a cliff over-looking the ocean. I was thinking there was no way this place would be affordable. Sure enough, the dad ran in and came right back out. Getting back in the car, he noticed I was holding my head and asked what happened. I told him again that I had hit my head. The mother flipped out and checked my head about five times looking for blood. The dad started looking for nearby hospitals. I told them that I was fine, and managed to convince them that I just needed a bed! The dad agreed, but said that he would be monitoring my behavior the next day. I don't think I could've walked into the overhang hard enough to give myself a concussion, but I guess it was nice that they were concerned. Finally, finally, after about 45 minutes of searching in the middle of the night, they decided to start calling ahead to see if hotels had room. They found one close by, and this one had actual beds. I took the smaller bed to myself and passed out while the mother prepared a snack for her husband and daughter in the next room.
I found out the next day that the only reason we had moved is that the 9 year old daughter hadn't been able to sleep. Good lord.
After the hike, we went swimming in a gorgeous river right below a cliff with a huge waterfall.
The kids all had tubes even though the water was only a few feet deep and there was no current. None of the other adults swam, but I had a ton of fun spinning the kids in their tubes and dragging them around the river. After swimming, I told the mother I was going to the bathroom to change clothes. She told me I should change in the car! (It was a very crowded parking lot.) When I told her I'd rather change in the bathroom, she called out to me to be careful. I'm not sure what I was supposed to be careful about...
We said good-bye to my neighbors' friends and started our trip to the coast. The east coast here is beautiful! The water is amazing. This is near Uljin, where we stayed for half of the first night:
We got to Uljin, and the father sent the mother and me into a guesthouse to make sure it was ok. The mother kept asking me my opinion. I had no idea what their standards wore, nor what else would be available. The rooms were clean, they had fans, and looked plenty big enough for two people, so I said sure. Turns out the room would be big enough for four people, and then I understood why they wouldn't let me help pay for any of the accommodation. We would all be staying together.
We unloaded the car and the mother, daughter, and I went swimming while the father rested in the room. The water was clear, rather warm, and calmer than I've ever seen. There were almost no waves - it was like being at a lake. The sand sloped down very quickly, so that if you walk out a few feet, you're several feet deeper in the water. I had been looking forward to throwing the daughter in the water and splashing around with her, but she wouldn't get in past her waist because she didn't have her swim cap.
After swimming, we went to have sashimi, which is raw fish. I am not a fan. My neighbors were nice and ordered some more of that amazing grilled fish for me. We went to bed after that. My neighbors were watching a slapstick comedy show, and I was drifting in and out of sleep. After a couple hours, around 11pm I think, the father sat up and asked "How can you sleep?" I think I said something like "Mwueah?" He said "It's so hot! How can you sleep?" I didn't want to say that the tv was keeping me up, so I just said I didn't know. He must have been really hot, because he then said "Let's go. Let's find another place to stay." What. What the what.
We got up, packed our things, and loaded the car. I forgot all my toiletries in the bathroom On the way down the stairs, I knocked my head on the concrete overhang from the second story. I told my neighbors, complete with miming actions, and they said sorry. I was not a happy camper, but thought we would just drive down the road to another guesthouse. Nope. We drove to the next town. The mother and father looked around (like, literally looked around. Like, out their windows. Not at a map. Not at their GPS. Not at their smartphones. Out the windows.) for a hotel. They found one, the dad ran in and said it was full. They repeated this process a few times. Finally, the fourth hotel told him there was a soccer tournament that weekend and all the hotels would be booked. I was shocked. I thought for sure he had asked the front desk at the first hotel to call around and ask about empty rooms, but apparently not.
They finally turned the GPS on, located a hotel, and drove 20 minutes to the next town. We started driving up a huge private drive-way towards a cliff over-looking the ocean. I was thinking there was no way this place would be affordable. Sure enough, the dad ran in and came right back out. Getting back in the car, he noticed I was holding my head and asked what happened. I told him again that I had hit my head. The mother flipped out and checked my head about five times looking for blood. The dad started looking for nearby hospitals. I told them that I was fine, and managed to convince them that I just needed a bed! The dad agreed, but said that he would be monitoring my behavior the next day. I don't think I could've walked into the overhang hard enough to give myself a concussion, but I guess it was nice that they were concerned. Finally, finally, after about 45 minutes of searching in the middle of the night, they decided to start calling ahead to see if hotels had room. They found one close by, and this one had actual beds. I took the smaller bed to myself and passed out while the mother prepared a snack for her husband and daughter in the next room.
I found out the next day that the only reason we had moved is that the 9 year old daughter hadn't been able to sleep. Good lord.
