Nothing much has happened since I last updated. I'm patiently going to and from work every day, counting down until it's time to travel once again. I absolutely love Korea and I will miss it dearly but I'm certainly ready to experience something new.
Since my friends and I have been wanting to do something different (and perhaps a bit adventurous) we decided to go paragliding! Melissa found an awesome company that picked us up in Busan and took us to jump near Ulsan. We didn't quite know what to expect and I think some of us were close to backing out, but we all went through with it and we're all so happy we did.
We basically drove to the top of a mountain, put on a backpack, chose a partner and jumped! No real instruction, no rules. It was very laidback but professional; I felt safe the entire time (except I did see two different people literally crash into trees, but they were solo jumpers not with our company). We had to go in groups of two; Alix, Kavita and Lindsey went first then Melissa and I jumped second. I think the wait and anticipation was worse than actually running off the mountain.
I wanted to go with the "daredevil" of the group, just because he seemed fun. He put my safety gear on, gave me a very quick rundown on what to do, and we were off! It was pretty hard to run off the mountain, not because of a lack of nerve, but because the wind and the parachute was pushing you back. I finally made it off and what an incredible experience it was! It was almost as if you were sitting in a lawn chair in the air with a man strapped to your back, guiding you along the way.
My tandem partner definitely was a little "psycho" like the rest of the instructors were calling him. He told me we were "rolling" and "pitching" and before we landed we did a "spiral," but I had a great time and a lot of laughs (between almost losing my breakfast).
All the girls had a lot of fun and we're glad we went out on a limb and did something different. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, anywhere. It's a lot easier than you would think! And the view is hard to beat.
Other than that, I guess I do have another small bit of news. When I wrote last, I was going to return to Jeju for my long vacation in two weeks. I didn't see enough of it and I wanted a nice, relaxing vacation before leaving Korea. But I'm always prone to change my mind and I've never really enjoyed relaxing (especially by myself) because those who know me know how bored I get.
Instead, I'm going to Tokyo with Alix! It would be a shame not to visit Japan, living so close. I tried to convince myself that I would be okay with not having gone to Tokyo during my time abroad, but realistically, I would have been bummed if I didn't go. We leave two weeks from today. If I thought Korea was a bit bizarre at times, I can't imagine what Japan will be like.
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