IF YOU LOOK FOR SOMETHING YOU WILL FIND IT

I need excitement! I need to live!

I’ve been I South Korea for almost two months and I feel like everything I do is the same. Nothing is really getting me hyped, I feel like I’m travelling the straight and narrow.  I need to do something that gets the blood pumping, something that makes me feel alive again!

This was the mindset I had when going to a nearby city called Wonju. It seemed like an ordinary Saturday at first. We met up with friends at the bus terminal, helped an Irish friend called Fergus get a cell phone and went for lunch. It’s at the lunch that things started going pear shaped. I was invited to a jimjibang which is commonly known as a public bath. For those of you that know me, I have no problem being naked while body boarding, no problem streaking but for some reason bathing with a bunch of men scared the hell out of me.

After lunch we arrived at the jimjibang and collected our key for a locker that they issue you with, to put ALL your belongings into. I was in a flat PANIC! I looked at a friend and calmly said, “After you”. He dropped the pants and I followed. All five of us ran naked to the bathing area. The bathing area is like a huge bathroom with a Jacuzzi, pressure shower, sauna, scented sauna, and a cold pool. As soon as I got over the whole men all around me naked thing, I realized it was so awesome. I felt like a champion after. There are a few no no’s. The main no no is, DO NOT LIE ON THE BED IN THE BATHING AREA. If you do this, you will be cleaned by a naked old man. The cleaning involves every inch of your body, use your imagination.

After this we went for supper and a relaxed beer or five at the pub. Well that was not meant to be. We were on our third pitcher of beer when we got a free one from a guy in a wheelchair and a HUGE guy in a suite. We said thank you and carried on with our night. Next thing another pitcher arrived together with one order of big suite guy and wheelchair guy. Fergus was chatting about boxing to the wheelchair guy and next thing we knew he said he was in the Korean Mafia and things started to make sense, guy in a wheelchair, big suite “protection”. Oh SHIT, we were all thinking it. The big guy broke a mop and started swaying it in his drunken state and hit the guys at a table next to us about three times before the whole table stood up and confronted him.

This being said it was the wrong move. The boxer in the wheelchair rolled toward the argument and laid his first punch. This led the others to think that it is a good idea to push him over. Mid push over the big guy went wild and laid into everyone (like four guys). They barely fought back and all took a beating. The guy in the wheelchair was throwing punches, never mind just slapping. We quietly paid our money and made our exit while they were busy. It was pretty intense watching all this going down.

If this was not enough excitement, I encouraged friends to bungee jump with me the next day in Cheongpung land. Talk about taking advantage of the hype. The next day things actually went as planned. The friends I encouraged to jump with me stuck by their word and pulled through. The jumpers were me, Fergus Butler and Jennifer Charboneau. When we arrived we were all still pretty calm although I could feel the excitement brewing inside me. When we were paying we saw that we could do an ejection seat and a massive swing as well for an extra 20 000won which is nothing in Rand. So we did it, we paid for all three. We needed a fourth to pull through for the ejection seat and Evelyne Laurin helped us out even though she was feeling real sick.

The full crew, Nick, Me, Ferg, Giuli, Lilli, Ev and Jen

The tension was now peaking. We had to set up for the first activity, the big swing. I could see that reality had set in for all three of us. At the time we didn’t even know what the big swing was. We went with it and it turned out to be the three of us together being pulled up by a crane and then released to do a massive swing through the air. It was so much fun and I would consider it to be more fun than scary. The craziest part was that they made me pull the release mechanism at the top of the crane. I counted down and I couldn’t pull the mechanism, mid complaining it went!

Me and the crew that joined us to the jump. from left to right its, Ev, Jen, Ferg, Lilli, Nick and then me

The crew making a fool, good times!

flying through the air, spectacular feeling

The tower we were pulled to the top of

We now knew that we were in for all the activities. It was such a good ice breaker for what was to come. Up next was the ejection seat which is a chair for two strapped to two bungee cords which get tensioned. This was such a rush and really got the blood flowing! After this we were all pumped to do what we set out to do, the bungee jump. This one was about 60m high and on a crane. We all got into the lift and we then realized that this was real and it was time to grow a pair. I was up first followed by Fergie and Jen.

Ferg and I getting ready to get our worlds rocked

Jen and Ev getting ready to fly

I was terrified! I loved it! The feeling of being in that position is incredible and gets you feeling SO ALIVE. Needless to say we all took the plunge and we had never felt more alive! It was like no other feeling! I knew that my dream of base jumping with a wingsuit was one step closer! I’m jumping again next weekend and I’m doing my sky diving license soon! Things are finally coming together. I found sports that really make me happy. I can’t wait to see what I’m capable of doing! I can’t wait to find my limit and then push it.   

The feeling of being free makes me feel alive, it makes me who I am.