This is my first summer retreat, or what the Koreans called MT (members' training) with my lab. Its a 3D2N from 8th July. Chartered a bus and assembled by 830am.
''Today's gonna be long...'' My groggy mind told me. The bus took almost 4 hours with a lunch break consisting of noodles and steamed pork slices. The weather and atmosphere were different from Seoul. Gangwon province is located on the extreme eastern side of Korea hence, it experiences the most bitter winter and cooler summers. Our destination took us to Yangyang county. A small town with mainly pensions and the beach. No high-rise, no whizzing cars.
Just us, the sky and the sea. Through my junior I comprehend that Yangyang is very close to the 38th Parallel hence, it is not a very popular tourist destination. Most people head for Sorak county where Mt Sorak national park and waterpia (hot spring) are located.
Headed for the beach and started playing a series of games organised by lab mates. Not bad though it started to drizzle slightly. The wind, crashing waves and the sinking fire played a nice melody to my nature-starved senses.
Night fell. We had a nice dinner BBQ and afterwich, games and drinking sessions. How can you end a gathering in Korea without alcohol? =) Lucky me, I have alcohol-sensitive knockout.
The drinking games ended midnight and my peepers were closing on me. The rooms were small and some opted to sleep in the living hall. Mosquitoes aplenty =(
12am -4am: Juniors were on the vendetta drinking and chatting making quite a din. Most of us could not sleep. I hated myself for being a very very light sleeper. So light that even the fan or air-conditioner sound could wake me up =S In addition, we slept on the floor with 2 thin blankets.
Needless to say, I could not have a wink throughout the night. 730am woke up and wash myself. Once again, no HOT water!! Argh! I bathed with freezing cold water and jumped around the bathroom trying to distract myself from the cold. At times like this, I wish I were in Seoul instead. Dressed up for the conference quite formally. Anyway, I think my forever 21 skirt is the best buy in my entire shopaholic history. haha ok, exaggerate abit to show how much I love that skirt. =D
Had breakfast consisting of bagels, cup noodles, kimchi, rice. Juniors and seniors especially my lab manager woke up early to prepare breakfast for everyone. How nice T.T After brekky, we had abit of time so a few of us headed down to the tourist destination. A nice pavilion named: Ha Jo Dae.
