Weekend Wrap-Up (4-Day) - (Korea) Days 278 - 281

Our tour group at the 2011 Chungju World Martial Arts Festival...I'm in the very back
with a blue hat on, PFC Pickle is in the front down on a knee

Saturday: It's Labor Day weekend and we have a 4 days off to celebrate! I woke up around 0830 and did my usual Saturday morning routine of laundry and video chat with my wife. I then worked on schoolwork for quite a while until SPC Roy called and said he was coming over. We visited for a bit and then asked if I wanted to go to the commissary with him. I never pass up a trip to the commissary because it's a pain in the butt to go there on the bus. After that he dropped me off and I headed to The Point to go work out.

I then headed to RockFest here at Yongsan. They had live rock bands and a bunch of food and drink vendors out. What is unique is that the public was invited to come as well. There was one gate anyone could come in as long as they produced any form of ID. They blocked off the area where RockFest was being held in order to keep everyone contained. The bands I saw put on a good show. I saw then end of one band and watched the entire next band, a Led Zeppelin tribute band. The show started at noon and was going to play until 2200. I ended up hanging out for over two hours, but since I was there alone and standing I decided to head back to my room. Back in the room I started on more schoolwork and ended up doing that the rest of the night.

The Led Zeppelin tribute band at RockFest in Yongsan

Sunday: I woke up around 0830 and video chatted with my wife. I then cleaned my room a bit. It was tough to try and sweep and I didn't even try to mop. I refuse to move my roommate's stuff and it is starting to accumulate. I then met up with SPC Roy and we headed to The Point to swim. He had never been there before and wanted to check it out. We swam, went in the hot tub, and then the sauna. It totally seemed to drain the life from me. I had no energy at all after that…I felt like a slug.

We then headed to a Mexican restaurant staffed by Koreans (ironic) located inside The Dragon Hill Lodge. They have a buffet and I ate way too much. I didn't eat again for the rest of the night! Way too much food!!

I headed back to my room and did some more schoolwork, then watched a TV show before doing a SkillPort. After this I ended up taking a nap. Once awake from the nap I felt like I definitely needed to go workout, so I headed to The Point once again and actually had a decent workout. I then headed back to my room and watched more TV shows and did a SkillPort.

Monday: I woke up at 0700 and video chatted with my wife for a bit before heading to the bus station on post. I had plans with PFC Pickle to go on a tour (Chungju World Martial Arts Festival). There was a bus mix-up and instead of leaving at 0830, we left at 1000. The bus ride took a couple hours…long enough for a good nap.

Once we arrived we were able to watch a few martial arts demonstrations, but not as much as I'd hoped. The festival is actually 7 days long and we were only there for four hours. After looking at the schedule I wish they would have planned the event on a day where more was going on. I still enjoyed getting out and seeing parts of Korea that I haven't seen before and soaking up the culture.

We arrived back after 1800, a long bus ride with another nap. I ate dinner at the food court with PFC Pickle and then headed back to my room where I did more schoolwork. I wrapped up the night with a TV show and a SkillPort.

One of the martial arts performances during the 2011 Chungju World Martial Arts Festival

Me using a bow and arrow at one of the booths during the 
2011 Chungju World Martial Arts Festival

A look at the pavilion where most of the demonstrations took place from
the 3rd floor of the Martial Arts Museum.

Tuesday: I woke up at 0900 and video chatted with my wife for a while before doing schoolwork. I then went to lunch with SPC Roy. He had staff duty today and is working a 24 hour shift which sucks. He did get last Friday off because this shift fell on a holiday, but it still sucks. He gave me copies of a show called "Breaking Bad" and said he's totally hooked on it.

I watched the first episode and it was pretty good, I think I'll have to add this to my normal viewing collection. I then met up with PFC Pickle and we headed to the theatre on post to watch The Hangover 2. The sequel was pretty funny, but as many sequels seem to be…it was not as good as the first one. There was definitely a lot more penises than I was prepared to see when I woke up this morning!

We then went to The Point and worked out before heading back to our rooms. I had to watch more of the Breaking Bad TV show. SPC Roy wanted me to finish the first season tonight so we could talk about it tomorrow…lol. I don't think I'm going to make it that far, but I do have CQ duty this Friday…so I'll be watching quite a bit then I'm sure.