Kari_CP9

SO today a bunch of the CIES students and myself went to Ichti...Itchta...Itchigo....Itchi-something springs all day long and it was really fun! Even though it took 2 hours to get there, it was a nice drive because we got to talk about different stuff like religion and different states in America that are good to visit, and others that are not so good to visit. It was also a nice drive just because the park was surrounded by quite a few dairy farms. When we got to the park there were 2 parts. One was a small pool like area and was strictly for swimming, the rest of the park and river was for tubing. While we were waiting on Jen to drop off the van at the other end of the park and get a ride to come to the head of the springs, a couple of the guys from Kuwait and myself went to the swimming area and messed around. We were joking around a lot because they asked me if it was cold and I just told them they'd find out. They tried to play the "ladies first" card, but I said that in American parks it was gentlemen first. This didn't really stop them from throwing me in anyways. ;)
One thing that I did notice, and was really glad that the Kuwait guys didn't, was that when I asked Amar if they had anything like this in Kuwait, he laughed and said, "No, in Kuwait definitely not." At the mention of "Kuwait", this white kid who was probably like twelve or thirteen just stared at us and glared. Like one of those seething hateful glares. He left when he realized I was staring back at him, but all the same I'm glad Amar didn't notice.
Tubing itself was so much fun. There were schools of mullet fish all over the place and occasionally they'd jump out of the water and come splashing back down. A couple times they even jumped and landed right next to us. What was really funny though was how squeamish some of the guys were. For those who have been tubing or swimming at springs, they know that there are these little blue dragonflies that like to sit on your knees or arms and just chill while you float down the river. These guys were SO squeamish with them! The most surprising part of the trip though, was finding out that a couple of the students didn't know how to swim! The two girls from Africa, Michelle and Eve, and also one of the girls from China, didn't know how to swim.
All the same, I think the students really enjoyed it and appreciated the time to relax. It was also fun to see Minsuk and his wife Hyeri relaxing and enjoying the vacation like the newlyweds that they are. He was being a good husband and giving her a foot massage while floating down the river haha.