just a saturday swim in the sea

Last Saturday, Ken and I bundled up and headed to Deokpo Beach to experience the 4th Geojedo International Penguin Swimming Festival.



We arrived around 11:00, just in time for the festivities to begin. It was cold, but there was a crowd of people
waiting to watch the swimmers rush into the cold water, including a few people from Ken's project. I have no idea what the water temperature was, but the air temperature averages 31 degrees in January, so you can be assured the water is cold.
We were quite impressed with the efforts put forth by the community to make us feel welcomed. People were passing out festival itineraries written in English and most of the announcements on the stage were translated into English (by Brenda, no less - remember she went with me to China).



They also had a food booth that served complimentary muffins, coffee and Ramen noodles. I think the other booths were serving some sort of fish dish. I guess they thought we wouldn't care for it, which is probably true in my case.

The preshow included some singers, dancers, bands and break dancers. After the announcements and introductions of dignitaries, the contestants began to get prepared for their descent into the water. Coats and clothes were shed - I did see a few people in wetsuits, but the majority just had on swim trunks and sometimes a shirt (with a swimsuit - not just a shirt - I wanted to clarify that). It wasn't only the Koreans that took part, there was a nice showing of foreigners, including one young man that Ken works with. A few women participated in the venture - we saw a couple of women that work at the Foreigner's Club take the plunge! I used to teach swimming lessons in the summer in Virginia. I dreaded making that morning plunge into the water for the first class because the water was always so cold. Did I mention that it was summer? I can't imagine how running into frigid water would feel. Anyway, prior to the actual dive into the water, an announcer guided everyone though the regulatory Korean calisthenics.
Then the race was on, with was a mad dash into the water by all. Some people darted right back out of the sea, while a few made it up to their knees.
However, most of the contestants swam out to the waiting boat and collected their wrist band (which later could be exchanged for a medal). It was fun watching the various people make their way out of the water - most of them were red from the cold.

When the race was over, they then moved over to an area of water that was roped off with some fishing nets. Apparently there were fish in the nets that were let loose. Everyone was catching fish with their hands. And these weren't small fish!! I am very upset to report that my camera had been acting up and chose that occasion to not allow me to take any pictures of this part of the fun. I noticed that they had a booth were you could take your fish and get it cleaned. Maybe some of those fish were put into the fish stew they were serving???

The festivities were directed back onto the stage area, where there was a drawing for prizes, belly dancing and a hilarious Korean version of the gong show. It was all in Korean but we were able to get the gist of what was going on. They also had activities on the beach for children that included standing on blocks of ice and racing with flippers on your feet. We were starting to get a bit cold, so we ended our day there.
We had a blast and will definitely put it on our calendar to do next year. Maybe I will even swim in the competition. (Do you really believe that?)