Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Gemfinder]

Where can a westerner get her hands on clay, glazes, a potter's wheel and a kiln in the Dobong-gu area... or within a reasonable commute? Anyone know?

I'd like to play in the mud while I'm here.

[Harpeau]

You want to play in the mud? Lots of mud here:

Boryeong Mud Festival
If good, clean fun is not your thing, head to Boryeong City in South Chungcheong Province in July for the annual Boryeong Mud Festival.

Enjoy mud baths, mud massages, mud cosmetics and mud wrestling.

The official website promises such treats as "a raid training mock cavalry battle marine gluttony pole training experience in a beach neighbourhood". And if that doesn�t make you want to go, nothing will.

Boryeong boasts 9.9 million square meters of the brown stuff, and it�s not just any old muck. Far from it. In fact, Boryeong is the only area to receive a certified credit from The Korea Institute of Geology, Mining and Materials for the quality of the mud on its tidelands.

The blackish mud is rich in minerals such as germanium and bentonite (highly effective in preventing wrinkles), and apparently radiates long infrared rays (which in case you wondered is a good thing).

The Boryeong Mud Festival was started six years ago to make the most of this precious resource, and now attracts over a million visitors.

Photo courtesy of the Korean National Tourist BoardAttractions include mud slides, mechanical rodeo rides in the middle of mud baths, a mud body-painting contest, a mud sculpture contest, traditional Korean wrestling in mud and an enormous communal mud tub. There are also games and mock battles on the mud flats.

When things get too muddy, you can rinse off at free public showers and retrieve your non-muddy clothes from the storage lockers provided. But beware: anyone who dares to walk the streets looking clean risks being thrown in the mud jail.

The mud isn�t the only attraction: Boryeong has a surprisingly clean beach. In fact Daecheon Beach is famous for its 3.5 km of blindingly-white sands, its islands and water-sports, and the pine forests which fringe its length.

[Gemfinder]

ummmm... I kinda of just want to make pots and stuff. A mud bath is on my list of to-dos, but not a communal one. I don't share mud.

[Gemfinder]

Wait, it's in July? Too hot. Do they have spas open in that area during the cooler months.