Seoul Land

Imagine Six Flags . . . roller coasters, rides, log flumes, games, fried food and ice cream. Now remove all the screaming children and drunk overweight people in bikinis with mullets and rat tails and replace them with children dressed in slacks and sweater vests and women dressed in sweaters, skirts and high heels . . . tada, you have Seoul Land.

I have to admit when my brother, Kevin, compared Seoul Land to Six Flags, I had mixed feelings about going there. I love rollercoasters and rides, but unfortunately most of my Six Flags memories are of seeing men with bare chests and beer bellies hanging over denim cutoff shorts that are a few sizes too small, taking up two seats on roller coasters or spilling beer on their children.

Seoul Land was a blast. The lines were short, the people were considerate and sober and had all of their clothes on. The highlight of the trip would have to be the giant swing drop. We were strapped into harnesses and pulled up higher and higher . . . and higher. A little too high for comfort, but by the time we reached the top it was too late. We dropped. The first ten seconds felt like an absolute free fall. When I finally felt the tug from the harness and realized we reached the bottom, it was the most exhilarating feeling. We swung back and forth over Seoul Land and had a great view of the mountains. What an adrenaline rush. However, I have now lost any desire I ever had to go bungee jumping or skydiving.

The oddest thing would have to be the gigantic vinyl mountain. Thousands of feet of vinyl were stretched tight in the air. The vinyl was stretched into mountains and hills. Hundreds of children were just running up and down the hills. Kevin joined in and got a few of them to barrel roll down the hills with him. After his adventure on the vinyl and an entertaining attempt at "Dance, Dance, Revolution," Kevin and Ryan decided to prove their manhood by playing the game where they have to hit the target with the sledgehammer. Kevin won a key chain duck that had red lights on the sides of the head for his girlfriend, Monica. Ryan stepped up and won a 3-legged armadillo. The strange thing was the tag of the armadillo which read "100% assholes" I guess cotton is too expensive here.