Teeth Whitening at the Dentist

This week I went to Tuft Dental Clinic in Gagnam to try another (relatively) cheap Korean medical procedure: dental whitening.

I was encouraged by friends who had been to this clinic already that it was fast, easy, painless, and moderately priced...Plus the end results were stunning!

So I booked my appointment for a morning before work. They told me to take a couple of painkillers before in case I had some dental sensitivity.

When I sat down in the chair, the first thing they did was a quick cleaning. Then, they  painted a seal at the edges of your teeth and gums to protect gums from the whitening goo. From there they painted the liquid on to your teeth. I knew how strong the stuff they were using was because she got some on my gums and immediately it started burning. This is where things started to go downhill.

This is my torture

Then they put a little blue light in front of my teeth and told me to relax for 30 minutes. The first 5 minutes were okay; my gums were still burning a bit from when she got the acid on them but she had cleaned it off. Suddenly, I felt a shocking sharp shooting pain in the root of a  tooth on the bottom that I know is sensitive. It stopped as quickly as it started so I tried to move my head back to the light and continue. A few minutes later the shooting pain came back worse than before, so bad that I started to have tears in my eyes and my heart was beating really hard from the shock. I tried to alert the nurse and tell her, but obviously my mouth was open and it was hard to talk. Then the shooting pain came back again, and in another tooth. It was turning into a torture session.

In the end I was a crying mess, slapping the blue light away and telling the nurse to take the acid off my teeth. The tried using a "weaker whitening agent" on my teeth only to have writhing  in pain and begging her to take it off. In the end I left traumatized, in pain, and W200,000 poorer. My teeth were whiter, though. Was it worth it? NO WAY

My advice: If you have any problems at all with sensitive teeth, NEVER get your teeth whitened... It was top 2 most painful experiences of my life.

Never again!!!

Boryeong Mud Festival 2011

This past weekend, 6 of us rented a van and drove southwest to the coastal town of Boryeong. Every summer this vacation town hosts a massive mud festival which attracts hordes of Koreans and foreigners alike to relax on the beach and indulge in the skin softening "beneficial properties of Boryeong mud"

We arrived to torrential downpour at about 11am, but the party had already started. Concerts, games, mud wrestling, body (mud) painting and muddy carnival games were packed. We set up our things on the beach, then bought W5,000 wristbands to gain access to the muddy playground.

By the afternoon the sun was shining and the mud pits were packed. It was great fun but unfortunately the lines grew waaaaay to long to stand my patience. I did one mud slip n' slide (after waiting for 20 minutes) and then spent the rest of the time having fun. Overall a great experience!

Word to the wise: WEAR SUNSCREEN! mud does NOT stop you from getting burned. Learned that the hard way :(

Click here for the official website: Boryeong Mud Festival

Post rain-storm

Running into friends

Beach Crew

Real Muddy

Prepared to get splashed with mud

Three Weeks Left in Korea!!!

It's hard to believe, but I am now 49 weeks into Korea.. there are only three weeks left before I embark on another epic adventure through Southeast Asia.

Over this past year I have done my best to take in the sights, sounds and smells of Korea. From the relatively tame (neighborhoods, restaurants, museums, tea shops, temples, cooking classes, musicals, and hikes) to the more obscure (naked saunas, laser hair removal, cat cafes, body building competitions, international ultimate frisbee tournaments, and visits to North Korea)

I keep wracking my brain and going over all of the tourist brochures and foreign magazines for things that will give me insight.

The question is: What do I still need to do in this city? After almost a year I feel so comfortable here and yet there is always so many new things to do.

Three weeks left to take in as much of Seoul as I can. Suggestions Welcome.

The countdown begins!!!

King Sejong