Day 351 - Busan Shark Tank Diving and Video Dump

BUSAN SHARK TANK DIVING

At the Busan aquarium, they have the pretty nifty opportunity to go scuba diving in their shark tank. Being terrified of sharks ever since I saw JAWS as a child and completely inexperienced with SCUBA, this seemed like an awesome idea.

Since I can't post pictures with the proxy, here's a link to a video:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41MfbrhOtSw)

I shook like a leaf the entire time (according to the GI who was my dive partner). In my defense, it wasn't just because I'm *incredibly* brave like that, but also because the water was pretty cold and my suit had a big rip on the knee. Having the scraggly-toothed sand tiger sharks (because sand tiger sharks sounds way more badass than "nurse shark") swim right up to your face, just past you, eye-to-eye, was a really cold (also horrifying) experience. As I was descending into the tank, a huge manta ray swam right by me. Also awesome.

The scariest part, though, was the actual SCUBA experience. If you've never done scuba, I found it unnerving to be breathing underwater. I'm normally not particularly claustrophobic, but with the goggles on and being only able to breath dry tank air through a tube I was definitely freaking out a bit. After ten or fiften minutes I got more used to the experience, but not everybody was able to adjust; one girl left the training lock because she just couldn't get comfortable with breathing through the regulator.

Awesome experience, totally recommend it. It was only ~100,000won for everything -- aquarium ticket, equipment rental, SCUBA lesson, and entry to the shark tank. The aquarium is also right on Haeundae Beach so it makes for a nice weekend adventure. Since I'm already shamelessly advertising, here's their link: http://www.scubainkorea.com/Shark_Diving/Shark_Diving.htm

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VIDEO DUMP

I uploaded more videos too, since I've been slacking with pictures. That said,

1. Jungle Camp in Borneo, Malaysia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgKhFNK7cgU)
Where I camped for 3 days, 2 nights. I got a few emails asking about it, so if you're interested in this, I did it through www.uncletan.com

2. Wild Orang-Utan in Borneo, Malaysia (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73WBOnIddHs)
On the last morning, we finally got a good view of a wild orang-utan eating his fig breakfast by the river.

3. TOEFL Writing Class (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fgzu0Y2T8R4)
Yes, I do still teach English. Sometimes.