awww junk!

is not a Used Phrase here. here, junk may sometimes refer to a boy's package, but more often means a rather posh boat that can carry 25-35 people. i junked it for the first time yesterday with the frisbee folk, and boy was it awesome.* everyone brought food and beer to share, and at least one guy commented on how much i eat. since my mouth was full, i couldn't think of a healthy retort. my brain was in the midst of ecstasy convulsions. another guy, tristan, has asked me countless times why i'm smiling. and the answer's always been: cuz we're about to eat or because i'm eating or because i'm full. some people got seasick, which meant they couldn't eat much, and like a good teammate, i stepped up to fill their role. the hk harbor rocks of large ships' wakes. i love the up and down motion...i think i didn't get rocked enough as a baby.

i even mustered the courage to dive off the top of the junk! granted, that's only like 2 meters above water level, but the junk was rocking a lot and i've never done it before and i went in headfirst and the only guy to do it before me is patently crazy cough cough. AHEM. i feel very brave to have done it. and it hurt! my arms snapped upwards when i entered the water so it felt like i dislocated both shoulders at once. i had to tread water with only my feet until i could use my arms again, and i had to look like i was doing it on purpose. and then i accidentally swam to shore. i had some crazy idea that the junk would dock somewhere and then i'd climb aboard and grab my stuff. only once i reached shore did i realize that the junk had absolutely no intention of coming in, and poor me with my poor arms had to swim all the way back. eventually, we did swim ashore, where i

1. peed
2. threw a disc around
3. played three points of a game
4. fell asleep for 2 hours

life is good. oh! and i think i was the only one who successfully laid out for and caught a disc from the back of the boat. probably cuz i was the only one to get a good throw (the throwers were floating behind the boat in life preserves). on the way back, stephen lee, august president of hkupa, broke out his water balloon launcher...so we hoisted our jolly roger, swigged (swug?) our rum (and coke), and proceeded to launch at anything within range that moved. including other junks that mistook our eagerness for friendliness (they might've been on a romantic moonlight boat trip), including the landlubbers when we had to drop off some of our own in kowloon (and the landlubbers' expensive cameras). i felt a pang when we did that, but then i remembered that i'm a pirate, ARGH, and pirates don't pang, ARGH. lesson of the night: dancing on a rocking junk is akin to dancing in heels. you hafta keep your feet firmly planted and try to work it purely via hip gyrations. OR you can hang onto the handrail on the ceiling and spazz for all you're worth.


*i say awesome way too often. what should i use instead? i hate it when brits say brilliant or perfect when things are merely nice. maybe i'll bring radical back into play, or use super in homage to lori.