Laundry room explosion

December got off to a great start with my washing machine vomiting up masses of unidentified debris. I've mentioned before that Korea does not have the best plumbing, and all foreign teachers have stories of their laundry room or shower drain backing up and flooding. This was a bit more though. I came home one day to find piles of sand, shell, seaweed, and I don't want to know what all else plastered across the room, even on the ceiling and inside the washing machine. The floor was covered with a couple inches of gunk. I told my boss, who asked if I would clean it up, but in the end my landlady took care of it and the room ended up cleaner than it had ever been during my stay.