Ski day Sunday

So I guess it's my turn to fail at blogging. I feel like a lot has been happening, but at the same time it has become fairly routine and so it is hard to think of it as interesting and blog worthy. But at least one new thing has happened. On Sunday I went skiing at Vivaldi Park. Which is awesome. We haven't had any real snowfall yet but the mountain had a couple runs open, full of everyone's favorite white stuff, man-made snow. Which is basically cheating if you ask me. Even though it is technically snow.

My roommate Hannah and I went with my Korean teacher for the five year olds, Elin. We were supposed to meet at the institute at 6:45 am then go together to the bus where Elin had reserved seats for us. So I hauled myself out of bed, ate a quick breakfast and Hannah and I rushed off eagerly to the institute where we found Elin was not. We were first confused, was this where we were meeting, what time was it, etc etc. We decided we were right and stood waiting for her for a while. It appeared that she was a no show and so we decided to leave without her. So we hustled on across the road to the bus. Then we realized that the reservations would be in her name and we didn't even know what her Korean name was. So we stood there feeling a variety of emotions, mostly angst, and wondered what to do next... Then, in the distance I saw a small Korean girl running full speed, carrying a bunch of random crap and dodging random people on the sidewalk. ELIN was coming!! YAY. She rushed up gave her name to the driver and we all got on. Phew. close one.

The bus ride was about 45 minutes all together. It was pretty peaceful. Most people fell asleep, I couldn't sleep and just sat there wiping the fog off the window and watching the country go by. It was nice.

We arrived at the mountain and quickly went to get our gear. Elin wanted to buy a seasons pass and after that and a quick bathroom break we all headed to the change room to get our snow pants on. Then we went to the rental area. I was shocked. I know things in Korea are usually nicer and more impressive than anywhere else I have ever been but this was just amazing. In the past I have been given a pair of crusty ski boots, some dull skis and some dinged up poles. I wade throught the people and find a space to put my stuff, hope that no one steals it, get dressed, wade back out through the people, get treated like a bum and then have a dangerous skiing experience. Complete with irritated frozen ski lift operators, annoyed people pushing and shoving in line, general disinterest in ones well-being. NOT so with this experience.

First their rental area was nice. Big, open, bright. Happy. Several helpful people took my ticket with my size and height and rushed off to various places to collect my ski stuff. It literally took them two seconds. The boots we nice, not broken or destroyed. The skis were in super good condition, even the poles seemed nicer than normal. They had a nice locker area set up, also nice and bright. So we got our stuff on, stowed our valuables and headed for the lift. Korean employees anywhere you go are really nice. Always saying hello, waving, smiling and just all round pleasent. So we were greeted happily at every step of the journey, from bottom to top.

I had almost forgotten what it felt like to ski. And the first trip down was interesting. Not bad, just interesting. Remembering the way to stand, move, turn etc. My knees were not too excited either. WE went down the easy hil a few times and then I wanted to go down the big hill. The hill we were on was not really that small, but it wasn't extremely steep either. I wanted something bigger. So we went to the very top. OH MY. It was scary. I wiped out a million times the first time down. At one point I was sliding down backwards on my back and Elin had to grab my pole to keep me from falling right off the edge of the run. So the first time was basically a disaster, so of course we decided to go again. The second time was much more successful. I only fell once.

We skied and skied. At 11am we took a break to eat food. Then we skied some more. At about 3:30pm after going non stop since our food break we were all pretty worn out and so we went to have tea time. Which is another very Korean thing. Instead of just calling it, going to get coffee/tea, they call it tea time. They look forward to it and as Elin put it, it's her favorite part of the day. So we sat there sipping some hot beverages while a dance crew did a dance for the people waiting for the lift outside. We watched the people coming down the mountain, laughing at the huge crashes and the people who were about to fall. You know the ones.. They start flailing, and swerving and then then just kind of freeze and either run into something/someone, or fall over. Its very entertaining.

We decided we were done and headed back to return everything and get changed and find our bus. And soon we were on our way back. And thats when the achy tiredness began. Hannah and I went to Emart and got leg massages in an attempt to stop the pain before it really took over. That was a whole other adventure. It was very nice, very soothing. That's going to be the thing I miss most I think. The ability to at any time just walk over to Emart and get anything massaged and have it only cost about $20. Ahhhh

Then came home and crashed. Although today it felt like I hadn't even slept. So I am going to bed early again in an effort to get control of my tiredness before too much of the week is gone. So thats all I have for now... I love skiing again and can't wait to go do it more! I will probably go over Christmas break since I am no longer going anywhere/doing ANYTHING. Boooo.