Hitting the Slopes

For months now, I have wanted to go snowboarding while here in Korea.  But timing, money, and how to get there just did not seem to line up.  Well in February I saw a posting on Facebook from a company, Enjoy Korea, that was hosting its last skiing/snowboarding trip of the season.  Since it was going to be the beginning of March, the slopes would be less crowded and the price was extremely reasonable.  So I booked the trip and Nicole agreed to come along as well even though she didn't want to ski.

The trip would be to Phoenix Park resort in PyeongChang.  I was excited just to be going to PyeongChang not to mention to go snowboarding.  For those that don't know, the 2018 Winter Olympics will be hosted in PyeongChang!  As I've mentioned, I love the Olympics so getting an opportunity to see an area where the Olympics will be hosted while in the early stages of its development for the games was exciting to me.  I know that many of the venues are planned to be held in other nearby cities.  But still I was in PyeongChang.  If I stay another year or more, I hope to return to the park and see the development as they prepare to host the world in 2018.  Who knows maybe I will stay here that long too!

There were parts of the trip that were not that enjoyable (i.e. being at the bus at 6:15am on a Saturday morning and having annoying loud people talking obnoxiously behind us on the bus), but overall it was a great trip and I had a lot of fun.  Our friend Sarah also joined us.  Being from South Africa she had never seen snow until she went snowboarding in December.  However, the slopes were super crowded then so she wasn't able to lean a lot.  This time she learned tons!  I practiced a lot and felt more comfortable on the board.  I also decided that going just once a year is just not enough.  I need to find a way to go more often if I stay in Korea another year.

The view from the basic green slope where we spent most of our time.

Strapped in and ready to go!

Sarah and I snowboarded for about 2.5 hours on Saturday.  Then we went to dinner with Nicole and had a wonderful evening relaxing with coffee and then a few games of Old Maid with some of the people staying with us.  We choose Old Maid because it wasn't complicated and everyone knew how to play already.  Having people from many countries around you is always fun but it can complicate things such as playing games.  The two South Africans in the room both talked of one game they played a lot, but no one else in the room knew the game.  So Old Maid it was and it really was fun.

So happy!  

Sarah and I at the top of the mountain before we went down the mountain for  the first time on this trip!

Sarah, Nicole, and I at the base of the mountain

The next morning we had to check out of our rooms by 10:30 and then we could snowboard until 4:30.  We spent the majority of that time on the slopes, but definitely stopped for lunch with Nicole and for a coffee break too!  On Sunday morning, it somewhat looked like it was snowing on the top of the mountain but it was hard to tell if it was snow or if it was just foggy.  Well when Sarah and I started up the lift, we realized soon it was snow.  It was the first time Sarah had ever been outside while it was snowing!  She saw snow falling for the first time a few months back when it snowed in Busan but she was in the school building teaching.  I was excited to just be with her as she experienced the snow.  I also made sure to get a picture for her.  Sadly, its hard to tell it was snowing in the picture so I took a video too!

It's snowing!

And one final story from the weekend trip.  Sarah and I picked up a drink and snack from a convenience store on the first afternoon just to take a break.  We sat on the picnic tables outside.  While sitting there, there was this boy who kept looking at me.  Typically I left little kids stare for a bit, but if they continue I finally just say hello.  That usually gets a smile and sometimes a hello back and they are off and playing.  Well this kid's mom heard and wanted him to talk English with us.  He most definitely did not.  A little foot stopping and obvious complaining in Korean and he just didn't want to cooperate. Well after few minutes he walked away and came back but still seemed curious.  So in Korean I asked him is name.  This got mom super excited!  She picked him up and put him in her lap so he could talk to us.  She finally convinced him to share his English nickname, Power Leader!!!  It was super cute.  Well that got the ball rolling.  He told us he was in elementary school and was 8 years old and in first grade.  He asked us where we were from and if we liked skiing.  He also said he liked to ski.  He has an English teacher who is South African like Sarah. Then as we were finishing up his mom asked him to sing for us.  The most popular song in Korea for the last few months is what he sang: Let It Go from Frozen.  And he did a fantastic job!  He knew the big words, he knew all the words for the first verse and chorus.  His pronunciation was great!  He was super cute.  Then he started the song about the snowman.  I haven't seen the movie yet so I don't know the name.  But I was able to get a little video of him singing!  I hope you enjoy it! He was cute and finally made his mom happy to talk to us in English.  Oh and one final note, he is Korean age 8 which is between 6-7 in American ages.  My guess is that he is 6.  He was pretty small.  Originally I thought 5-6 before he told us.