Lunar New Year Pt. I - Dinner with the Boss

Well Lunar Near Year has come and gone so apparently I'm a year older here in Korea. With my new age being 24 I feel like I rather missed out on that whole 23 thing. . .odd how they calculate age here, silly me still believing I was 22 and all!

We kicked off our New Year holiday Sunday evening at Anna's home with a home cooked meal. While we initially thought that the invitation was extended just to us, which would have been only slightly awkward, we were pleased to learn that others would be joining as well.

Terry Teacher, who recently moved up from Daechi and now lives in my building, met Nate and I downstairs a little after six to head towards Anna's place only a few minutes down the road. Luckily we were able to find it without a problem and got inside before we froze to death.

It was such a wonderfully refreshing experience to spend a couple hours in a real 'home,' decorated, comfortable and alive with the freshness of A-Young's husband's indoor botany experiments!

For dinner we were served a plate of fried cutlet, rice and curry at the small dinning/main room table. While I am admittedly not the biggest fan of curry, especially its smell, I managed to muscle through it anyways, enjoying the homecooked (though clearly from a packet) flavor. As side dishes we were given the options of kimchi (homemade of course), chapchae (which is a delicious oriental noodle salad), bulgogi (sweetend beef chunks), and a green salad with strawberry dressing.

By the time Terry, Nate, and I had finished eating, Julie (Princess) and Moon Young had arrived with husbands in tow. Also accompanying Moon Young was her two year old daughter, Harem. An interesting name for a young girl. . .

While the little one immediately ran off to the playroom with Anna's daughter Rachel, I eventually caught up with the kids and got in on some pretty fun finger painting. The little thing didn't stop running in circles until well past three in the morning which reminded me so much of little cousin Christina when she was young.

As I commented on how cute her daughter was, Moon Young humbly replied in good Korean fashion, "I know, just like her mother." Later we were informed however that it is unfortunate for Harem to look so 'American beautiful' (as she has large eyes). Not sure what that means but, it sounds like backhanded racism? Which is confusing in that all I've come to learn in Korea is that 'western style' faces are more beautiful. . . but for children? I guess not!?

While showing us pictures of her travels, Anna also unabashedly commented on her happy single days. Pointing to picture of her with her husband informing us that she was no longer happy. Ummm, sorry to hear that, not sure how to respond, he seems like a pretty good guy though!

Two small tables, with only a foot or so of floor clearance, were set up on the floor in front of the tv for Moon Young, Julie and Co. to dine at. Once everybody had finished eating we were invited to join them on the floor for snacks and drinks. What started out as a quaint little cocktail party escalated quickly, as one would imagine a Korean get together would.

To be honest, I was at first thinking that we might be let go early as we had informed our hosts that we had a 5:40am bus to catch the next morning to head out to Phoenix Park for our 'ski/snowboard trip.' This did not turn out to be the case.

After about half a glass of wine Anna checked the bottle to see how much we were drinking as she noted that I had begun to turn red. While I wanted to, I refrained from informing her that was in fact not only incredibly awkward (sitting at her dining table without food while the other guests ate on the floor) but I was also sweltering hot in a sweater! Though the room's temperature issue was mentioned a number of times throughout the night, I don't recall anything ever being done to adjust it. Even after the pointing where other Korean guests were commenting on it and Nate had to remove an outer layer to stay sane! Oh well!

Once plopped on the floor we didn't move again until everyone had literally cleaned the house out of drinks, including the bottle of scotch we had picked up for Anna at Christmas! Though we at first fretted over the quality of wine we brought over as a gift, it turned out not to be a problem as unempty glasses were refilled with any ole' bottle! If you mixing then you can't be too picky I guess!

In between the numerous bottles of wine scattered across the table I picked my way through a wide array of snacks. I tried everything but the large quiche like pastry that was devoured by the women before I could get a bite. I did however dig in deep to the beef jerky pieces, boiled oysters (which I was told that I would not like, as all Koreans seem to assume that they have our foreign diets tagged down, especially the part about, 'oh no, too spicy for you'), cheese wedges (which had literally liquefied because the room was so hot), and of course, a chocolate ice cream cake that Nate and I had helped Terry pick out.

My only regret? That I didn't eat the last piece of the cake that simply sat on the table and melted as the night went on. I figured I'd leave it for someone else as I had already consumed more than a couple enormous chunks of ice cream cake!

Eventually, Nate and Mr. Lee (no, not that Mr. Lee, Anna's husband Mr. Lee, they just don't take eachother's names here as people are accustomed to in the west) headed out in to the cold night to pick up round two of drinks from a nearby GS. While the boys took off I got in some time on the piano with the little ones, who managed to show me a thing or two as it's been quite some times since I've banged on the keys!

As we made our way through round two and the snacks started to dwindle, everybody began helping in the clean up. In no time the place had returned to the quite, Aunt Terry-like little living room that we were so impressed by upon arrival. Oh, as for the houses lay out, the floor area of the main room isn't much more than mind and is somewhat similar in shape. The 'kitchen' is recessed a bit which gives it a little more room but other than that, not enormous. However, unlike Doota, Anna's place actually has separate living and sleeping quarters. In the largest room, Rachel, her daughter, sleeps with Grandma who comes in during the weekdays. The bathroom is small but nice as the shower is separated from the sink and other fixtures. Just inside the front door Anna and her husband share a bed on the floor that takes up so much of the room that the door does not even open all the way. . . .and that's about it! Though small, it really is an extremely cozy and homey place that I would trade for in a heartbeat over my Doota pad!

When the floors were shined and dishes cleared, we all bundled up to head out in the cold. I found it odd that Anna had accompanied us as her husband had long ago passed out face first in his daughter's bed. I mentioned it to Nate who made it apparent that we weren't being accompanied home but rather to a norebong. . .oh, seriously!?

So, at around two in the morning, with a ten and two year old in tow, we dinner guests, led by Anna, made our way towards the Disney Princess themed norebong just down the block from Doota. After some horrendously sung Beatles, a Tupac song that never gets old, and a Four Non-Blondes finale, we were eventually released from our hostess' grasp and allowed to go home. Though the kids had started to complain slightly by this point, mostly at the loud noises, they showed no real signs of tiring. I guess the whole nightlife thing is embraced at a very, very young age here!

We turned in to Dootavill a little after 3:30am, just enough time to finish packing for the ski trip, settle down for an hour nap, wake up again at 5:00am, call to wake Nate up, grab some water and chips from the GS, catch a cab to Nowon Station and run, yes, literally run after the Good Bus shuttle to Phoenix Park!

Lunar New Year Pt. II - Phoenix Park

Welcome to Phoenix Park Ski Resort!

Despite getting to bed sometime around four in the morning, I managed to drag myself to Nowon Station, Exit 6, where we caught our Good Bus, bound for Phoenix Park, just in the nick of time. Settling into my cozy seat I was jolted forward as the bus lurched on towards it's next destination just as the clock struck 5:40am, our arranged pick up time. They weren't joking!

Within minutes I was sound asleep again and just as pleased as I could be. With my back pack spread out over the seat next to me and my giant (by Korean standards) body flung against the window at a long angle, I figured I'd have a row of seats to myself for the couple hour drive out to Phoenix Park in Gangwando Province, slightly north east of Seoul.

Unfortunately, I awoke only a short time into our journey as our bus came to a halt along what appeared to be the Olympic Highway near Jamsil Station. While I can't verify exactly where we were, I followed the crowds off our bus, grabbed my bag stashed below, and headed towards another, identical looking vehicle. Unfortunately, this time I was greeted by a throng of Koreans rather than a bus of empty seats. It took a while to finally find someone willing to slide over and let me in. It took Nate even longer than me to find someone willing to share their row but eventually we were on our way.

While I again planned on closing my eyes and passing out, I was unable to do so for a number of reasons. First, the guy next to me was clearly not happy about my joining him on the bus as he conceded no more space than was absolutely necessary for me to remain on my seat. To keep myself from slipping out every time we hit a bump I braced myself with my foot by reaching across the narrow aisle and latching it under the adjacent seat.

I had just gotten locked into place when the seat in front of me came crashing back at a blistering speed, stopping only when my knees refused to give any more. When I made the small mistake of sliding my knees away for a moment, the person in front of me took the opportunity to inch back even further. Thus, I firmly wedged my knees up against the seat back for the remainder of the journey, encouraging my busmate not to move any further.

When I tried to compensate for my lack of space by reclining my seat a bit, I was met with fierce resistance from well positioned knees behind me. Apparently, the person to my rear had preempted my attack and wedged a small army of knees behind my seat, disallowing me from encroaching at all.

I eventually got over the stupid kid who was playing some cellphone game with the sound on by putting in my ear phones, with no music however as I needed to save battery for the mountain. Turns out the ipod decided not to work anyways. . .awesome!

Just as I thought I would finally be able to get some rest, I felt a blast of hot air blow up in my face. While at first the heat was refreshing, it quickly turned painful. I stripped down of my outer jacket as the first wave of heat rushed over me. Soon however I was drenched in sweat and had to remove my sweatshirt. This proved not nearly comfortable enough as I soon had to take of my long sleeve t-shirt as well, leaving me with nothing more than a breathable running shirt on. Even so I contemplated taking it off as I had literally begun to seat from everywhere as my sweat was clearly placed above the vent from the bus' boiler room.

Alas, I got no sleep on the bus ride up and only very little rest. The heat was eventually turned off but not after my discarded garments had absorbed most of it from the air.

We arrive at the park a little after nine, hustled out in to a way too bright sun and a bit crisper than expected morning. We grabbed our bags from down low and headed up towards the main building to try and spot a group of foreigners. Why are we here again and who are we meeting?

Well, a couple months ago I got a facebook invitation to go on a ski/snowboard trip from a girl we had met over Halloween in Itaewon. Though we didn't know anybody else invited, it sounded like a fun way to spend our holiday and a good way to meet some other people. So we signed up.

It didn't take long for us to spot a large group of clueless looking foreigners who made up the rest of our party. While most of the people, as we would later learn, come from somewhere south of Seoul, everybody was connected to the group by about as thin of social threads as we were. Which, while slightly awkward at first, made for a rather fun time in the end!

Christine, our 'hostess,' checked in at Phoenix Ville, the park's youth hostel, while we stood around the lobby pretending to meet one another. We were quickly ushered up to one of two rooms and the 'boys' were thrown in in the first that we came to, 307. Though it would be hard to believe it for anybody that visited after Sunday morning, the room was actually quite neat and fresh when we arrived.

Walking in to the room I immediately noticed the view which looked right out on to the mountain. Along each wall were two bunk beds with a sheet and pillow. By sheet of course I mean a weird partly stiff, almost stuffed but not quite, Korean sheet. Not the 300 count Egyptian cotton that I would of course demand anywhere else. . .just kidding.

Plopping down on a bottom bunk, Nate and I got a little more acquainted with our two roommates Kris and Kevin (from Missouri). I fought the urge to lie down and spread out as I knew that going to sleep would put me in a state that I simply would not recover enough from to go skiing that day!

Eventually two of our other roommate, Neil (Canuck) and Justin (Virginia), arrived. During introductions, Kevin suggested the name Beard-o for himself and, well, it stuck for the rest of the weekend. . . long after Beard-o himself had left even! As Neil ran around frantically and Justin crawled in to bed, Nate and I slowly readied ourselves for a day of riding after a long night of being entertained by Anna and Co.

We managed to figure out how to get our lift tickets using our Good Bus coupon which brought our total to, well, zero! I paid 13,000won, half off, for snow board rental and Nate literally got away with nothing! Turns out that 50,000won bus ticket was a darn good deal!

Back inside the main building I tried to slip into a pair of rental boots at our rented locker. No luck, way too big. I later learned that they simply hand all foreigners the same size, the biggest they have, and then work from there. I informed the worker that these were too big and that I needed a size smaller. Well, turns out I guess he thought I meant bigger as he continued to give me a different pair of similar sized boots. . . um, no thanks. I eventually got some that, almost, fit and laced up. Immediately I knew I was in for a rough day as my toes wedged up against the front of the boot while the sides of my foot were left slipping around. . .this would be the first, and last day, that I rented at the resort!

Though we had lost everyone else from our party, we figured they couldn't be too hard to find as the mountain seemed rather open and foreigners aren't hard to spot against the crowd. Just look for the neutral earth tones in a sea of fluorescent prints. No, not like retro 80's neon, but super new school watch me shred this pipe type neon. The problem is that only a very few riders can actually back up their ridiculous outfits on the mountain! No worries, as Meg (Canada) would eventually point out, 'It's more of just a fashion show for them.'

On our first trip up the gondola we joined an eager Korean foursome who were gai-bai-bo-ing (also known as 'rock paper scissors' on our side of the world) to see who would lead on the next run. They made us get in on it and we were happy to have some guides on our first trip down. While the elder man spoke a bit of broken English, it was Min, our new mountainside friend, who helped guide the conversation. Although she has never studied abroad she really did an excellent job with her language and comprehension especially, which, is quite a feat when I have really only my students to compare with. Though, as Kerouac would say, 'comparisons are odious.'

Our New Friend Min!

First Gondola of the Day!

We couldn't have asked for any nicer weather, or a nicer group of people to spend our Sunday morning with. After the first few runs Saturday night was entirely worked off, thanks in part to Min and Friends sharing their Powerade. . .apparently they had a long night too!

Sunday Morning Sunshine

It wasn't long until I lost RPS on the gondola and was forced to chose our next run. I suggested 'Dizzy' as it was the only run name I recalled from the trail map. Min looked somewhat surprised and reminded us that 'in Korean, Dizzy means Death.' This turns out not to be true but was rather her way of telling us that it was a hard run. Now, for Korea, sure, it got kinda steep. . .for a hundred meters or so, but even the one double black run Phoenix boasts doesn't have anything on a steep Blue anywhere in the Rockies.

We made it down Dizzy a couple times before our new friends took off as they had to return to Seoul later that day. We snapped a couple photos, promised to 'facebook' and went our separate ways: Min and Friends towards the city, Nate and I towards Popeyes!

Nate, Min, Green Jacket Girl, Me
(In this picture Min and Friend are showcasing another famous Korean mountainside fashion. . .leaving your coat open at all times. . . not sure why or how they don't freeze but hey, if it's in the name of fashion, why not, right?)

Getting on the Gondola
We made great friends with our favorite lift attendant who just looked too cute in her 'phoenix' hate to pass up a picture with! (See Lars, I told you all the cool people in Korea wear animal hats!)

After a hearty lunch of good ole' fried chicken (which was actually way less than good but substantial enough to get us back out on the mountain) we headed back up to ride the opposite side of the mountain. Here the trails were a bit less steep but certainly less crowded and skied out at the same time which made them enjoyable. On top of the serenity of the mountain's 'left side' we found a short little run under one of the lifts that was essentially untouched.

Heading down the 'other side'

From here you could ride a short ways before launching yourself off a five foot boulder in to some pretty cushy 'powder' mixed in with some not so cushy underbrush. I gave the run a shot first having the rental board to test for rocks. With pretty good results, other than my landing, we both decided to try it again. Though the run itself lasts only seconds and the jump is far from anything impressive, it had to be the most adventurous thing we were able to find on the mountain all weekend. That is, until the ski patrol came after us with their whistles. . .apparently skiing in Korea is about looking good, not having fun!

On our way back over to the Gondola I suddenly saw a huge mass of human being flying down the slopes. As the waygukin came hurtling past I called out 'Neil!?' who responded 'Yep! That's me!' before hurling himself off a short jump and crashing in a flurry of snow! We waited for the rest of their party to catch up and headed down together, happy to have some people to ride with.

For the rest of the day we joined Neil, Meg, Nick, Morgan and Mike (the last two, Quebecois, ended up being our two missing roommates). This group was a blast to ride with and everyone was really good, even Morgan who was still on her first couple days of boarding. Meg decided to show up everyone in the park while Mike wowed me by doing anything and everything he could try on a board despite being a natural born skier!

We finished out the rest of the day in the park as the sky clouded over and eventually began to drop buckets of snow on us! We were so excited to have fresh white coming down that we stayed out until the last lift closed for 4:30 grooming! Though some others considered going back out at night, Nate and I were both too popped to do anything more and returned to the room to wind down.

Meg Giving Lessons on the Box

'I can do that,' says Nate

It's really starting to come down now!

Sunday night the 307 gang decided to head over to the Park's Central Plaza to grab dinner and hop in the hot tubs at Blue Canyon, the resort's water park. We ended up having too much 'fun' at dinner and missed our chance to make it in the water before closing. Oh well, never mind, at least it's good to know that there's one byob restaurant in Korea. . .almost reminded me of the Naw!

We stocked up on supplies for the night, and morning, at the Family Mart just outside our 'Sports Cafe' restaurant before making the trek through the cold back to the room. For the next few hours we bounded from room to room in Phoenix Ville making friends and getting creeped out as we went. At one point, a random girl walked in to our room, suitcase and all. She looked up startled and said simply, 'Oops, wrong room. But hey, can I spend the night?' We all looked around and everybody agreed that'd work, seeing as how Mike and Morgan fit comfortably on one of the bunks (which were not only bigger but substantially more comfortable then my bed at 'home' in Doota). Steele (our new roommates last name) at first tried to break out some poetry to read before being simply overwhelmed by the rest of the room's antics. Eventually everybody made it back to 307 where we had lights out by about four am. . .not a bad evening, though I sure could have used a couple hours more sleep!

Monday morning I got outta bed around 9:30am and started to stretching in order to kinda rouse others from their half slumbers. We eventually got everyone up and downstairs to try and find some breakfast. Turns out we just missed the 10:00am closing time on the breakfast buffet so it was off to the 'Cafeteria,' where only Korean food was served. Surveying our options the majority, and eventually everyone, of us headed upstairs to the Popeyes. Though the food was certainly better than anything I could have gotten in the cafeteria, we did notice that chicken burgers were being made by the dozen and stored in cooling racks to apparently be served later. . .hmmm, not so delicious on second thought!

Monday Morning View from 307

After breakfast we browsed the ski shops for a bit checking out the absurdly awesome apparel selection. I really just don't know how to adequately describe this ski clothing and I'm really sorry I didn't get any better pictures! We eventually went back to the room to change and get ready where Meg and Nick met us at 11:30am to go pick up rentals at a shop down the way. Apparently Meg has a friend of a friend at a place who knows a guy whose sister slept with this one dude once before getting fired from his dads burger joint in Cincinnati and moving to Vancouver as a stopping off point to Korea. . .well, not quite, but something along those lines.

Whatever the connection was, the ten minute walk down the road was totally worth getting hooked up with great (read, comfortable) gear at an amazing price. 10,000won for an all day rental! Not only was the gear better than the Park's but it was cheaper than the half price discount too! Saweeet deal!

Neil, Meg, Nick, Morgan, Mike and I got suited up as Eung (that's how I understood his name, though I can't be sure, I did eventually learn that he can just be called 'Bear' for short) loaded our boards in to the van. The only issue is that the back row of seats had been taken out to may room for gear and now we had not only the six of us but three Koreans who needed a ride back to the park as well. No problem, we assured the driver, as we pilled in on laps. After a couple tries we managed to get all the doors shut and we were on our way the short, thankfully, drive back to the park.

A Happy Driver...

And a Tight Squeeze!

Our Hayanara Rental Shop driver took us right to the ticket booth where we used Mike's SK Phone to get a 27% discount, leaving us a bill of only 39,000won for a day of skiing. Not too much damage. I picked up a ticket for Nate too who we met just outside waiting to get on the Gondola.

Using our knowledge of slope selection from the day before, we RPS'd for honors and headed down the mountain. After only a couple runs we were all drawn away from riding for a few minutes by the small pen of animals we kept noticing out the Gondola's windows.

Hmm, only in Korea do they have a petting zoo at the ski resort!

Lured in by pine branches, Neil unsucessfully tried to pluck one up for a picture! Better luck next time!

Meeting other foreigners made Nate so happy he didn't care what species his new friends were!

After taking some shots with the animals, and drawing quite a crowd of onlookers in the process, we decided to use the beatufiul morning light to capture our super happy riding club!

Riding Happy!
Nick, Neil, Meg, Nate, Adam, Morgan, Mike

And of course, the quintessential, 'look ma, I'm flying' picture. . .great idea Meg!

As there's really not too much to this mountain there isn't a whole lot to report other than we had another fun day of riding! We spent a bit more time in the park than either Nate or I probably would have but ended up having a great time doing it. By the end of the day I was hitting boxes with out question and had finally nailed a 180, including landing. . .though the 360 is still a long ways off!

Thanksfully the weather stayed beautiful all morning!

Finally 3:30pm rolled around and we had only an hour left to ride. Having discussed switching board for skis earlier, Nate and I were encouraged to swap out by our riding partners. Having never before strapped in to a pair of skis I figured it sounded like a good idea. Especially as there was only a little time left in the day and worst came to worst its always entertaining watching somebody learn to board! We quickly switched up boots before getting on the Gondola and strapping in.

My first time. . .in ski boots!

On the way up, Mike, Morgan and Nate all chimed in with their personal advice for a first time skiers. Here's what I remember. . .Keep your shoulders facing down hill. Always keep your weight forward. Initiate a turn with your pole (and here I thought they were just decoration). Don't lean back, or you're done for. Never let your skis cross. Keep your poles in front of you, don't let them drag. When in doubt, resort to the wedge.

Well, I managed to keep most of that in mind, except for the wedge part. Every time I try I end up crossing and falling so I've resorted to other means of slowing down, some conventional, some not. Anyways, despite being led down one of the mountains three black trails to begin, I feel like I kinda got the hang of it! At first it was pretty rough trying to figure out how to turn as the grade of our initial run didn't make starting and stopping all that simply. But, as the hill evened out I fell in to a back and forth rhythm that felt a lot more comfortable, but not quite as natural, as snowboarding.

What I really enjoyed most about skiing is how relaxing it is. I fell like when I'm on a board I'm always fighting something, whether its to stay upright, stay on edge, make sure that I'm balanced or whatnot. On skis though there's a lot more time to just kinda relax, which sure felt good at the end of the day.

As for Nate, well I don't think he had it quite as easy. If you've ever tried snowboarding you know how rough the first day, and especially the first run is. As Nate noted, you go down about fifty percent of the hill on your butt. This is usually the breaking point where most people try it once and never return to it again. . .Jay, my brother, and Justin, our other roommate, as two examples!

Though he eventually got the hang of it, kinda, the kinder slopes aren't necessarily kinder to a boarder. As even an experienced boarder knows, your likely to fall, without warning and without reason at almost any moment, no matter how fast or slow, steep or shallow. Nate got to learn this the fun way! As we retired for the day, he empathized with me nothing that he now understands why my goggles are always wet and fogging. . .because on a board, you spent a good part of your day lying face first in a snow bank somewhere!

Almost up!

What a mean heelside turn!

Now I know why you have poles. . .to rest on!

Starting to get the hand of it. . .kinda!

Turning in Monday evening I made the hike back out the Hayanara to drop off my board as I realized I didn't mention anything about wanting it for two days. In fact, I didn't really mention anything as I simply showed up with Meg and the group. We didn't even have to pay until later that day when I dropped it off. . .what a great place! To top it off, they even drove me home once I had changed out of my boots. . .and I thought transportation was only for when you had equipment!

Monday night was a blast as Nate, Meg, Neil and I retired to the Blue Canyon Water Park for a couple hours followed by a BBQ dinner and bowling. The water park was a hilarious experience that I simply cannot describe in words and regret not taking a picture of!

For 13,000won, half price for foreigners, we are let in through a turnstile where you are asked to remove your shoes and store them in a locker. From here you head downstairs into the Korean Sauna where men of all ages are walking around naked, talking to each other, combing their hair, stretching, doing what not. . .I changed, quickly, and headed out towards the pool area where I was quickly ushered back in to the locker room by a sneaky spy who saw me evade the 'please shower first room.' I honestly intended to, but couldn't find an unoccupied stall at the time. . .and by stall I mean shower head in front of a long mirror in front of which dozens of other naked men are taking their sweet time washing every ole' nook and cranny. . .mmmmm

The park itself is hilarious. Half indoors and half out, there are three main swimming areas. One is a wave pool that never goes beyond 1.3 meters deep. Even so, you are required to, wear a life jacket if you want to enter which must be purchased for a 5,000won rental fee. Um, yes, even if your head is well above water as you stand in the deep end. . .so, we skipped it.

The second pool is the equivalent of a massage parlor. Jet placed in all sort of combination with all kinds of seating line every inch of this oddly shaped pool. Some shoot straight out of the ground which, without a bathing suit, would certainly induce an enigma, while others come from chair shaped nooks that one can relax in and enjoy a full body water massage.

The last pool is a lazy river type that pushes it's waders around in a circle with a gentle current. Just for kicks, half the pool is outside. . .woo hoo! Though it's not quite warm enough to hang out in very long.

We eventually made it outside to the hot tubs (37.9 C), one of which was infused with pomegranate, making the water a deep blood red color. Of course, we wouldn't dare leave without riding the water slide a couple of times! While not quite as steep or thrilling as the one at Atlantis, this slide certainly ranks up there on the surprise factor. . .want to know why? Guess you'll just have to go to Phoenix Park for yourself!

After swimming we met up with Justin to eat a less than satisfying BBQ deal that was made worse by the fact that we had to sit on the floor after finally getting relaxed in the pool. From there we headed back into Central Plaza for a night of 6-16 bowling. What is that you might ask? Well it's a new form of skilled bowling where you are only allowed to shoot either the 6lb or 16lb ball. . .quite interesting I must say. While Justin stood out as the clear winner of both games, no shot came close to matching the spare Nate almost pulled by throwing a gutter ball that launched itself back on to the lane to pick up one of two remaining pins.

After getting a bit to silly for our bowling neighbors we headed back to 307 where the night continued. At this point, all attention was turned on Nate's hanging big toe nail that had caused him a load of trouble in the water park. This was the direct result of skiing last time with Joseph and had now, after two days of skiing, reemerged as an issue.

Debating for hours about what to do with the toe, the general consensus in the room was to rip it off, while Nate insisted on retaining it, for who knows what reasons! After failing to slyly attempt to get others in on a big 'rip off' scheme, Meg decided to take the job in to her own hands. Hurling herself off her bed, she landed on Nate, pinning his leg to the ground. Then, in one cat like motion, she reached down, grabbed the toenail, yanked and held it victoriously above her head. . .all before he could even squeal!

The room erupted with applause and Nate could only look on in shock. . .photo evidence of the event is below . . .I'll spare you the closeup. . .

Meg is Victorious!
(P.S. Nate now has the toenail in a bag, if you ask politely, he just might show you!)

We eventually made it to bed but not before five in the morning. . .uggh, another unintentionally late night! Oh well, nothing I could do but set my alarm and hop out bed again at 10:00am to start my 'morning tae chi' routine, as I referred to it. This time however I was unable to rouse everyone and only Meg and I made the hike to the rental shop. We returned to meet Nate and Joseph who were, almost, ready to ride.

Oh yeah, Joseph had called me Monday evening and asked if I wanted to ski Monday night. I told him I was certainly done for the day but he was welcome to come spend the night as we had open beds (Mike and Morgan took off Monday evening after riding). He agreed and showed up in record time for Joseph. This was of course because he wanted to try out his brand new, just purchased 'new-school' Armada skis that he insisted on buying after seeing Nate's 'twin tips. Of course, new skis weren't quite enough as Joseph also picked up a flashy new Armada outer coat to match. . .and as for the yellow and purple bindings, well, these are just too cool!

Tuesday Morning Mountain

Pounding down a Powerade and Issac Toast sandwich, I was ready to go. So while Joseph and Nate grabbed lift tickets, Meg and I headed up to get a few early morning warm ups in. The rest of the day was pretty much peaceful as Meg eventually left us to goof around in the park. We lost Joseph for a while who insisted on riding the beginner hills (on his new $600 skis). By mid afternoon though we had relocated him and managed to coax him down some more advanced runs.

Again, with an hour to go, Nate and I made the great switch. We tried to do the same run as the day before which felt infinitely times easier for me. The only time I went down was trying to hit a little jump after which I simply lost total control. Unfortunately for Nate, the second day snowboarding isn't much different from the first if you've never tried it before. He slid down about half the mountain on his but and put in the equivalent of fifty forearm push ups just righting himself up again! As a result, we called it a day after one run.

Back on solid ground we changed up and loaded up Joseph's car. Just before leaving we were lucky enough to catch sight of our 'hostess,' Christine, who we had almost entirely missed this weekend. We said thank you and good bye to hear while signing off with Neil and Justin as well.

I can't tell you how long it took us to get back in Joseph's car but as I've mentioned before, going anywhere with him is a chore. We did eventually get in the car and get going, but only after a bit of proding. Dropping of my board we settled in to a bulgogi dinner that hit the spot left vacant by three days of Popeyes.

Back on the road again I immediately conked out in the back seat, only to wake up some time later in a dark parking lot with the driver and passenger asleep. Fine enough with me I figured and closed my eyes again. Later I learned from Nate that twenty minutes in to the drive Joseph decided to pull over for a twenty minute nap that turned in to an hour. I mean, better to rest than drive sleepy but come on, we were only 150 or so km from home and the back-to-the-city New Years traffic wasn't getting any lighter!

I stayed out just about the whole way to Seoul, waking up again as Joseph starting swearing having missed a camera speed checkpoint. . .which, are not at all evasive but actually show up dinging on the GPS. Not sure how you miss that but, I guess it's possible!

Back home I dumped out my dirties and immediately crashed.

It was a fantastic weekend get away that was full of fun, friends and adventure. With a very limited crowd in Junggye it was exciting to have a couple days contact with other foreigners who don't make weird faces and comments when you walk by (as some do around here). Not sure when my next adventure outing will be but I certainly look forward to it!

As for next weeks schedule returning to teaching in the evening. . .well that, I am not looking forward to!

Saehae bok mani baduseyo, or, Happy New Years!

Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that this entire ski resort is sponsored by FUBU! Go figure!?

Inwangsan

Not a whole lot to say here as the pictures hold more knowledge of my surroundings then I do. . .but, anyways. . . .

Friday night in Hongdae (I know, it's getting repetitive, just after kicking my Itaewon fix I find myself being drawn into another nighttime comfort zone, I promise to branch out more in the near future) led to a rather late start Sunday morning. . .or, afternoon. After a quick, late, lunch, Nate and I decided we'd try to head back towards Inwangsan for the Shamanist Hillside Walk suggested by LP's Seoul City Guide.

If you remember, as I would expect you to, we tried to do this walk once before a few weeks ago but, due to a late arrival at Dongnimmun Station, decided to just stick to the Prison Museum instead. This time however we double checked the directions from the station to the hillside walk so we wouldn't once again get distracted. Taking the first left out of exit two, we made our way through a narrow ally towards what couldn't possibly be a shamanist mountain.

After about ten minutes of walking gradually up hill, we decided that our current path simply led us towards the parking lot of a housing complex, which, a few weeks ago, we learned there is often only one entrance/exit to, meaning you're not gonna find a short cut through the 'back way.' Just before turning around and heading back, as the sun was already just a few slivers off the western peaks, I caught sight of a small brown sign pointing us in the right direction.

While the sign told us that we were a mere 300 meters away, it spoke nothing of the road's grade which we had yet to climb. What looked like a remarkably, and incredibly steep road, turned out to be just that. We slowly ambled up what I learned (after checking out some other blogs on the intraweb) is a relatively new road (circa late 2006). How people made it to the base of this place before I couldn't possibly guess but it probably wasn't too nice!

Anyways, the road finally leveled out as a ornate gate, presumably the entrance to the mountain, came in to view. Now, I'll likely use the terms mountain and hill interchangably throughout as I believe Inwangsan is referred to as both. Standing at 338 meters I'll let you judge for yourself. I don't want to get in to the debate as I've heard Charles and Trevor go over this a number of times without anything ever coming of it. . .

'Front Gate'

At the bottom of the hill leading up through the gate we paused to consider whether or not we should push on. It sure looked interesting but as I said, the sun was creeping dangerously low and the top didn't seem invitingly near. Well, having already hiked up the recently paved path, which I'm sure they did for us lowly English teachers, we decided to press on. Unfortunately, as I teased the thought of turning back and returning another day, I skipped photographing the signs and explanations I'm usually good about posting. Sorry! Go get your cultural knowledge from someone else. As for me, I just enjoyed the experience!

Enter. . .if you dare

Hunched over pushing up the hill we were passed twice by cars. One small SUV struggling to make it up the steep grade, it's driver evidently laying all the way down on the gas as the engine screamed in pain. Another small car gripped as tightly as it could to road making it's way back down as slowly as gravity would allow it to.

100 meters or so up from the front gate we again leveled out, for about the last time, in a small parking lot. We followed a winding stairway up through what almost appeared to be a small hillside village. While a number of the structures were clearly temples others seemed to be residences, though much more traditional looking than the majority of 'homes' in Seoul.

After passing an elderly foreign couple headed down hill we were left essentially alone on the winding path. Eventually, the 'village' gave way to forest and the sounds of barking dogs faded into the background.

Moving on up

Our silence didn't last long as we were soon greeted by the distant sound of a small gong. As the ringing grew louder, so to did the sound of a woman chanting. We passed a number of small shrines, demarcated by half melted candles and a soft pad on which to pray, before coming to an occupied one. During this portion of our hike I refrained from taking pictures as LP suggested we do at a religious sight. To be honest, it's kind of nice not worrying about trying to capture everything and rather simply enjoying it for your self. . .possibly a bit selfish, but nice!

Press On

We stopped for a few moments captivated by the woman's prayers that were seemingly repetitive and ongoing. . .it was hard to imagine her either starting, or stopping, this ritual. Continuing upwards we came to a flat rock face which looked like it could played host to a number of spiritual individuals, though probably on warmer days! With a vertical face directly ahead of us we decided to try the left path first. While it led to a great look out over Jongno (the primary 'downtown' area where City Hall is located) and Namsan Hill, it didn't take us much further up Inwangsan.

Look Out Below

By this point I was really regretting not snapping a photo of the hillside map at the base. I remembered reading that the majority of the large rocks seen on the hike were named according to what they 'looked' like. While these labels I'm sure are a bit ambiguous, it would have been nice to match a name to rock. . .'ahhh, so that one's Face Rock and the other one was Zen Rock'

Oh well. . .the two shots below are of the same rock from slightly different views. I wish the pictures were a bit more vivid but I unfortunately realized part way through the hike that I was for some reason on a 'neutral' color setting. . .oops, at least those greys and light brows sure looked good! Sorry!

'Something' Rock

'Something' Rock again through 'Snowy Trees'

Running in to a long barbed wire fence we decided that 'left' was not the way to go from the last plateau. So, we headed back down to try right. Just as we were headed up the 'right' path, we learned that we were in fact, not.

A small man darted out of a tent set up on the hillside ushering us down and away from wherever we were headed. While we weren't sure that his authority was official, we decided to respect him for the sheer fact that he set up shop in a 'tent' half way up a hill above down town Seoul. This tent, to clarify, is really just a lot of large pieces of plastic kind of draped together and strung from trees. I'm not really sure what exactly you'd call it or, to be honest, what exactly it's for. What I can surmise is that foreigners ain't to welcome unless, possibly, they're showing darn good signs of being a practicing Buddhist!

We headed down as we were ordered to and briefly stopped to examine crossing what looked like a short land bridge across a small creek. Peaking around we decided it would be safe just as the man reappeared and waved us onwards. Well, that felt better at least. It's good to know he wasn't kicking us off the mountain, just pointing us in another direction!

We passed a few more people, primarily women, in the midst of prayer. While the mountain and it's surrounding temples have a rich religious history that I haven't even begun to explore, I have come across a number of sources indicating that most of the hillside praying is in hopes of encouraging a son to be born. . .interesting, and, a better way to do it then just keep your fingers crossed I guess!

Passing the last of the worshipers we came to another branch of the fortress wall. This is now our third (I believe) encounter with this wall that runs all along the northern and southern border of Seoul, protecting it from ancient, and modern, invaders. Apparently this wall needed a bit more rebuilding than the one at Namhansansan, but, even so, it's still an impressive and somewhat inspiring sight.

Seoul Fortress Wall

Figuring we had come this far without quiting we decided to push upwards along the wall towards the top. It wasn't long before we came across a sign pointing us in the right direction that only encouraged our 'summit.' At this point we had begun to move with some sense of urgency as the sun continued its ever quickening descent. Actually, to be honest, we paid little attention to the setting of the sun as from our perspective it stayed even, if not rose, over the horizon as we continued to gain altitude.

Eventually the tree lined path cleared out to once again reveal spectacular city views. It's a shame that the snow didn't quite clear the air out like a good rain would have or else I'd certainly have grabbed a number of more urban snapshots. . .you'll have to settle with what I could see through the smoggy haze!

Looking around we noticed an enclosed encampment just off to our side. The presence of men in fatigues yielding enormous machine guns confirmed our suspicion that it was an army post. That and the barrel of a gun that resembled the top turret of a tank yanked off and set in to concrete! Without looking too suspicious, as one of the guards clearly had his sights on us through a pair of binoculars, I managed to grab a picture of the post while pretending to do a 360 video. . .not that it really mattered what I pretended to do or not but it made me feel both better about grabbing the picture, and, slightly risque. . . oooo, living on the edge here!

Actually, I just read on someone else's blog from 2004 that there were once apparently a number of 'Do Not Photograph' signs that warned against doing so with the threat of being shot. . .oops! Good thing I'm not living in the past! Enjoy the picture, it may cost me my life! (You'll have to blow it up to see what I'm talking about but it should be pretty visible.)

Posting Up

Looking back out down the wall we just climbed along.

From the great view of the Post and the Wall it was only a short climb up a rung of stairs to get to the peak of Inwangsan. While 'summiting' hardly yielded the sense of pride and accomplishment that mounting the flag at Bulamsan does, it still feels great to grab a full 360 view of a city that otherwise looms over you at all times!

There goes the sun!

In awe at the vastness of it all. . .can you find Nate?

Look Ma, We Did It!

From the top of Inwangsan

Perched on the boulder marking the top of Inwangan we were able to see not only across the city to Namsan but down on some pretty interesting sights as well. Just below the mountain we could see in to the compound surrounding the Blue House: Korea's equivalent of our White House (maybe something to do with the military post?). We were also able to grab an aerial view of Gyeongbokgung Palace which is truly massive in scope. The grounds span what must be dozens of city blocks, all nestled right in with an ever expanding urban skyline! I just wish it was a bit clearer out so we could've gotten a better view. . .oh well, this is certainly a hike I'd enjoy doing again, especially if any visitors ever make it this way!

We didn't hang around at the peak very long though, again for fear of being left in the dark!

Only inches from sunset and we're still up top. . .hmmm

Now I'm not a boy scout, though I think I might have been once upon a time, I'm pretty sure that if you don't have any sort of equipment, namely lights, you're not really supposed to hang around moutansides at night. So, we decided to start heading down. The only issue was that we had a choice. Our first option was to return the way we came, which would certainly not be difficult, but would offer nothing new. While our second option seemed much more appealing, it wasn't exactly the easy way down, as we had to first descend aways, climb back up, then head down the back of the mountain pictured below. . . I'll let you guess which way we chose.

Option Number Two

Yeah, we went for it. Mostly because the presence of a man halfway down the path in the picture below (bet you didn't see him the first time) made us feel more comfortable about heading that direction. . .or, it did for me at least! This second climb wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed and we made it to the second peak in no time. From here though we really did start to head down as quickly as we could. . .following the wall along the path you see below.

Going down, Second attempt

Into the setting sun

Shortly after starting our second descent we came to a fork in the road that offered us yet another option to climb upwards again towards the top of the peak you can see below. While we both would have loved to, the lighting issue simply made it slightly irresponsible to do so. . .alas, I will have to return to truly conquer all of Inwangsan!

A yet conquered peak. . .

Down the backside we eventually crossed over the wall, I'm not entirely sure how, to wander through a snow covered path. Though we clearly had the option of staying on the stone stairs we managed to pick the darker, snow covered trail instead. While slippery at times we managed to make it down safely. The only time I thought we might not was when we were forced to climb down an icy stairway that was badly tilted on it's side. . .luckily, tilted towards the side without a guard rail. . .whoa, that was interesting!

The Darkside of the Wall

Snow Shoes Anyone?

We eventually found our way down and once again crossed the wall to the paved side. From here we looked out towards an almost, dare I say, beautiful neighborhood. The houses were not only real houses but were enormous, and not just by Korean standards! Sure they looked as though they were kind of dropped aimlessly in place with out much consideration for the eventual 'suburb' that arose, but hey, it has a lot more character than any gated community I've ever seen!

Following the path we passed another few smaller army posts, all but one of which was unmanned. The final one, which seemed to house nothing more than a small desk and landline phone, was protected by an enormous 'camouflage' wall painted in bright sky blue. Set against the offensively bright background were a few stenciled trees that looked like they belonged on the side of a kids summer camp, not hiding a military installation. . .but hey, who knows who they're hiding from, if it's people, I can't imagine it working, but there's a good chance that a bird might buy it. . .a dodo would at least.

We were eventually spit out from the mountain though a small iron gate that led directly in to the middle of a road. Good thing it wasn't busy! We crossed the street to what seemed like a path on the other side. There stood a policeman huddled in a mass of coat (is that the derivation of the word massive) who directed us towards our left as I asked him which way we should go. I wasn't quite sure what he told us to see but he said something was that way. . .so we went.

Not far down the road did we find another enlightening sign pointing us in the right direction. With a few different options we decided to follow the one pointing towards the 'Rock that fell off the mountain.' Hmm, sounds interesting.

At this point I'm expecting to encounter some sort of massive boulder that rolled down a cliff leaving a gnarly gash in the mountain side and coming to rest only inches from the nursery of a blind orphanage. Not quite. Instead, we happened upon a sort of public sculpture that looked like an Epcot installation gone wrong. The sign explaining this mass of iron rock was only Korean so we were left wondering as to it's origin or intent. . . well, not for long.

Nate and the Memory Rock

After grabbing a quick snapshot for the record books, we approached this fallen rock close enough to learn that it was in fact the Memory Rock that we had heard so much about! Okay, so that's a terrible lie, we've never heard of the Memory Rock, but to be honest, after seeing it, I felt like I should have! Why had LP not enlightened me about this before! Pick up the slack guys!

Making the Memory Rock happy

As commanded by the Memory Rock, we searched around until finding a pair of stones that we placed on the ledge. We figured that you are supposed to bring a rock down from the mountain to make the Memory Rock super happy but unfortunately, there were no signs at the top informing us of this. . .so we had to make due.

Our assumptions were confirmed as two gentlemen soon came to pay their respects to the Rock. One politely placed his stone on a ledge as we had done while the other took a mean granny shot launching his rock into the middle of the structure, open at top apparently, where it landed with quite a clamor. Not sure if this is somehow better luck but it seems like the thing to do next time I come!

A little ways down the path we came across the Photo Spot that you'll see below. Now this is something that I can offer no explanation for and will not even attempt to assume anything. I would assume it's a marketing gimmick but am yet totally uncertain of even this as it was literally placed in the middle of nowhere along a lone path through this deserted park. . .anyways, not one to pass up an opportunity. . .

Posing

We wandered down through this empty park for a bit before a narrow twisting stairway dumped us out at the top of an hilly driveway. Making our way down the drive we realized we were in a rather upscale neighborhood of gated condos with names like Tuscany II. . .silly and ostentatious, yes, absurdly luxurious, yes, warm and friendly, not in the least! High gates, security cameras and stone walls blocked any street dwellers from even peaking into these compounds. . .oh well, I'm growing more at home in Dootavill each day. . .I continue to shake up life a bit too by switching between the couch and my loft. . .adventurous, I know!

Breaking free from the prison like neighborhood we came out to an intersection that looked extremely familiar, but, I believe, turned out not to be. We took a left up the street and had to ask permission to pass from a series of policemen who were setting up on the sidewalk, two abreast, shields facing outwards and enormous billy clubs in hand. We have seen this set up before on the street and still have not yet figured out why it happens. There are literally hundreds of cops posting up like this for no apparently reasons in otherwise deserted areas.

Well, a little ways down the street we learned a possible reason. We eventually wound up in front of the Blue House, Cheong Wa Dae, where South Korea's president resides. Though an impressive structure clearly stood beyond the large stone wall, the lack of lighting, exterior or interior, made it a rather disappointing find. No worries, we'll swing by in the day sometime!

At least we got a picture of the Christmas lights remaining outside the Blue House!

From Cheong Wa Dae we continued to wander towards the center of town, hoping to find something to eat. We made a quick pit stop at a convenience store to rehydrate before moving onwards towards Myeong-dong. Now this is a bit confusing as there are two somewhat distinct, but very close, areas that we have been referring to both as Myeong-dong. While the first one that we ventured upon is the primary area in question, we're certain that the later 'zone' is in fact the high paced commercial district made famous by, well, I dunno, for being crowded!

"Now this is what I mean by Asia. Neon light, tons of people. Yeah!"

We did a bit of window shopping before being over taken by hunger. Even the short trip through Insadong where we grabbed a chicken-on-a-stick didn't do much to satisfy. Though we managed to pull ourselves away from the temptation of Subway, we didn't end up finding anything incredibly interesting to eat. Rather we landed at a chain restaurant, Nubo (I think that's right), where Nate and I go for our acclaimed steamed kimchi. Oh well, at least we tried something new that turned out to be a big boiling cauldron of noodles, rice cakes, meet, noodles and plenty of un-identifiables.

After scarfing down dinner it took every last ounce of strength we had to get back to the subway only a quarter mile away. By this point we had down at least five hours of non-stop walking, not easy on the legs or back! I caught a few z's on the subway home and was in bed not soon after making it in to Dootavill.

I can't imagine I'll have much to tell until after this weekend's ski trip. . .which we're still really kind in the dark about. . .so, if you don't hear from me until next week, don't worry. . . I might already be on my way to New Orleans. . .just kidding. . .kinda!

Myeongdong's Finest
Nike Shocks don't have anything on these!