I have been exceedingly slack with my blog so I have decided that it is time to catch up and since I am desk-warming this week I think it is the perfect time to do it!
On the 5th of December I had my first experience snowboarding! We go up around 5am and got ready, heading out into the morning before it had even started to get light, trying not to slip on the icy ground while carrying all the snowboarding gear. We went to Suwon first, where we were to catch the ski resor
t bus to Jisan, and grabbed a bite to e
at along the way – we knew we would be spending at least a few hours n the bus. We got to the ski field and hustled to get ready… everyone I was with had season passes and their own snowboards so I was the only one who needed to get a day pass and hire boot and a board. As soon as we were ready we jumped on a chair lift and headed up the bunny slope (still looked fairly huge to me at this point…). I haven’t been skiing in 10 years, and I have never been snowboarding, so sheer terror is probably the best way to describe what I was feeling when we hit the top of the first slope. I had assistance attaching the boots to the board, which was also a scary, having your feet strapped to something and unable to move is unnerving at first – I’m guessing it just takes some time to get used to. Then I tried to stand up. Then I tried to stand up again…and again… and realized I was going to be spending a substantial portion of my day sitting on the snow and probably head home with some spectacular bruising! The first run was a nightmare, I was a quivering mess by the time I eventually got to the bottom, I seriously considered taking the board off and walking down but my pride wouldn’t allow me to give up that easily. My stomach and arm muscles were killing me from trying to hoist myself upright while still leaning backwards so I didn’t go flying down the slope accidentally, I was trying really hard not to cry from sheer frustration at the fact that I couldn’t seem to pick it up in the first 5 minutes, for those of you who know me well you would know that I assume there is something very wrong with me if I can’t master a new skill in 30 seconds (which I am well aware is ridiculous!). I had also become incredibly grumpy and was unbelievably relieved when my companions suggested lunch. After lunch I sent them off on a run and relaxed after giving myself a stern talking to, they were back fairly quickly and I decided to give it another go, after all my pride wouldn’t let me stop after just one run…and my snowboarding pants are so cute they really needed to be worn!
We went for a steeper slope this time around…which I thought was a really bad idea given how much trouble I had on the bunny slope but my companions insisted that it was easier to stand up on a steep slope…so I pulled myself together and climbed onto the chairlift. It was great! It was so much easier to stand up and I felt like I was starting to figure it out, the balance thing was getting easier, and I wasn’t falling as often! I made it down a couple of runs with only 1 or two falls – the one time I was certain I was going to make it without falling I was taken
out by a girl who apologized about 15 times in English. By the end of the day I was incredibly sore and tired but feeling very satisfied that I had given it a real go and I wasn’t a complete waste of space on the snow! As soon as we got back we headed to the “all you can eat” Galbi place and ate till we were like balloons trying to get through the door on the way out, went home and fell asleep within about 10 minutes!
The following weekend was girl’s night out! We all got dressed up and headed into Hongdae… by way of Suwon where we met a few other girls and had a cocktail or two. We didn’t end up reaching Hongdae until about 12:30 / 1am – which is not necessarily a bad thing because you know when you go out in Hongdae that you have to be out till the trains start running the next morning around 6:30 am… so if you get there too early it can be a very long night! We settled on a place that I had been to once before because everyone knew it, it has three levels, and they play music on the different levels that appeals to everyone. We started out on the middle level – where it’s the most bizarre mix of top 40 type music and a bit of ABBA and the Beegee’s thrown in and some dance, and some rock, and then some “build me up buttercup”…lol. It costs roughly $3.50 for a vodka and orange o
ver here…which is great…and they are not shy about pouring the vodka – which makes for an interesting night if you’re not careful! We danced the night away, dodging the unwanted attention of some amorous Koreans and some crazy drunken American Army dudes, and sticking to the back corner of the club where we had space. We made it through till about 5am and then decided our feet couldn’t take anymore punishment and headed off to fins somewhere for breakfast. The awesome thing about Hongdae is that pretty much everything is open 24 hours – so we had a feast of deep fried seafood etc and made it through till 6:30 when we headed for the train station wondering if our feet were actually going to be able to go the distance. The train to Hongdae seems to take about an hour and a bit but on the way home in the mor
ning the trains run less frequently and it always ends up taking around 2 hours – which is a killer at that time of day after a massive night out. But we made it!
Round the 21st of December, on a Tuesday night if my memory serves me, I met up with a bunch of the Osan crew (foreign teachers in Osan) and we went ice-skating in the park out the front of city hall. It cost about 80 cents to go skating and that included hiring the skates! It was so much fun, there is something really special about skating outside at night, we went round and round in circles, using the time to catch up on what every
one had been doing. When we decided we had finally had enough Rosie and Alex and I headed to Roti-mum (if you have been reading my blogs then you should be well aware of the passion I have developed for Roti!) and sat down to enjoy some great coffee and a Roti bun – which the girls hadn’t had before. I talked them up a lot before we got there but I get the feeling the girls weren’t disappointed!
Next major event was Christmas…a big bunch of us had booked some accommodation at Phoenix ski resort so early Christmas morning we all got up bright and early and jumped on a bus (where the majority of us went back to sleep). The bus took around 3 hours to get to the resort and we trekked up to the accommodation to put our things away before heading down to the ski fields. I have never been so cold in my life! The temperature was between minus 15 degrees and minus 20 degrees (celcius) but the wind was really strong and bitingly cold. I only ended up doing 1 run, which I know is a bit pathetic, but I was so cold I couldn’t feel my fee
t and fingers and I decided that being there was about having fun – and outside in that weather with the wind whipping the snow into my face I really wasn’t having that much fun! By about 10pm all the girls were back at the accommodation while the boys were still out braving the weather. The room had the most incredible view of the ski fields, we were on the 7th floor and we could see everything from there. There wasn’t a bed in the place, they provided these thick mattress things that we rolled out onto the floor, the floor of course was lovely and warm so it was rather pleasant! Felt a lot like we were on school camp or having a sleep over at someone’s house. It was fun spending Christmas with friends – but it didn’t really feel like Christmas… in Korea it is kind of treated more as a couple’s holiday and the decorations and carols etc are very limited. It was still Christmas…but without a roast etc…think I might just have to do another Christmas when mum gets here in Feb! The other down-side was having to go back to work on Monday even though Christmas was only Saturday… felt like a normal weekend!
Final major event of December was New Years Eve… I finished work and headed home to get ready then Alex and I hea
ded into Osan for a quick dinner before heading into Hongdae to meet up with another bunch of people. We started at an intimate little club where we had a few drinks and waited for the countdown (we got there at about 11:30 so we didn’t have to wait long) and then we headed to the same club we had been to on the girls night out – turns out everyone seems to love that club! Because it was new years they had a special on where you pay entry to the one club and you can get into three different clubs with the wristband they give you – and a free drink – so entry ends up costing about $3…lol. A night out here really is relatively cheap… or maybe its more that I don’t need to drink a lot to have a really good time! We danced for hours, and hours…but in the end Alex and I decided we couldn’t take anymore so we lef
t and got a Turkish kebab on the way to the DVD bang – or private DVD room… Those things are a great idea! It’s a little room with a massive leather couch type thing, you could probably fit 4 people on it, and you select the movie you want and the guy at the front puts it on the massive flat screen there is in each room. Alex and I were being clever so we chose the movie Titanic which we had both seen a million times, we knew we wouldn’t want to stay awake to see it, and it was the longest movie we could think of which meant more sleeping time! We slept for a few hours and
when we woke up (with hang over’s) we jumped straight on the train and began the two hour journey home…I have never been so grateful to see my bed! Some nights just feel harder than others…I think it will be much easier to spend the nights out when the summer arrives and you are not freezing all the time. Not to mention that high heels on ice are difficult!
Well I think that pretty much covers the main events in December…though I am sure there is plenty that I have missed out and if I updated this more often it wouldn’t be so hard to write about / remember the events! Must remember that! Anyway time to get January’s entry started…
at along the way – we knew we would be spending at least a few hours n the bus. We got to the ski field and hustled to get ready… everyone I was with had season passes and their own snowboards so I was the only one who needed to get a day pass and hire boot and a board. As soon as we were ready we jumped on a chair lift and headed up the bunny slope (still looked fairly huge to me at this point…). I haven’t been skiing in 10 years, and I have never been snowboarding, so sheer terror is probably the best way to describe what I was feeling when we hit the top of the first slope. I had assistance attaching the boots to the board, which was also a scary, having your feet strapped to something and unable to move is unnerving at first – I’m guessing it just takes some time to get used to. Then I tried to stand up. Then I tried to stand up again…and again… and realized I was going to be spending a substantial portion of my day sitting on the snow and probably head home with some spectacular bruising! The first run was a nightmare, I was a quivering mess by the time I eventually got to the bottom, I seriously considered taking the board off and walking down but my pride wouldn’t allow me to give up that easily. My stomach and arm muscles were killing me from trying to hoist myself upright while still leaning backwards so I didn’t go flying down the slope accidentally, I was trying really hard not to cry from sheer frustration at the fact that I couldn’t seem to pick it up in the first 5 minutes, for those of you who know me well you would know that I assume there is something very wrong with me if I can’t master a new skill in 30 seconds (which I am well aware is ridiculous!). I had also become incredibly grumpy and was unbelievably relieved when my companions suggested lunch. After lunch I sent them off on a run and relaxed after giving myself a stern talking to, they were back fairly quickly and I decided to give it another go, after all my pride wouldn’t let me stop after just one run…and my snowboarding pants are so cute they really needed to be worn!
We went for a steeper slope this time around…which I thought was a really bad idea given how much trouble I had on the bunny slope but my companions insisted that it was easier to stand up on a steep slope…so I pulled myself together and climbed onto the chairlift. It was great! It was so much easier to stand up and I felt like I was starting to figure it out, the balance thing was getting easier, and I wasn’t falling as often! I made it down a couple of runs with only 1 or two falls – the one time I was certain I was going to make it without falling I was taken
out by a girl who apologized about 15 times in English. By the end of the day I was incredibly sore and tired but feeling very satisfied that I had given it a real go and I wasn’t a complete waste of space on the snow! As soon as we got back we headed to the “all you can eat” Galbi place and ate till we were like balloons trying to get through the door on the way out, went home and fell asleep within about 10 minutes!
The following weekend was girl’s night out! We all got dressed up and headed into Hongdae… by way of Suwon where we met a few other girls and had a cocktail or two. We didn’t end up reaching Hongdae until about 12:30 / 1am – which is not necessarily a bad thing because you know when you go out in Hongdae that you have to be out till the trains start running the next morning around 6:30 am… so if you get there too early it can be a very long night! We settled on a place that I had been to once before because everyone knew it, it has three levels, and they play music on the different levels that appeals to everyone. We started out on the middle level – where it’s the most bizarre mix of top 40 type music and a bit of ABBA and the Beegee’s thrown in and some dance, and some rock, and then some “build me up buttercup”…lol. It costs roughly $3.50 for a vodka and orange o
ver here…which is great…and they are not shy about pouring the vodka – which makes for an interesting night if you’re not careful! We danced the night away, dodging the unwanted attention of some amorous Koreans and some crazy drunken American Army dudes, and sticking to the back corner of the club where we had space. We made it through till about 5am and then decided our feet couldn’t take anymore punishment and headed off to fins somewhere for breakfast. The awesome thing about Hongdae is that pretty much everything is open 24 hours – so we had a feast of deep fried seafood etc and made it through till 6:30 when we headed for the train station wondering if our feet were actually going to be able to go the distance. The train to Hongdae seems to take about an hour and a bit but on the way home in the mor
ning the trains run less frequently and it always ends up taking around 2 hours – which is a killer at that time of day after a massive night out. But we made it!
Round the 21st of December, on a Tuesday night if my memory serves me, I met up with a bunch of the Osan crew (foreign teachers in Osan) and we went ice-skating in the park out the front of city hall. It cost about 80 cents to go skating and that included hiring the skates! It was so much fun, there is something really special about skating outside at night, we went round and round in circles, using the time to catch up on what every
one had been doing. When we decided we had finally had enough Rosie and Alex and I headed to Roti-mum (if you have been reading my blogs then you should be well aware of the passion I have developed for Roti!) and sat down to enjoy some great coffee and a Roti bun – which the girls hadn’t had before. I talked them up a lot before we got there but I get the feeling the girls weren’t disappointed!
Next major event was Christmas…a big bunch of us had booked some accommodation at Phoenix ski resort so early Christmas morning we all got up bright and early and jumped on a bus (where the majority of us went back to sleep). The bus took around 3 hours to get to the resort and we trekked up to the accommodation to put our things away before heading down to the ski fields. I have never been so cold in my life! The temperature was between minus 15 degrees and minus 20 degrees (celcius) but the wind was really strong and bitingly cold. I only ended up doing 1 run, which I know is a bit pathetic, but I was so cold I couldn’t feel my fee
t and fingers and I decided that being there was about having fun – and outside in that weather with the wind whipping the snow into my face I really wasn’t having that much fun! By about 10pm all the girls were back at the accommodation while the boys were still out braving the weather. The room had the most incredible view of the ski fields, we were on the 7th floor and we could see everything from there. There wasn’t a bed in the place, they provided these thick mattress things that we rolled out onto the floor, the floor of course was lovely and warm so it was rather pleasant! Felt a lot like we were on school camp or having a sleep over at someone’s house. It was fun spending Christmas with friends – but it didn’t really feel like Christmas… in Korea it is kind of treated more as a couple’s holiday and the decorations and carols etc are very limited. It was still Christmas…but without a roast etc…think I might just have to do another Christmas when mum gets here in Feb! The other down-side was having to go back to work on Monday even though Christmas was only Saturday… felt like a normal weekend!
Final major event of December was New Years Eve… I finished work and headed home to get ready then Alex and I hea
ded into Osan for a quick dinner before heading into Hongdae to meet up with another bunch of people. We started at an intimate little club where we had a few drinks and waited for the countdown (we got there at about 11:30 so we didn’t have to wait long) and then we headed to the same club we had been to on the girls night out – turns out everyone seems to love that club! Because it was new years they had a special on where you pay entry to the one club and you can get into three different clubs with the wristband they give you – and a free drink – so entry ends up costing about $3…lol. A night out here really is relatively cheap… or maybe its more that I don’t need to drink a lot to have a really good time! We danced for hours, and hours…but in the end Alex and I decided we couldn’t take anymore so we lef
t and got a Turkish kebab on the way to the DVD bang – or private DVD room… Those things are a great idea! It’s a little room with a massive leather couch type thing, you could probably fit 4 people on it, and you select the movie you want and the guy at the front puts it on the massive flat screen there is in each room. Alex and I were being clever so we chose the movie Titanic which we had both seen a million times, we knew we wouldn’t want to stay awake to see it, and it was the longest movie we could think of which meant more sleeping time! We slept for a few hours and 
when we woke up (with hang over’s) we jumped straight on the train and began the two hour journey home…I have never been so grateful to see my bed! Some nights just feel harder than others…I think it will be much easier to spend the nights out when the summer arrives and you are not freezing all the time. Not to mention that high heels on ice are difficult!
Well I think that pretty much covers the main events in December…though I am sure there is plenty that I have missed out and if I updated this more often it wouldn’t be so hard to write about / remember the events! Must remember that! Anyway time to get January’s entry started…
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