Bonjour folks
Sorry for the lack of updates from events in my past Korean life! A couple weekends ago I ventured up to Pyeongchang with two of my coworkers, Maiji and Megan. We were checking out Youngpyong Ski Resort and the World Biathlon Championships. Pyeongchang is bidding for the 2018 Winter Olympics. A friend (Brendan Green) I skied with back on the NWT Ski Team made the Canadian Team so we were going to check out the races.
Late Friday night (2 am) we caught a bus and tried to sleep for the 6-hour ride. Korea really knows how to do this kind of business. You can get package deals for about $100, which includes your transportation to and from the resort, ski lift pass, equipment rentals, and winter clothes if you don’t have any. Honestly why hasn’t Canada come up with something reasonable like this!? So, we literally had no sleep that night but when we got to the mountain it really didn’t matter to me. I was sooo excited to finally see snow and get on the slopes. We had a cup of coffee then jumped on a lift.
I was pretty surprised about this hill because I’ve heard horrid stories of millions of Koreans who can’t ski or board flying down three runs that last maybe 10 seconds. Oh and you would have to wait in line for the chair for like half an hour! However, we had 28 runs and about 10 chairs and a gondola to play with. The day looked promising with the sun shining and somewhat quiet on the hill. The snow conditions were nothing to brag about, I was just happy to get a day in this season! I do have to mention a Korean fashion statement that drove me nuts. All the boarders, who looked like clowns, would unzip their coats at the bottom to about half way up their front and just let it fly open. Seriously this drove me bonkers! Zip down your coats! How is that cool!? Well I guess it would be cool cause your jacket is half off and its winter out. Like is this a fad back in Canada? If it is…I have no words. Also we saw tons of Korean couples that expressed their love for each other by wearing matching outfits. HILARIOUS.
The day was amazing with awesome sun, decent runs, and some typical Korean action. For instance, half way down a bunch of runs there were pit stops with benches and garbage cans for people to light up a cigarette. Also, we saw tons of Koreans hiking up the sides of the runs for the pure enjoyment of hiking up…they didn’t have any skis or boards with them. Oh and cause Koreans generally cannot control themselves on skis or boards, I counted six people being pulled in a toboggan by the ski patrol. I wasn’t too surprised by this cause I saw some people loss control at extreme speeds down some runs. It was so funny! But crappy for them…another thing that was odd, if you were snowboarding, you would take off your board and carry it on the chair with your hands. Near the end of the day it was pretty busy and the runs were getting skied out of snow. I really thought I was going to hit 50 people on one run and the iciness factor.
After our last run we got changed and hit up the Family Mart for some snacks and a tall can of Hite (Korean beer). To this day, that beer leaves the most deliciousness, relaxing, and deserving taste. It was also nice to get away with my co-workers and rant about the lameness of our school. From here we jumped on a shuttle bus out to the site for the World Biathlon Championships. The girls had never seen biathlon or an xc ski race before so they were pretty stoked, as was I.
The races for the men started at 5pm and 7:15pm for the women. The men’s 15km mass start had begun and the stadium was not full by any means, as it would be in Europe. However, there were big contingents from Norway and Russia, with smaller ones from Germany and Sweden. The race was pretty exciting to see because it was a mass start so who crossed the finish line first claimed gold. Austria took the top two spots and Russia finishing in the bronze position. Between races we hit up the spectators tent for some tea and tried to warm up. Korea has really made me soft and I was absolutely FREEZING! We hung out in there till the women’s 4x6km relay. Canada had a team in the race, which was great to cheer on. Russia took gold with Germany then France in the silver and bronze positions. Canada put in a good show and finished 9th. Unfortunately I was not able to see Brendan race this day but it was still so wicked to be a spectator at the World Champs.
After the races we went to the hotel and warmed up and hit the hay. The next day we hung out all afternoon in the ski chalet in Starbucks and played cards. At 4:30pm we boarded our bus and hit the road. It was nice to travel in the daylight to see some of the Korean countryside. In all, the trip was super great and a good change of pace before another workweek teaching “ENGRISHEE”. Stay tuned to an entry of my experience at a Jinjibang, a Korean public bathhouse.
