Snowboarding Phoenix Park

This past weekend I went snowboarding to Phoenix Park with the Adventure Korea tour group.  There were about 80 people signed up on the trip.  

We met in Seoul on Friday at 1pm and headed to Pheonix Park resort area.  This is the area that Korea is hoping to win the bid for in the 2018 winter olympics.   (I have since learned that although there were signs all over the resort rallying for the Olympics, this resort is not, however, the one they want to win the bid). 

First we picked up our rental gear and clothing.  I wanted to find a rad outfit but ended up having to settle for the red LA Gear set.  Someone made a comment "We are going skiing, who cares about fashion?"  So I replied "Well clearly you haven't been skiing in Korea yet."  Fashion is everything in Korea.  And skiing is no exception.    

When we got to the ski resort it was about 6:30 or 7pm and directly after checking in to our youth hostel we all went night-skiiing.  I snowboarded for a few hours and then headed in.  

I met up with a few of the other girls I was rooming with and together we all went out for pizza and fried chicken.  Our meal took a long time to get to our table.  When we noticed that a group of Koreans who came after us was served fried chicken 2 times before we got our first, one girl cried racism.  Racism is a really big deal here and many foreigners (just that fact that we are called foreigners..) get upset.  Frankly, I hardly notice it at all.  

The next day I went snowboarding on my sweet "Dungeons and Dragons" board with Nicole.  Together we hit up almost every run in the resort, but it was a rather small and easy ski resort.  Really, if you count in the picture above, there are only about 10 runs-- maybe even less depending on how you count.  

That evening we walked over to the Phoenix Blue Canyon which is an indoor/outdoor water park.  Normally the nighttime admission fee cost w39,000 (about $33) but we got a group discount for only w11,000 ($9.40)!!  It was well worth the 11,000 and I thoroughly enjoyed the water slide, hot tubs, lazy river, and water-massage stations.  

After another pizza dinner (from Dominos this time) it was time for bonding over drinking games.  We played card games and other various games and then we all went out to Karaoke.  Naturally, I aced my karaoke singing contest and did another rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody (score 99%) followed by I Kissed A Girl by Katy Perry (score 100%).  

I went home early with a headache.  I also lost my voice at some point in the evening.  I blame Queen.  

On Sunday we had the option to go skiing again but I chose not to.  Instead, I took my book that I was aching to finish up to the fancy hotel and bought myself a fancy latte (blueberry flavor!) and read and relaxed.  

All too quickly it was noon and time to pack up and go home.  We battled the crazy traffic and drove through the snow flurries and got back to Seoul at around 6:30pm.  

By the time I got back home to my apartment, it was about 8pm.  

Another good weekend.  

Now if only I could get rid of this disaster of a cold.  ...

Snowboarding Muju

Last weekend I went snowboarding at Muju Resort with the Seoul Hiking Group on Facebook.

We left from Yongsan Station at 11:30pm and arrived in the resort area at about 4am.  At that time we were able to sleep in a cheap pension for w5,000 each.  We got up at 7:15am with plans to rent equipment and be on the slopes by 8:30.

But few things ever work out as planned and that day was case-in-point.  The van driver was confused, we didn't get our equipment at the right place, we didn't have lift tickets (though they were already pre-paid and so we didn't want to re-buy them), and to make matters worse, when trying to get on the free shuttle bus to the rental equipment place we ended up taking the wrong bus and driving for 1.5 hrs instead of the 5 minutes we were expecting.  oops.

By the time we were on the slopes and everything was in the clear it was noon.  But no matter.  We had a great time snowboarding and honestly I couldn't have handled skiing all day anyway.  It was cold and snowing.  But damn it was beautiful.

I spent most of my day with a guy named Ian who studied English at Wooster College in Ohio though he is actually from Minnesota.  We were pretty evenly matched skill-wise and he was good company.  These pictures are actually all his since I temporarily misplaced my travel camera.  

The chairlift up to the top of the mountain bore some of the most stunning views I have ever seen.  I felt like I was in a magical fairyland with its perfectly glazed white trees and epic views of the land below, reflecting the sun's rays like an opened treasure box glistening with gold.

 When we finally made it to the top of the top of the lift and saw this pagoda I think I felt my heart skip a beat.  It was stunning.  The way the snow clung to certain parts of the pagoda was magnificent.

 

Inside the pagoda we saw the craziest thing.  There was a Korean family all huddled together around a kerosene lamp drinking tea and eating lunch.  None of them were in skiing regalia.  I can just imagine the conversation... "Hey kids, we are going to take the gondola up Muju today and have some family bonding in the bitter cold."  "Can we go snowboarding, dad?"  "No, son.  We will just freeze our asses off and watch foreigners stare at us in bewilderment instead"

But man was it cold.  It was really really cold.  It was a good thing the ride up was so beautiful otherwise I would not have forgiven Muju Resort, for the ride down was pure hell.  Picture yourself snowboarding down an ice skating rink at a 45-degree angle and you have an idea of what it was like.  I couldn't get any traction on the hill and I fell on my knees quite a few times, bruising them up pretty badly.

By the time I got back home it was close to midnight on Saturday.  Even with our crazy bus adventure, the bitter cold, and the icy slope of death, it was a great day.  I was glad to have met some new, great people and get out on the board again.

AND! This weekend I'm going snowboarding again at Phoenix Park!

   

Big Air

After my haircut on Saturday I ventured down to the downtown Gwanghwamun Square for the FIS Snowboard World Cup Big Air competition.

There was a lot of controversy about the competition because although the same event has taken place in cities like London, Stockholm, and Moscow, Seoul was the first to host the event in all of Asia.  Although he denied the accusations, rumors flared that the mayor wanted the event as a way to ensure his upcoming re-election.  The event cost w700-million (about $600,000) and required 500 tons of ice.       It is said that 310,000 people visited the square during the 3-day event.

The ramp here is 20m high.

Photo credit to "The Chosun Ilbo" 

There really were a LOT of people at the event! I could hardly see over all the people but thankfully there were at least half a dozen JumboTron big screens in the area.  Slowly but surely I made my way up through the crowd and was able to take a decent picture of the ramp.

Gwanghwamun Square.  The snowboarding competition is behind the big statue.

Looking behind towards the metro station and the city.

I was too far away to get a good action shot, but ooh look, it's a JumboTron photo!

After a late dinner at a Vietnamese Pho restaurant nearby, I attempted and failed once again to correctly take the bus back from Seoul.  Although I could have sworn that you could take a bus from Yangjae to Yeongtong somehow I wound up at Suwon Bus Terminal, which although not terrible, did require me taking yet another bus for 20 minutes back home.  Time and time again, I totally fail at bus navigation..  

Magic Straight

On Saturday December 12th I got a straight perm (or Magic Straight).  My hair is officially straight.  And short.  It's the first time my hair has been straight and short for a long period of time in my life.

I picked the hair salon somewhat randomly off the internet.  I had asked my co-teacher where I should get my haircut in Seoul and she suggested Ewha Womans University because you can get it cut pretty cheaply there.  So then I searched on Google for a salon in the area.  The second entry in Google is for a place called Eunha Hair Salon (for the website click here)  The one That I picked had two locations: one around Ewha and another around Gangnam.

When I called the Ewha location no one answered the phone.  So then I called the Gangnam location and they picked up and transfered me to someone who spoke English, the manager, Charlie.  I booked an appointment for 2pm Saturday.

I accidentally got to my appointment 30 mins late due to a bus mix-up (I got on the wrong bus yet again.. shocker, huh?) but it didn't seem to matter.  My hair stylist was a petite woman who spoke English fluently.  I showed her the picture that I wanted (I printed out a photo from the internet earlier that day) and she said ok.

It was about 3pm by the time we were settled in and ready to go.

Before. 

The entire process took about 4 hours to complete!! By the time I walked out of the salon it was 6:30 and dark outside.

Here is why:
1.  Wash hair.

The chair that I sat in for my hair washing was a massage chair.  I thought it was genius.  I mean, we get to sit in massage chairs when we get pedicures, why not also when we get our hair cut?  It was sheer joy.  (hah, pun not intended but still great: sheer/shear joy, gettit?)   

2.  Cut hair
3.  Blow dry hair
4.  Apply magic straight.

I should note that I honestly didn't know what that straight perm process was going to be like.  I thought it was going to be some kind of magic flat iron, but it actually reminded me more of when you dye your hair and they paint on the hair chemicals and let it sit. 

5.  Sit and wait. Read English magazine about Seoul.
6.  Wash hair.
7.  Blow dry hair.
8.  Flat iron hair.  Curl ends to "give body"
9.  Insert curlers to "give more body."

At this point I was kind of freaking out.  Why was she curling my hair?  I thought it was supposed to be straight.  I tried not to say anything but the anxiety was killing me.  Finally I burst out and asked "why are you doing this?  Is it still going to be straight!?"  That's when she explained the whole "give it body" concept.  Frankly, I'm not sure it even worked.  My hair is as flat as a brick.  And I love it. 

10.  Apply magic straight part 2
11.  Sit and wait.  Read the newspaper in English.
12.  Wash hair for a third time.
13.  Blow dry.
14.  Flat iron.  
15.  Cut any more hair that is out of place.
16.  Style.  Done!

After (the next day)

My hair will now be permanently straight -- for 6 months to a year.

After photo taken the day of haircut using my dirty mirror at home. 

The cut doesn't look exactly like the photo I gave her as I'm pretty sure that the actress from the internet photo didn't have two layers of hair like I do now but I guess it's still ok.  Mostly because I can't see the back of my head.  Otherwise, I might be upset.

 

The cut ended up costing me w250,000 (which is about $212 by today's exchange rate) which is a lot more than I was expecting considering that other people told me they got it done for only w80,000 but I was satisfied both with my cut and my service.  Still, styling like this in the United States is said to cost around $500 so I'm still considering it 1/2 off.

A week later and my hair is still straight as a wire.  It's wonderful!  I've gotten only positive feedback from everyone around me.  Both the students and the teachers, however, told me that I look younger now.  My co-teacher said that I look like I'm 18 years old.  I guess it is a good thing to look almost 10 years younger than you actually are, but I'm still unconvinced.

Straight Hair Happiness.

Talent Show

On Wednesday December 9th the students partook in an all-day talent show. My school doesn't have an auditorium, nor does it have a cafeteria so there is no indoor gathering place for all the students at one time. Thus, the shows were conducted in the students' classrooms. They used to invite the parents to the shows, but I guess it got to be too much and so they don't do that anymore.

As the English teacher my job was to go around to the different classes and take pictures. As much as I wanted to see the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders do their performances I knew I couldn't. I was already so much of a distraction in the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade classrooms that I teach, I knew that going to visit the little 1st graders would cause near hysteria amongst them.

Fifth graders hanging out before the talent show

 Most of the girls did some kind of dance act...

...while most of the boys did Taekwondo

And all the kids sat with their  eyes glued on their classmates...

...mostly

This boy was awesome at the nunchucks

He is doing Taekwondo.  He is "jumping and kicking."

 (5th grade textbook joke)

The teachers were not as awesome at Taekwondo.

Check out the kids' faces!

I actually was able to kick the plywood in half on the first try.  It's not as hard as it looks :)

Some kids played musical instruments, some kids sang songs, while others did magic shows and plays.

And some dressed up as animals.

All in all, it was a great day!

Grade 5, Class 4 (I think) 

1/4 Already

Welp!  Hard to believe but I have been here for 3 months now which marks my 1/4 point.  I guess I've still only just begun...

Still, there is a lot to be said for the 3 months that I have been here.  I have had many ups and downs.  Living in a foreign country is hard.  Really, really hard.  And I think it's even harder if you do it on your own.

I've learned more about myself.  I learned that I can surprise myself with courage.  I have learned that it's ok to do things by yourself.  And I have.  I've done a LOT by myself.  But I also know that if I'm not careful I could spend entirely too much time alone in my apartment reading, watching movies, and sleeping.  I sleep a lot in Korea in order to pass the time.  I learned that I like teaching even though I'm pretty sure I'm not all that great at it.  Kids don't love me, but I don't think they hate me either.  I'm convinced teaching would be easier if I spoke the same language as the kids I was teaching, but I can't be sure.  I've realized that I'm not willing to do what it takes to join a clique/group of friends even though it's something I desire.

It's officially winter here in Korea.  It snowed on Saturday with big soft white flakes that stuck to the ground.  A few hours later though the sun came out and most of the snow melted.

 

   <---From the roof of my apartment building 

GEPIK Orientation & Training

From Monday - Wednesday of this past week I had got to go to the GEPIK Orientation & Training in Osan.  GEPIK stands for Gyeonggi English Program in Korea and oversees all public school English teachers.


I'm terrible with numbers but there could have been about 500 people at the orientation.  And by 500 I actually mean anywhere from 200-800 because I have no idea.  We filled an auditorium.... 


The orientation started at 11:30am on Monday and went until 8 that evening.  During that time we had an opening ceremony, an introduction about the English curriculum in South Korea, an intro to GEPIK, a small group meeting (with other elementary teachers from my Suwon area-- I already knew 5 of them!), and a welcoming dinner and evening entertainment.  


That night people partied way into the night.  I left at 2am for sleep but people stayed out much later than me.  (see my fabulous bed below)


On Tuesday the day started at 9am with a lecture on "Teaching Methodology."  Though most people found it rather boring, I found it helpful.  Some of this though, I am sure, is due to the fact that I have a Masters in Education and love learning about teaching methods and practices in education.  


Following that lecture we had a medium sized lecture on "Co-teaching & Lesson Plans."  This lecture was beneficial because we got to see what it was like to be a student in our own classes.  What I mean by this is that there was a Korean teacher and a Native English teacher presenting a typical English class.   My favorite part about the class was when I volunteered to participate in the game.  I've learned that participating in class, especially when it is game, is always more fun than watching it.  Sure it can be embarrassing but you have to put that aside and go with it.  Additionally, you tend to learn more that way.  

<--- The lunchroom 




After that we had lunch and then a group presentation with the same Suwon teachers I mentioned above.  That was not as beneficial because it wasn't as fun (I really am not sure why, but perhaps it had to do with my fellow teachers' lack of experience??) 


The next lecture was on "Winter Camp."  I was looking forward to that one the most because I really wanted to learn from it but it was so boring and not helpful at all.  I felt terrible for the presenter though because people were talking all throughout her lecture and they were SOOO rude.  I was completely disgusted by my fellow teachers.  I was horrified and livid that they could be so disrespectful.  

After Winter Camp I got to do a mask making project.   This was another highlight because it was a much needed break from all the lectures.  The mask was made out of cardboard and we painted it with acrylics.  Then at the end they stapled a black cloth on the back so that you can fully hide beneath it.  Mine turned out decently well.  I wanted to use colors that would compliment my room which is currently white and yellow.  






















That evening there was more partying to be had.  

 

In the photo above everyone was doing an impromptu version of "Bohemian Rhapsody" 


Jenna, a dude from Boulder, the dude who took a lot of photos, and some creepy dude in the background.  I adore this photo.  ---> 
































Finally we checked out of our rooms at 9am on Wednesday, had a final ceremony from 9:30-11 and then by noon we were back on the bus home.  


It was a great time and I'm so glad I got to go.  Some people complained the whole time that it was boring and pointless, but I love those kinds of lectures and training sessions.  It's all in what you make of them.  And, if nothing else, it's an excuse to get out of school for a few days and meet hundreds of new people from all around the world.  

Bamboozled

On Sunday Jesse, Natalie, and I went to the Bamboo Park, otherwise known as the "Bamboo Forest Theme Park Juknokwon."

At first it was dark and scary and we didn't know whether to keep going or not.

But we pressed on and it was worth it.  We found some real live pandas.  One was playing soccer and he was particularly cool.  He didn't mind us posing with him.

Natalie had a moment of deep thinking with the panda...

Jesse prefered the pandabear hug...

And I gave the lil' guy a big ole high five

After meeting the pandas it was time to climb bamboo.

Jesse kissed a cow and he liked it.

A look-out point in the Bamboo Park. 

After the bamboo park we were really hungry and so we ate at the tourist restaurant outside the park's grounds.  I picked something at random off the menu and honestly I am still not sure what we ate.  One nice thing about Korean food though is that if you don't like the main dish you ordered, you can completely fill yourself up on all the side dishes, seen above.

After a little confusion about where we were supposed to get on the bus to go back to Gwanju, we made our way home.  It was a fun day!