Just Cruisin'

Today is my last day of intensives (extended workdays)! Hooray!

Now I can get my mornings back to myself to do whatever it is that I used to do with my mornings. Usually sleep in and then go to the gym, I guess. Meh, it's just nice not to constantly have somewhere to be. Exciting.

Last Sunday, Young and I got up early again, for the third weekend in a row, to go skiing. This time we went to a new resort, well actually an old resort. It's called Muju-resort. It is the lowest in latitude (not ever a good thing for snow conditions), the highest in altitude (makes for weird snow/ice) and the only resort in a national park. It was strange seeing hikers come up the slopes that people were skiing (or falling with extreme speeds) down. I saw some heroic crashes, the kind that the parties involved don't get up or even move for about 10 minutes. The rental facilities there are horrible. They tried to give me 153cm skis. I normally ski on 180s, and thats if they are twin tips. I am 187cms tall, and they wanted me skiing on 153s. I was able to haggle them up to their largest skis in the house. This pair of 183s that were awkwardly standing alone in the back of the racks. Something should have struck me as weird about this.

On the second run down the hill from the top of a 4.3km run, I was leaning into my second turn and my binding fell off. Yep, my whole left binding. It did give me a chance to look like Lane Meyer in Better Off Dead (skiing on one ski). I somehow McGiver'ed it to mildly stay on for the rest of the run. Then I went in to the lodge and attempted to explain, then gave up explaining and started repeating "new skis, new skis, new skis". They put me on a pair of the next longest skis, 160s. That was at noon. I was not having a good day. Then it started snowing, I found an awesome corner of the mountain with a bunch of double blacks (basically steep blues) fed by the only lift with no line. The rest of the day was actually awesome.

The boys and I also watched Korea lose in the Asian cup game against Japan. That didn't make anyone happy. Though it was fun to pretend that I know how to understand sports again.

'Til next time!

Korea Extreme!

Just watched Aspen Extreme again, it's been 20 years since i saw it last. The crevasse and avalanche scenes some how aren't as real or terrifying anymore...

We went skiing again last weekend at high 1. This weekend, I think Young, Brent and I are going to Yongpyong, at least I hope so. I have been indoctrinating myself with awesome ski movies throughout the week. I need to get out and reenact that awesome "Powder 8 Competition" ending scene.

Other than that, not much news. Work has been kicking my butt. These long weeks are almost over though, just one more week until it's back to normal.

I'll sign off with an awesome quote from Aspen Extreme (1993):

"Can you swim?"

"Like a fish." ::jumps in the pool fully clothed::

Skiing!

Last Sunday, Young, Emma, Chuck, Travis everyone from Sigi and I went skiing with their hapkido instructor. We left at 4am on a 4 hour bus ride and got to the resort at about 8am. We rented everything (they gave me HUGE parachute pants). We had a blast. Some people were not having a ton of fun (Travis), but most of us were smart enough to wear coats. The resort is called High 1. I'm still unsure where it was. Young and I are heading up there again this weekend.

Sorry for the short entry, I have to get to bed. I've been meaning to write since I got back on Sunday night. 

Here are some pictures of High 1 that I stole from the internet:

New Year at Gyeongju

Well, I would love to write about Friday night but it seems that I hit my head and lost my memory (not really, mom).

Anyway, moving on to Saturday, Jan. 1. I had made a promise to myself to wake up and spend the day in Gyeongju with Brent. Gyeongju is an hour away from Daegu on bus, and it is highly recommended by every Korea tour book. An awesome thing about the bus ride is that it only cost about 4 dollars each. We spent the day wandering around the town and eating ssambap (I recommend it). It was a beautiful day. We then went to our hostel which is tucked inside the older part of the city. The hostel building and courtyard was about 150 years old and it is built around a well that is the same age. It was a pretty cool place. Emma got into town after she got off work and we walked around the town for a bit before heading back to the hostel.

On Sunday, we had a bunch of options of places to spend the day. We decided to head out to the coast to see the worlds only underwater tomb, The Underwater Tomb of King Munmu. The bus ride out to the coast was one hour long and it cost $1.50. We spent a good part of the day walking along the coast and eating fresh seafood. In the afternoon, we headed back into Gyeongju and decided to try to find the museum. We ended up not finding it but we found a really great area called Anapji pond. It has been reconstructed to resemble what it looked like during the second and third century. It was beautiful at night! Then, we went back to Daegu.

This month, I teach intensives which means that I teach 12 hour days on Tuesday and Thursday on top of my normal load. I taught my first one today and I'm actually liking it. Skiing this weekend!

Pictures that I stole from Emma and Brent:

Our Hostel - Sarangchi

One of the many tombs in Gyeongju

The Underwater Tomb or King Munmu

Brent chasing birds

Me and Brent

Good fresh seafood

Anapji Pond

Anapji Pond