Lunar New Year Ski Trip

This past week was Lunar/Chinese New Years here in Korea! Which means we got Wednesday-Friday off of school! Gotta love those Asian holidays! Our director offered to set us up with a pretty sweet deal at one of Korea's top ski resorts. His uncle is a manager at Hi One ski resort so he gave us some awesome deals! We went with two of our coworkers, a friend from Church and her friend. It was an AWESOME time!

We set out for Hi One Tuesday night right after work. After some close calls with buses (we almost missed one and the other was just about full!) we got into Hi One at about 10 oclock. We caught a cab up to our resort and as we drove up the mountain we were all in awe. The resort was AMAZING! Very high class and it was honestly on top of a mountain! Our room was great and definitely big enough for all 6 of us! There was a bedroom with a queen size bed, a living room and kitchen area, and a korean style bedroom, with bed mats and blankets. We took turns sleeping on the bed so everyone got a night on the queen. 

We woke up the next morning eager to get out onto the slopes. After picking up our rental ski's (super great deal again, $15 for skis, boots, and snow pants! Crazy hey!) we headed to the hill where we got 50% off our lift passes ($26 for an afternoon of skiing)! Brian has been skiing all his life since he was little so we was super excited to get out on the hill. However, on the other hand our 2 co-workers are from South Africa and had never been skiing (Korea was their first experience with snow...) and I've only been once before, so we were a little apprehensive. 

We started out on the bunny hill and we seemed to be picking it up pretty quick. The runs at the hill were super long so by the time we got to the bottom of the first run, I was feeling pretty confident in my skiing ability. We decided to take the lift up to the very top and make our way back down. After a quick lunch at the top we were ready to get going again. Well this time, I wasn't quite as confident or skilled.... Apparently my legs were pretty tired and decided not to listen to my body. After a few wipe outs (some quite hysterical) I was starting to freak out. It was a combination of being extremely tired, my skis kept crossing, a wipe out that ended in me biting my lip and making it bleed, and the kajillions of Korean snowboarders whizzing by VERY close! After a mini panic attack on the hill and a bad wipe out, I had enough and called it a day. Brian was a very encouraging and VERY patient teacher. While the ski day ended on a bit of a low for me, I still had LOTS of fun and will MAYBE try skiing again... 

Brian continued to ski the afternoon away, while I relaxed in the room! The next day Brian got up nice and early and hit the slopes again, this time alone! He had an awesome time, and couldn't help rubbing it in to his twin Derek on the phone while he was on the gondola (what a jerk hey??)... In the meanwhile, I enjoyed a lazy morning in the room and then took my book and coffee and sat out on the terrace in the sun (it was nice and warm!). When Brian was done skiing we headed down to the hotel and checked out the casino. This casino is the ONLY casino in Korea that Koreans are actually allowed in. Koreans aren't allowed to go into casino's here so this one was EXTRA packed with Koreans gambling. We took a walk around and tried to figure out some of the weird games they were playing. Next we hit the swimming pool/spa. We took a short swim, sat in the sauna and relaxed. While I went and showered and did my hair Brian headed into the guy's change room to experience the naked saunas and hot tubs. Definitely a new experience for him, and something I wasn't quite ready to experience, so I simply settled for showering naked with Korean women! EEKS!

That night we stood on our balcony and watched the amazing fireworks for lunar new year. The next day we packed up and navigated the buses back to Cheongju. Overall an excellent trip! We still have the weekend to relax at home before we head back to school on Monday. A much needed break!