Dobongsan; Seoul

January 24, 2010

Sunday

Dobong (San) Mountain

it is cold. the wind is strong at the peak. mountains are dusted with snow and the stone steps on the path are slick with a heavy slab of ice. The sun is high and bright and the sky is blue.

I'm in a funky mood and the mountain is busy. I am ascending to the peak with my good friend, Joowon, and she is focused on her pace and solitude of the mountain. So I am often mistaken as a lone foreign hiker who must obviously need help and encouragement to get up the mountain, because no one realizes Joowon is with me, ten million times more people than usual stop to talk. I spend the second half of my ascent and all of my descent with my earphones in my ears. Jack Johnson, the Grateful Dead,Springsteen and Brittany set the tone for the scenes ahead.

TV, Zombies, Castles & Paddles

It's been a busy but fun weekend. Here's some of the highlights. I was on TV--they thought it'd be fun to feed a foreigner Bundaeggi (mealworms of some sort) except I've totally eaten those before. All my friends with me were korean-looking, so they all stepped back the moment the camera went on--

Traitors. Well, I poured the juice out onto the guys'

feet, and then piled them into my mouth, chewed them up, and showed the camers. They were all SHOCKED.

I Killed some Zombies with the help of Prince & Joowon, (I like it when the green blood goes places...); then I scared a child on the subway because I'm so funny-looking and later made friends with him (HIGH-FIVE-UH).

We hit up a very famous Authentic Japanese Ramen place near the Hongdae university district on the West side. it was REALLY good. VERY japanese, the Cook even spoke japanese. There was a line out and around the corner.

We went to a really interesting restaurant/bar called Castle Praha. It was gorgeous. It was a real Castle; they put us in the basement-dungeon, and they served us 10real hoppy-brewwed beers on a long, wooden platter. there were 8 of us--I ain't no 10-beer in one sitting kindof girl! :P

At the end of the round, we were left with a long wooden paddle, holes n' all. And what can I say? I'm all for a little good clean fun! Cari, I love you more than iPOd, Wooden Paddles, and Toy Story 2. You are my couple! (at least that's what my underwear says) Live music and dancing followed well into the evening, and the morning was followed by a nice long Jimjjilbang visit: hot tubs, showers, and saunas to wash off the grime; sleeping in a big hot room with dozens of snoring Koreans; a massage & lunch; then subway home. It is Monday today and i'm so distracted! This one'll take me a while to recover. but then again, it was so WORTH IT!

Peace out, Chingus! Have a good time, until next time!

Click to see the whole thing...

My January Report.

There is much to report.

• I am teaching winter camp right now and it is running smoothly, however it gives me little to no free time during my work day.
• Korea had record snowfall in over 70 years (70 years ago being when korea started recording stuff)
• I FINALLY got my awesome xmas to me present: an Ipod touch to replace my ipod that was accidentally washed. Cari was kind enough to bring it back with her when she went to Georgia for the holiday break. It's awesome. pretty. green. I'm still trying to figure out how to get my music on to it. Oh! and Crystal sent me the best present ever! A HUGE envelope filled with traditional medicinals (brand) teas. I got throat coat, breathe easy, gypsy cold care, and echinecia PLUS. A gift only the way Crystal could do, because she knows me so well. <3>
• I am sick AGAIN (swollen tonsils) but I attribute it to extremely cold weather, a busy social calendar, and the hazards that I gladly accept that come with working with young children.
• The public school system is on its two-month break (Dec. 16 ~ basically Mar 3 with a two-day return period for final exams), so it's the popular time of year to take vacations. Friends are coming and going and many are preparing to depart from the country permanently between the months of March~April. Transition is in the air, and as someone who has an 'alternative' contract date, it's always a little uneasy for me, watching and participating in the transition. meeting new people is tedious, and the mass exodus of friends means a lot of very similar goodbye parties.
• I will go to Thailand Feb 13~27; this time with a friend. Hopefully Casandra will join us for a week, too! We will spend some time in the islands and definitely do some rock climbing. I want to do the deep sea climbing, where you free climb a rock and jump off it when you're done. I hope they have shoes for me--I don't want to ruin mine.
• Currently I'm sitting in class watching my students look up vocabulary in the dictionary in order to later on read the book, One Snowy Day. I think--on the whole--this is one of the best classes I have ever had, and wouldn't ask more of their behaviour. I think I'm pretty lucky. too bad I loose them tomorrow and get --GRRR--5th graders. I'm hoping it to be as great as this one. but I'm not holding my breath. The older they get, the more surly they become. Did you know that when you reach grade six, you temporarily forget how to walk while simultaneously holding your head erect? well it's true. When they're finished with their morning work, we'll play LEMONADE, their favorite game. I learned it at camp from the director's little sister, Blue Rain. We'll then be on our way to ending the day, so I can get out of here and go to the SAUNA!!!!!!! Dragon hill in Yongsan is great. the sauna is HUGE, and they even have an outdoor hot tub. Can you imagine walking around AL-natural with snow on the ground? it id divine!
• Kate and I used food coloring to dye yarn and now I'm making it into gloves.
• I made a snowman last week.
• I found a place that has real good brewwed beer. it only took me 2.5 years!
• i'm an awesome teacher!
• my friends here in Korea are pretty awesome. Kate and Cari's brothers have both come to visit with them and it's really fin to see the ways they're similar and to see a whole new side of my friends.
• I got my hair cut and straight-permed. I like it. much easier to manage.
• I can read. that's a bonus.

That's all I have time to report right now. I will write again soon!

Much Love,

Sus

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Christmas in Crampons: Sus & Kate take a Hiking Holiday

With Several days off in a row, we wanted to do something wonderful and epic with this time. Four friends made plans to go to Jiri National Park and hike to the peak, along the ridge, and celebrate the winter season. First, Joowon got sick and dropped out, then, Ka found himself unable to make it. So Kate and I set out on a train to Guryego, then took a cab ride to the sleepy village of Uisan, where we'd spend our Xmas day exploring and preparing for the next day's events. Over the three days we spent here, we hiked across Jinbuk Mountain, Jiri Mountain, and finally up and down Jinam mountain. We encountered the three corners--a place where three provinces meet up--and met some new friends. We got to use crampons (shoe spikes) for the first time. Wow! the snow was most lovely! We saw goats in a mountain village getting frisky, hiked up, down, across, and up and down again--we saw so many breathtaking mountain views that it was sort of like when you see a buffalo for the first time @ Yellowstone and by the end of the trip you're like, yup, that's another buffalo, and you don't even reach for the camera anymore. But seriously, it just kept getting more & more amazing. I have SOOOOOO many pics of the mountains. in Blue, in black and white, with me posing on top of something, with me and Kate squeezing each other tight and grinning.

Spent Xmas day at a Minbak in the Teeeeeny mountain village called Uisan.

This is where three Korean Provinces Meet. It's like the four corners in the USA, but it's way harder to reach, b'c you have to hike for two days to get to it.

Nogodan Peak on Sunday, Dec. 27th

Our ultimate destination point.

The best view of the National Park that I've seen yet.

Hiking thru Bamboo Forest. SO worth the extra 5.7 kilometers.

Yes, really really.

wow.

Camping out. Smelly shelter.

I spent most of the night listening to Flight of the Conchords on my Mp3.
.....It's an experience....

What an amazing Sunrise!

Happy 2010!

We Celebrated at the W Hotel's Techno competition featuring DJs Yuksek & BT

Hosted by Miller MGD & Mini Cooper.

We danced our way into the New Year.

Best Wishes for the Upcoming Year!

Happy Xmas from the Sacred Jiri Mountain of the Southern Provinces of South Korea!

~Sus~

This is Not What I Should be Telling You

I should have something more interesting to tell you.

I should be writing about snowboarding at Yongpyong resort in Gangwhan-do.

I should be showing pics of me smiling at the to of a hill with my buddies and windchilled and sunburned at the bottom. I should be telling you about how we knitted in the evenings and how the bus was long and crowded but hey at least I got to go snowboarding. I should get to tell you this, but I had to cancel it all! I am SICK. ick ick ick. SICK.

knew it to be so on Thursday morning, when I woke up achy and with a runny nose. then I felt awful Friday morning, and terrible Friday night, when I traveled all the way out to Wangsimni station to meet Matt, and Army guy who so kindly picked me up the monster party-pack of assorted Quils (Day and Ny), and turned around only to return to my east-side burb of Guri and wallow in the post NyQuil stupor while trying to knit this hat which I am now wearing. Boy it's hard to knit on NyQuil! As Dennis Leary says, "Big N, little y, big F****ing Q!" holy hell. well thanks to my mixture of hater, Gatorade and Quils, resulting in a 20+ hour-resting period on Friday~Saturday, I awoke Sunday morning to notice a regaining of the use of my nostrils. Hooray! and though I am not all well just yet, I am over the worst. I am SOOOOOO angry that I couldn't go boarding. Sooooo sad that I missed socializing with my friends, by so incredibly relieved to have given myself the rest my body truly needed. Sometimes, the best choices are not the most popular ones. this was one of those.

All I have to say, though is By golly! Thanks be to God for NyQuil!

ROADTRIP!!!!

....that's what she said....

Thank goodness for friends with cars and navigational systems to boot! This weekend I hopped in a car with these two monkeys and went to the High 1 Resort in Gangwon-do for a Saturday night and Sunday morning/day of snowboarding.
As I am fairly new at this sport, Joowon made me rent a helmet. She said not to worry about it. That I am new and I could think less about falling down if I wore one. At first I felt like Such a dork! But ultimately, I was glad for it. I never worried for my brains each time I fell. Night skiing was colder than I've ever felt, and it was SOOOOOOO windy! I remember going up the ski lift with Joowon & Liam and scooching so close to them, praying for a little more warmth. the chill was made worse by the powerful wind. I've done this sport 3 or 4 times before going on this trip. and I was nervous because Liam's a massively awesome skiier, and Joowon's not so bad on the board. Joo told me, "Don't think about falling!" and "Just look where you want to go." So I tried that.

Joowon watched my first run, nervously, wondering if I was going to give up, but I got up and surprised myself as I started to ACTUALLY carve across the snow in a zig zag. Oh, I fell A LOT. I face planted once; I skidded on horrible patches of ice, and it took me maybe 20-30 mins to get down the run (ATHENA) which was the only one open at for nightski. but by the end of the night, I had gained a whole bunch of confidence in my ability. I wasn't so nervous about going down the hill, it was more the GOING UP that freaked me out. ten or 15 mins on a ski lift can feel like a lifetime when you're being pelted with below Celsius temps and your fingers are stinging and your snot is frozen inside your face by the time you reach the top. By that time I'd be looking forward to the descent as a warm-up, just be OFF the damn thing, and the way down would feel warm comparatively.

Sunday morning was bright and sunny. We woke up and I saw the sun rising over the mountains as I lay in my ondol bed on the floor of our hotel room. we reached the mountain aftera quick breakfast and immediately rode the gondola 20 mins up the mountain. We spent our lift time at the peak, ski/snowboarding up and down the slopes called Zeus (easy), Hera (intermediate), and Apollo (advanced).

I did a run on Zeus 2. The hardest thing by far I've done is the low land slopes on this run. It's virtually impossible to get moving, your feet are strapped in, and what's the worst is that the moment you get up, someone falls down right in front of you with a pathetic yelp of some sort and you crash into them because well, you're moving too slow to do anything but crash. So I got stuck in what I like to call Zeus's Pergatory for a while on my first run, and the second time I did it, I seem to have carried half the mountain snow down with me on my board. but once I cleared the lowlands, Zeus was a pretty gentle run. it zig-zagged down easily, and I made it all the was down without falling. the downside, being however, that my feet would fall asleep and I would HAVE to take a break to get the feeling back in them.

This is us at the top of the Gondola ride, just before parting ways and just before I got stuck for a while in a snow drift on the stupid lowlands of Zeus2.

Unfortunately, the mountains get VERY crowded, especially with novice boarders. It makes the beginner slopes not only a frustrating obstacle course, but also very dangerous. The worst wipe-outs were because of stupid newbies who weren't paying attention, or just sitting down in the CENTER of a slope--usually just over a hill where fast skiiers/boarders couldn't see them. So my friends quickly convinced me to try the Hera slopes (intermediate), which I did twice and really liked! and then somehow they got me down the Apollo (suuper steep) twice, too.

At 130, our lift time was up, so we began our descent on Zeus1 toward the High One condos & lift center. Here is where I encountered many of my worst wipeouts at the hands of several tricky obstacles. (It seemed the sitting ducks were piling up...and across...taking up the entire width and not giving anyone room to pass.)

Our trip was full of snow-sport, hard work on the slopes, and lots of time outdoors. It was highlighted by awesome weather, great company, good food, and a positive, encouraging and easy-going spirit. I am so lucky to have these two! I hope to look forward to more trips like these to come! For now, I'm going to read more about snowboarding, and watch some videos. I want for next time to figure our how to carve with my toe-forward and backward--without my face landing in the powder. I hope everyone is finding ways to enjoy the winter weather.

Love and Peace Y'all.

~Sus~

Snowboarding @ HighOne 하이원 Resort; Gangwon-do : December 2009