Ski Bunnies

Our area is very mountainous, and there are several ski resorts around us (at least 4 within an hours' drive, and others a bit further away). In the past week, we've been skiiing 3 times! The first time, we had free lift tickets, so we only paid for ski rental. The past times, we've gotten a 30% lift discount so we've been saving a few bucks (15 each person each time). Phoenix Park seems to be the best in the area, and the past 2 times we've gone there. Our friend Vin has also come with (he's a boarding kind of guy).

Yesterday we were lucky as it had snowed the night before (at least 4 inches) so we had fresh snow on the slopes. It also snowed on and off throughout the day, so it was cool to ski with snow all around. We even progressed up to the intermediate hill, which was a bit freaky but something to be proud of tackling.
Today we're relaxing at home; tomorrow our friend Tara is coming for a visit! She has work in Beijing, which is only an hour and half by fligth away, so she's coming for 3 days! We'll show her a good time, and then it's back to school for us on Monday, the 3rd. We've basically been away from our school since the end of Dec, so it's going to be hard to get back into working again. We've had a great vacation, though, so we can't compain!

Our "new" car, a 1992 Hyundai Elantra.

B and I with our English pal Vin.

A few of the runs at Phoenix Park Ski Resort-they have close to 20 runs!

There was a ski competition on this course. It looked pretty cool!

Namdaemun, before and after

Seoul Day Trip

Yesterday we took the bus to Seoul for the day. On the way there, we got a call from the postman telling us that our box that we sent from Vietnam 6 weeks ago had arrived. We had feared it was gone for good.
We met up with an American graduate student who's at Sejong University, and also a professor at the school who's from MN. We met them both on our trip to China. The professor's wife is our travel agent. We chatted about the programs offered to foreigners at the uni, and B and I are now looking into getting our Master's degree while in Korea. That would mean we'd be here another 2.5 years, but to get our MA would be pretty nice. They also offer substantial discounts to foreigners, which is a big incentive why we'd like to get it now rather than in the States. If we get in, we'd begin classes Fall of 2008. But, nothing's for sure yet.
After our chat, we visited what's left of Namdaemun Gate, Korea's #1 Natl. Treasure. It's a 600 year old gate that had survived Korea's rough history of wars, only to be brought down by a vengeful arsonist on Monday night. The site is filled with mourners, some crying at such a terrible loss. They liken it to Americans losing the Statue of Liberty. It was a sad experience. We really loved that area, as the old gate was surrounded by new buildings. The area just doesn't look the same now.
For dinner, we met up with a friend that we met on the China trip. We had some tasty Korean food, and finished it off with ice cream. Then we caught the 9.30 bus back to Wonju. We're not sure what we'll do today, but it's pretty cold so we may just hang out, and go the gym at some point.

The "Birds Nest" the main stadium for the 2008 Olympics (that's the finished product)

Temple of Heaven; unique because it's round.

A parade at the Temple of Heaven.

Same parade.

First gate to the Forbidden City; Mao's huge portrait.

The Forbidden City gate by night.

The Great Wall of China: 3,000 in length!

A glorious view from the top!

B-Day Fun

I awoke on the 10th to find our apt. still had no hot water. As I didn't want to be stinky on my 24th, I walked down to the Korean Sauna and partook in a nice hot shower/bath combo. Of course I got a few pointed stares from the locals, but what was I to expect? (the only naked foreigner they've ever seen).
For lunch, we met with some good friends for duk-galbi, my fave Korean meal made up of pan fried chicken, rice noodles, cabbage, and other veggies. After lunch, we got some Baskin Robbins and chatted away. Next, we all headed to my house where we watched a movie, drank some of my home-made fruit soju, and had a nice time.
Today was my first day back at school, and our principal and PE teacher are retiring, so after school we had a huge dinner (54 people total). It's Korean custom to pore someone a drink, they drink it, and then they return the favor. I'm more popular than I thought as many teachers wanted to pore for me! It was a fun night, and I even hitched a ride with my principal and vice (tipsy with your bosses, it works in Korea).
We only teach this week and then we have 2 more weeks of "spring vacation." The new school year starts March 3rd, so we'll have all new kids and it should be fun. We've had a lot more vacation time this year at the public school, and that's one of the reasons we're talking about staying one more year at this job (nothing's for sure yet). Thanks for all the b-day wishes, they sure mean a lot when you're far from home.

China: Day by Day

Pre-Day 1 (Feb 5th)-Left Wonju in the evening for Seoul where we had to stay in a hotel so that we could make it to the airport on time.

Day 1 (Feb. 6th)- Awoke at 5am after a fitful nights' sleep and caught the shuttle bus. Arrived at the ICN airport with no passport or tickets and hoped our travel agent would show up (she did). Landed in Beijing around 11am and started our tour from there.
We had a group of about 20 people, mostly English teachers but also a Korean family (our travel agent's family. Her husband is a fellow Minnesotan who just happens to be a professor in Seoul, but more on that later).
The group ate a nice Chinese meal and then headed to Tianamen Square and the Forbidden City. The tour moved way too fast but we got the general idea and took some nice shots of the area. Next we went to a tea house where we had a demonstration and then they wanted us to buy their goods (govt regulated tour stop; all tours are required to visit). After no one bought any tea, we moved on to an acrobatics show, which was incredible! The things they can do were unbelievable. After dinner, we went to our hotel to get settled in. Being that it was Lunar New Years Eve, B and I hit the streets looking for some night shots/excitement. All the locals were in the streets lighting fireworks (some of which reminded us of bombs) and having a grand time. We retired to our hotel around 11.15pm.

Day 2: The Great Wall
We headed to the most famous spot for foreigners in China. About 8 people from our group climbed to the top, including us, but we also ended up holding up the bus. We didn't feel too bad after we realized we were being ushered to more govt sponsored tourist traps (we encounted six in all). After the Wall, we visited the most famous Ming Tomb, where a famous emperor is buried. He was responsible for building the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven, and his tomb was huge! For dinner we had "Peking Duck" which is THE food of Beijing. It was quite tasty. Next to our restaurant was the new stadium for the 2008 Olympics, so we got to drive around that and snap some shots. It was cool to go to the area where the Olypmics will be.

Day 3: Temple of Heaven
This temple is special because it's round, and this is odd in China. Not only did we see the temple, but there was a big Spring Festival performance going on, so we got to watch that as well. It was outside, though, and the wind was SO cold that it must have been horrible carrying those flags for so long. Next we moved on to the Summer Palace, which was re-designed 200 years ago by a powerful empress so there are some very interesting things there. The only problem: the complex is huge, and there were thousands of tourists there. We lost track of our group and spent precious time searching for them. Thus, we weren't able to enjoy it as much as we hoped. After dinner we headed to a kung-fu show. By then it was dark so B and I took a cab to Tianeman Square to get some night shots. The funny thing was that it was so brightly lit up it was as if we were in sunlight (almost).

Day 4: Last Day (Feb. 9th)
We awoke at 5am so that we could catch the sunrise from a park overlooking the city. A guy from our group also joined us, and he's full of information and we had a fun time chatting with him. We caught the sunrise and then headed to the Lama Temple, home to the biggest Buddha carved out of wood. This Buddha stands about 60 feet in the air, and is covered with a layer of gold. We had to rush back to our hotel so that we could check out by 10.30, and of course we had an incident. Our taxi was trying to merge right and another car was merging left and they bumped each other. Yes, we were involved in a car accident in Beijing. It wasn't serious, but our driver was seriously upset. We handed him some money and jumped in a different cab so we could make it on time. As it turns out, two lazy guys in our group didn't wake up until 10.30 anyway, so the whole group sat waiting for them on the bus!
The plane trip back was smooth, and our bus ride to Wonju was also uneventful. Our apt was at 15d C again, and we didn't think it would be a problem as it warms up quickly enough. We realized, however, that we're without hot water. We're hoping that the pipes will warm up b4 morning, as I don't want to take a cold birthday shower! We're meeting friends for a nice meal and bowling tomorrow, which will be fun.
Our trip was fun and informational and we wish we could have stayed longer.

PS- China does not allow blog or independent news sitess, so we were not able to blog while there.