Yongpyeong Ski Resort

To keep us distracted from the X-mas blues, Sarah thought that she'd have some fun and drag a Floridian boy skiing for the first time.

For starters, snow is nothing more than small, flakes of ice. No matter how fluffy and sharmon soft it appears in the movies and on television, it is hard, cold, and unforgiving.

Next, the Green slope is deceptively EASY! I felt a major surge in confidence as I glided down my first slope without falling. I dodged skiers and snowboarders like I was running Olympic slaloms. I should have stopped there!

The major problem with the Green courses is that the runs are short and the lines are long. So one's ratio of time feeling like an Olympic Gladiator to a newbie herding onto the lift is small.

That's where my friend, Nick, stepped in. He told us that the Blue course (one step up from Green for all you Floridian readers) was more like a Green. I should have been skeptical when we rode a Gondola for twenty minutes up to the gusty and precipitous summit. Actually, I was skeptical.

In fact, I was skeptical all the way down the mountain. I spent the first twenty minutes accelerating uncontrollably, swerving uncontrollably, and falling on my ass uncontrollably until I regained my bearings. But I didn't stop falling on my ass--rather--the maneuver became something of a speed-brake and very purposeful.


Where was Sarah during all this you might ask? From time to time, I’d catch a glance of her as she’d swish by carving figure-eight patterns into the snow. Then she’d stop to check up on me and to ask me something along the lines of “are you having fun?”

I could answer “yes” to that question only after I rolled up to end of the course and made sure I still had my butt attached.

Pondering Tea in Insadong

This little meditation room/ tea house provided a cozy respite spot for a couple of chilly travelers.

Snuggled up on the warm floor with some colored pencils and a picture, we felt the stress evaporating away even before the tea arrived!

After several glasses of “White Lotus” and “Chrysanthemum” brew we found ourselves struggling to leave.

However, at $14 for a tea party (with only tea included) we weren’t about to order anything else!

Winter in Olympic Park

Seoul's pace flagged last night--blanketed by the season's first heavy snowfall.

It inspired jubulation. The streets twinkled with pin-prick flashes and happy faces kimching it for the camera/phone/tv/game-system. A fusillade of snowballs streamed through the air.

Then, almost at once, people seemed to realize that it was freezing!

But more importantly, they realized the subway was shut down early because of the weekend, and there weren't enough taxis to go around.

Myeong-dong

Walking down the streets of Seoul can be a dizzying experience. Scooters plow down the road, weaving through traffic, and onto the sidewalk to avoid red-lights.

Construction sites spill onto the sidewalks, and cables like leaves drop from the sky.

As if these hazards were not enough to keep pedestrians alert, bemused, and wary, neon signs stacked and piled on top of each other vie for their attention.

But the real eye-grabber is fashion. Everyone has fashion. Some of my 3 yr old students come to school in Burberry!

You can shop while walking down the street. You can shop in underground arcades in the subway stations. You can shop from your cell phone. And you can even score hosiery from the back of a pick-up at mid-night.