Skiing

At the end of January, we traveled with two new friends, David & Gisela, to Muju, Korea's premiere ski resort. David & Gisela are both English teachers in Seosan, but we also met up with David's brother Mark, who is in the US military stationed here in Korea. None of us had ever skied before, although Mark and Brenden had been snowboarding, so we started on the bunny slope. The slope, unfortunately, was still pretty icy, which isn't great for beginners. Gisela and I went down the hill together (or we tried to stick together), which meant our first run took forever (because if she fell, I waited for her to get back up, and vice versa), plus we had no idea how to get up, so that took a while, too. Meanwhile, the guys did a bit better their first run down, especially Brenden, who didn't fall at all. By the end of the first run, Gisela and I were ready for a break, so while the guys went on another run, we headed inside for a soda break. When the guys finished their run, we all ate an early lunch and headed back to the slopes.

The second run down was much better! After falling down early in the run, I was determined to make it all the way to the bottom without falling. I was a little terrified of reaching the bottom of the hill and not being able to stop, but I was fed up with falling that I decided the risk was worth it. I was determined to get all the way down to the bottom without falling! I actually did just that, and I really enjoyed it. That run was the best run of the day--most people were just leaving for lunch, so I didn't have to wait in line long, and the snow was powdery, just perfect for skiing. The rest of the runs, however, were lots of fun, too, and we really enjoyed our afternoon skiing.

Although we didn't become world-class skiiers in one day, we enjoyed our day. If we live near a ski resort next winter, we might just go for another whirl!

Below is a photo of Brenden and David on the slopes:


- Carissa