(Me at Konjiam Ski Resort last weekend. The yellow sign says: Warning, Expert Slope)
Yes, followers, yes I am.
I have neglected the blog for several reasons.
1st: Before Christmas I was completely consumed and obsessed by graduate school applications. I studied algebra, I wrote short stories, I hounded my letter of recommendation writers, I filled in applications like a mad woman. There was no time for silly blog updates!
2nd: I lost my camera cord for a while. Correction, Lisbeth lost my camera cord in the abyss that is the giant mess in her room. (Lisbeth's room is a mess partly because she is afraid to throw out the trash and partly....just a little bit...because instead of cleaning she watches Korean soap operas on the internet). No worries though, Lili ordered and bought me a new one straight from Hong Kong! Pics should be up sooner rather than later.
3rd: I just havent felt like updating for a while.
But lately I've been feeling more like myself, making friends, filling up my free time with mindless TV just like at home! Megavideo is one of the only things that works here, and they cut you off after 75 minutes of TV. So often, right before Michael Cera is about to deliver a subtle yet hilarious punch line in arrested Development, or right in the middle of the Baker Girls' latest boy drama in Privileged, the screen cuts off and I stomp around my 14ft by 8ft apartment.
If it weren't for great friends willing to come meet me in my neck of the woods (Hoegi Yuk/Station) I"d probably go insane due to Megavideo stress-related incidents. I made a few friends during one of my winter camps at Sinne Elementary (not my school). They showed me how wonderful work can be when you are surrounded by four or five people who know how to play Spades and who can understand sentences like "that last hand you played was ballin'" or "Let's just pretend like we didnt understand what time we had to be back from lunch."
Ski Resort Madness
Andrew and I stayed in a cabin at a ski resort last weekend with some random friends/westerners we just met and a Korean guy we've been friends with for a couple of months now. I will now account what happened in the weeks before the cabin in list form because I think things are wonderfully easy to digest this way.
1. I get a call from my uncle who says he works for LG and can get us a mega ultra discounted cabin on a ski resort an hour outside of seoul. (114,000 won a night instead of 640,0000 won a night). Plus he can get us 50 % off rentals and lift tickets.
2. I consult Andrew, lisbeth, Dani et al. and we agree that this deal sounds like one of the most amazing things that have come our way in a while.
3. My uncle tells us the reservations are for a Saturday night and Sunday night. His family cant go because he forgot his kids started school the following week.
4. I ask for vacation for Monday so I can stay Sunday night. Andrew finds out he doesnt even have to go into school that day (because teaching high school in Korea is the bomb ass diggity and you never have to do anything...well you know, a little, but not much).
5. I set up a schedule of people coming to and from the cabin in groups of six to stay with us. Most are staying Saturday night and not sunday due to work. This process includes bus reservations, lift ticket inquiries, and much pressure from my part on people to confirm or not.
6. my uncle calls two days before the reservation and tells us he got the dates wrong. the reservations are for sunday and monday nights. (at this point I am half annoyed by my uncles's obvious scatter-brainedness and half amused)
7. everybody bails because they cant get out of work except me and andrew. andrew and i decide to go the cheap route instead of romantic-only-the-two-of-us route. I find a guy I meet the night before and he brings his friend. I also casually invite Kyung Han, a Korean guy we've known for a while with halting English who I don't expect to agree to go but tell me he'll go if he doesn't "get injured" on another ski trip he's taking earlier in the week.
(Kyung Han and I at the Ski Resort)
8. Our motly crew arrives and parties and skiis and has a generally good time.
yay for random last minute calls!
Here are some pics fromthe ski trip courtesy of Kyung Han. I will post another blog update soon when I get my own pics uploaded.
(Me, Andrew, James) (James, Kyung Han, Sebastien, Andrew)
