The Ski Trip

Last weekend was Lunar New Year's. A HUUUGE deal here. Everyone drives to their hometown to hang out with their families. The parents give the kids money and advice and in return the kids dress up in traditional garb called Hanbok and do lots of bowing and paying of respect. (Mom and Dad, if I bow and say some nice things, will would this work?  $$$??) Jeff got three days off from work and school was out for Monday and Tuesday so 5 families from the HFC decided to go skiing.

 

We went to Yong Pyong Ski resort in Pyong Chang. You will hear of this region in a few years time as they are one of only three cities worldwide to make a bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics. They find out if they get it sometime in 2011 but from the looks of it they have already bribed a council member big-time. "Pyongchang 2018!!" Signs are everywhere you look in this area. Nothing like counting the old chickens eh?

   We stayed at a nice little guest house about 10 minutes from the Ski Resort. They had just gotten 70cm of snow and it was piled up everywhere so the skiing was great. We arrived around noon, got our skis and headed to Mountain. I took the first shift with the kids and Jeff went snowboarding. We did 3 runs on the bunny hill with Teddy between my legs and Sasha to my left and both kids Holding my poles. That worked pretty good but it was a feat of Herculean strength for Mommy. We headed in for some hot cocoa and it turns out that skiing was exhausting for Teddy too because he took one sip of his drink and did his Barry White "Mama, I want to snuggle you" and that was it. Nigh-Nights in the lodge. That kid can go from Zero to Dead Asleep at any time in any location. Is it too early to test him for Narcolepsy?

He slept about 35 minutes (oh my aching arms!) and then we did 2 more runs. Got together with our group and headed out to get some dinner. Now for Jeff and I skiing is one of those things where you have a certain menu you look for after a day on the slopes. Beer and Pizza, beer and wings, Fish and chips, anything from the Deschutes Brewery or BBC.... you get the picture. Bulgogi and lettuce isn't really in the fore front of our cravings but whatever, when in Rome eh? Also the kids were everywhere and it was coooold in there.

Oh, did I say ALL the kids were everywhere? All of them except Ted who was crashed out asleep AGAIN. (This should have tipped me off to future troubles but at the time I just thought it was that "mountain air" )

We went back and put the kids to bed. Many Korea hotels or Hostels only have one bed, so you bring a floor pad for the kids to sleep on. We brought ours but as the whole place was heated traditionally, that is through the floor, I truly feared for the kids lives. "Wegugin Bulgogi" gives you a good idea of what was going on. I finally had to go tell the owner of the hostel to turn off the floor heat. No, no, don't turn it DOWN, I've already tried that - turn it OFF!! The children are cooking!!

The area smells a bit fishy and I couldn't figure out why, until I realized that there are acres and acres and ACRES of fish drying on wooden racks under the snow. If Pyongchang is known as the Olympic hope for 2018, it must also be know as the capitol of dried fish and if you can smell it in the snow, I can only imagine what the place smells like in the summer.

There is also a little stand selling dried fish on the corner before you head up to the ski mtn. I can imagine this exchange happens quite a lot:
"Heading to Yong Pyong next weekend to shred the rad yo."
"Dude, you're heading over to Yong Pyong? They have the BEST dried fish there. We always stop at this one little shop and grab a strand before we hit the slopes. Nothing says 'skiing' like dried fish man, Do NOT miss out on that."
"No way! Thanks for the tip bro, I'll bring you some back!"
"Word!"

Here's a shot of us heading out for a big fun morning on the slopes! Jeff drew a really, REALLY short straw this morning and got to ski with the kids. Turns out that Teddy can actually get so upset that he'll projectile vomit in a ski lodge. Good times!

Actually in fairness to Ted, it turns out that he came down with some kind of 24 hour bug. (family trip means SOMEONE has to fall ill within the first 48 right?). So the boys headed home and I took Sasha to the top of the mountain in the Gondola. Very excited!

Here's Sash about to go down from the very top for the first time. She progressed so fast it was crazy!
First time down, she was beneath my legs hanging on to my poles almost the whole way down, second run tried it herself where the hill became very gentle, third time, the whole way except for 4 really steep spots. I was so proud of her!

 

She was quite proud of herself too! What a goofball. Sasha is such a fun kid to hang out with. Even when she crashes, 9 times out of 10 there's that still moment and then she bursts out laughing!

 

Here she is headed down the slopes on her own! 

Jeff went skiing with the guys that night and then the next day he took the am skiing shift with Sash and I took the afternoon shift. He said they made it down once at a pretty slow pace, and then they met up with Ingrid and Øyvind. Sasha yelled "C'mon Dad, we have to keep up with our friends!" and that was the end of it. No more help, no more slow, just took off down the hill after Ingrid and now she's a skiier! 

Teddy felt MUCH better that next morning and had begged the entire trip to ride the "Dongola" so we met the whole gang at lunchtime and rode up and then ate together at a restaurant at the top of the hill. Then I got to ski with Sash and Jeff took T-man back down in the Dongola and home. I was blown away by the difference in her skiing in one morning! She is now faster than I am (On skiis anyway...). I am going to have to strap on the snowboard next time if I want to keep up!

Here we are in the middle of a super-fun afternoon!

I made a video of her skiing adventure:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lc0Tci_ZX_M

At the end of the day Sasha and Ingrid begged to take a ski lift by themselves. I told them that I would ride with them once and if they could get through the whole process themselves and be safe then they could give it a shot. They took it very seriously and put the bar down and lifted it in just the right spot and everything. They were pretty cute up there together....

The night before I had stumbled into a place trying to find take-out and was like "Oh, Baby, this is the joint!" So I promised Jeff a great apres-ski surprise meal and we went back to that restaurant.  Wings, Beer, Ribs, popcorn, and heat lamps! And the place was empty!! We couldn't believe it! They had the best ribs I have ever eaten. We will definitely go there again if we return to Yong Pyong. Forget the dried fish!

And the aftermath: That's one happy man folks!

Birthday, ect....

This weekend we visited the "Mushroom Restaurant" again. it's a little restaurant that is actually shaped like a mushroom and specializes in Korean Pancakes and other amazing dishes. It's our fav place to eat out so far by a landslide!

The place has great atmosphere and a stove where they roast their own sweet potatoes. They give them to you as a dessert or as an app. Just hot potatoes on a plate, with no presentation, garnishes or toppings. Makes you appreciate good whole foods though. Their Korean pancake is AMAZING! I could eat tons of it. We tried the onion seafood earlier in the week so this time we tried the potato. It was great.

Of course they give you rice and a million sides. Sasha is STILL trying to master eating rice with chopsticks. Keep trying kiddo, you'll get there...

Teddy on the other hand has a new passion for all things seaweed. He eats it by the sheet and just thinks it's great. FREAK! Jeff just bought him some at the grocery store and now he is a happy camper.

 

Here's me and my boy:

 

Sunday the 7th was my Birthday ans we went on our second Hash. This one was up in the mountains around to the South and as always to get into the hills you have to walk past all these little garden plots and homemade greenhouses. There is usually about half a mile where you are walking past these things. I am still not sure if they are owned by anyone or just "claimed".

 

On this Hash Sasha had her buddy Lorena to hike with and Teddy had his buddy Thomas so they were both really happy campers.

 

All through the hills around here there are little grave sites and monuments. I guess up until recently this was the way people were buried. You found an awesome place up in the hills and put Grandpa to rest. Of course now that the population is much larger. They lean towards creamation unless you are super-important (like me) and then you still get a great spot. Even the old ones are meticulously maintained as much of Korea is Buddist and holds ancestors in high regard.

 

After the Hash we had soup at the clubhouse and then went back to the apartment where Jeff and the kids had an ice cream cake waiting for me.

 

They had some nice gifts for me including this lovely item:

 

This is how it all went down. Lunar New Year's was coming up (HUGE deal here) and the stores are all filled with gift boxes because you are supposed to give presents to like everyone you have ever met. Jeff: "Dude, there is a gift box for SPAM! I am definitely buying that for someone"

Me: "Well don't buy it for me...."

But then I had the next birthday see. Actually I took it better than either of the kids would have - getting a box of SPAM for a birthday present that is.

Here is what it says on the box:

"FOR YOUR SMILE:

SPAM!

SPAM contributes to your enjoyable moments through it's distinct taste and quality"

So there you go.

Even though he gave me the SPAM, I still made a bunch of pretzels for Jeff to take to work since he has gotten so many treats from the Koreans and wanted to bring something in. To make life easier I invited a friend for Teddy to play with thinking they would just go play and I could get jiggy with the pretzels. Yeah. HUGE mistake. That may have worked when Sasha was three, but it sure didn't work with Teddy and his buddy. By the end of the day I was ready to drop them both off at the Ulsan Orphanage.  5 hours It took me to make those damn things. Jeff said the Koreans loved them, but I'm thinking they probably just did what we do and acted like they were good and then went off muttering "what the hell WAS that, you call that food?" so we'll never know...

We also had a great playdate this week with Ingrid, Øyvind, and Naomi. The kids put on a runway fashion show for me and then posed for this group shot.

Next time I will tell you all about our ski trip and I also have another Korean Observations entry stewing away in the dark recesses of my mind. Stay tuned!

Good TImes!

What a week! Last Friday night Neal and Neo (or Edan or whatever) took us out to eat at another kind of traditional Korean restaurant. They put a really hot charcoal fire right in the middle of your table and you cook your own beef right there on the grill. Then you wrap your meat in lettuce and put whatever you want on it from the 100,000 side dishes available. It's very good although some of the side dishes are truly terrifying. Eating at a lot of Korean restaurants is really different than eating in the states. I know, I know, you're thinking "Duh! Obviously..." but a lot of restaurants here specialize in one special thing so If you're there, they assume that you want their special dish and they just start serving it. So there's no menu/ordering or anything like that. There are restaurants that specialize in hangover soup or even Dog soup. Trying to avoid that last one...

More Korean parking pictures 'cuz I promised...

Here is a shot in the grocery store. I AM successfully preparing meals here, but going to the grocery continues to be exhausting and kind of just makes me want to curl up in one of the aisles and rock for a few minutes. There's just so many foreign things to navigate through:

Go ahead, click on the picture above and take a closer look. Like what is any of it? You think you're buying hot dogs, you better be careful because they eat parts of animals that we apparently shun and ship to Korea, like Chicken anus. I'm not kidding, it's a delicacy. A whole bowl of chicken anus's (anuses? anusi?) all fried up and served hot. So I have a policy of not buying ANY protein unless I can identify exactly what part of the animal it came from.

Hiking this week has been great. The girls and I drop off the kids at school and then meet at the top of the hill and hike in the Mtns. It's so much easier living the Urban life if you can go get out into nature a few times a week. The views from the top of the Mtn are great. It's sunny almost every day and the temps have been very cold again, but are warming up now.

Actually it's hard to tell how cold it is out, because our apartment is always so toasty. Lately we have been enjoying the sun porches a lot. Here's Ted painting out on the porch. He's wearing a shirt he got for Christmas. It's from a new children's clothing line called the "Freddy Kruger Collection". Awesome.

On Wednesday, some of the girls and I went to eat at this really cool little Korean restaurant that looks like a giant mushroom or something you would find in the Shire. Mari (Finland) is in the stripes. She is like 9 months preggo and still hikes with us every day. Rock star! Then clockwise: Selma (Japan), Kari (Norway) and Akie (Japan) with her son Ryota who is in the Kindy class with Teddy.

The food was AWESOME! Best Korean food I have had by far, and the first time that I thought something was so tasty that I would bring someone else there to try it or want to send back to the kitchen for more. They make a Korean pancake that is out of this world. I am taking Jeff and the kids there for lunch today. The side dishes:

So the Kimchee is the pile of red stuff at the top of the picture, then clockwise there is a stack of seaweed ( I guess to wrap whatever you want to eat in, but Teddy just likes to snack on it plain like chips...) Then spinach, potatoes, Mushrooms, some peppers, and in the middle some little dried fish. Still not crazy for the tiny whole fish but I always try them. Maybe they grow on you?

On Thursday the stage one (Sasha's class) Mom's had a meeting at the clubhouse at 1PM so Ted had to skip his nap. He was playing with some of his friends and then came up and said "Mama can I have your sweater?" in his little Barry White voice which means he wants me to take off my sweater so he can use it like a blankie and suck his thumb. I was like "Ted do you want a cozy nest?" "Uh-huh". And that was it. Passed out on the floor of the clubhouse with mad activity all around him. The other moms couldn't believe it. Hopefully this is one of only a small number of times in his life he passes out on the floor of a bar.

This morning Sasha and I had another Birthday party to go to. It was for her classmate Sanjana. There is a HUGE community of Indians here at the HFC (foreigners Compound) and they throw the BEST parties. They are all vegetarians and the food they make is absolutely amazing. Plus their clothes are gorgeous and comfortable yet very sparkly and I can't help wondering why we all can't dress like them.

These little balls were made out of carrot and maybe sweet potato and were sooo delish:

Lots of other good things. Halfway through my plate I was like "Seriously, can you guys adopt me into your tribe or what? I'll wear the jeweled dot and everything, just please teach me to cook like this!"

They are a very friendly, open and generous group and always want to make sure that everyone is eating and enjoying their time. Their children are gorgeous and sweet and their music is very loud and Bollywood ish which cracks me up because it is exactly what I would have expected.

Sanjana and Tanaisha (both in Sasha's class) showed us some of their best moves:



So that's all for now. Everyone keep your eyes open for an old Fedora hat, a glove with knife fingers and a burn mask. With these 3 items Ted will be all set for Halloween 2010.