First Time Snowboarding!!

As I said we’d be doing in my last message, Dan and I went snowboarding this past weekend in Muju. I had mentioned to my co-teacher, Ivy, that Dan liked to snowboard and that he would be making me go soon. I asked her a few questions about it earlier this week and then she invited us to go with her, and her niece. We met her husband up there. She picked Dan and me up in front of my apartment building at 6:30am Saturday morning. Fortunately I was in a good mood, and not cranky like I usually am early in the morning. Haha 

She drove as the rest of us napped.  As it got brighter outside, I woke up and looked out the windows. It was snowing- in Korea! This is still amazing to me because I’ve only seen it snow here three other times, once on a mid-December day, very faintly, again on my trip up to Seoul and then coming back to Gwangyang after going home last Christmas. Anyway, this was REAL snow that was actually sticking to the ground and everything! Dan’s and my faces were lit up with joy.  Me, because it was weird seeing it, him...well just because he is weird. :P

As we got closer, it started to look like a country town, and then all of sudden it looked just like all the pictures and movies I’ve seen of “ski” towns. The road was completely cluttered with places to rent and buy gear to ski and snowboard, restaurants, and places to stay the night.

We stopped at a shop to rent gear. Dan was fully prepared and I only needed a board, goggles and padding. All of us already had pants and coats so it only took about 15 minutes here. It was fun seeing Korean girls pick out coats, pants and hats to wear as well as seeing so many of the guys in crazy outfits that I did not know were snowboarding attire. Only in Korea.

We continued on our way; both Ivy and Dan were making little squealing noises in anticipation and excitement! It was adorable and put me slightly at ease.  Then we parked, got our gear and went to change. The dressing rooms were in a building attached to the bathrooms, but you had to go outside to get into the bathroom. It was very warm in there. We took another 20 minutes or so to suit up and make our way to the ski lift. Of the two slopes in the area we were, only one was open by the time we were getting ready to start. Ivy and Dan said it was crowded but I didn’t know the difference and it looked pretty empty to me. As we got closer, Dan stopped and tried to show me a few things to do once I was on the board but then decided it would be easier to just get up there and try.  

Ready for my first ever run!

This is when I started to get nervous. I made him leave me and go for a run without me so I knew he would get some actual snowboarding in and so I could have time to freak out by myself. Haha Those of you who know me know I’m not athletic at all and I haven’t tried a new sport in a very long time so I was kinda freaking out. It only took Dan about 20 minutes to go through the line, get up the mountain on the ski lift and then down the mountain back to me.  He sat with me for a few minutes and then we got in line.

Oh My Gosh!!

I was sooo nervous! Haha Even getting on the ski lift seemed challenging because you have to go on this conveyor belt first and then sit down quickly and hold on to your board, because I clearly did not have that attached to my feet yet. Going up the mountain was nerve racking because it was so cold and I didn’t think we were going up nearly as far as it looked from the bottom. I wasn’t nervous about the height off of the ground we were but farther the distance I was about to go down because I knew it was going to take me FOREVER!! Once we got off the mountain, Dan led me to the left side. I learned that both sides of the mountain are for training. He helped me put my board on and then he put his on. This was before he realized how long this whole learning process was going to take me. :)

He quickly realized that he was going to need to be on his feet to help me get up on mine. So, he unhooked himself from his board, put it off to the side, walked towards me and helped me up to my feet, because I was completely unable to get up on my own at this point. We spent the next half hour or so trying to get me to make pendulum motions down the side of the mountain. This was a very slow process with a lot of cursing and falling but also with a lot of laughing and jokes. Because I was working SO hard, I was nice and toasty warm.  

 One of many falls

After making it down the first slope, I was starting to feel pretty good about it all. Dan was VERY patient with me and encouraging which was exactly what I needed. About halfway down the second slope I was getting a bit discouraged again and needed a break, but I knew Dan was antsy to finally be on his board again so I made him leave me AGAIN to go down the rest of the way and then meet me back there. This took another 20 or so minutes and it gave me a chance to think about the experience thus far and I decided here, all alone sitting in the snow, that I liked it. I was having fun and it wasn’t a cold as I thought it would be!  

Standing :)

When Dan met up with me again, I got up and got going quickly and we made it down to the flat part of the mountain. We took off our boards (read: he helped me with mine) and walked to the right side. Once he helped me put my board back on, he walked down the mountain as I rode down. He loved that I was going faster than him, not falling or anything. I did fall pretty badly one time on this part. It KILLED my knees, but I was determined to finish my first ever run standing, so I got back up and didn’t fall again! :)

Yes, that's really me!

After finally making it down once, this took about an hour and a half, we met up with Ivy and the others for some fried chicken. Then they all left me to go back out. I was happy with my one run and there was only another hour and a half before they closed both slopes for a while so I decided to sit and wait while the others went boarding. This way no one had to worry about me, and I didn’t have to rush. Haha 

 Dan and I about to leave Muju after a successful day!

Check out this video of me trying to snowboard! It's pretty entertaining!

Dan and I were originally going to stay the night but I decided I wanted to be back home, especially knowing how sore I was going to be in the morning. I REALLY did not want to sit on a bus for a few hours and then walk to my place the next day. So, we headed home with Ivy, her husband and niece, got home around 7:30, watched Dumb and Dumber and PASSED OUT!! Aren’t we wild?!

All in all, it was a great experience. I got hurt, but I had expected that and it was totally worth it. My “injuries” were ones that could have been avoided. So I’m looking forward to going again, staying the night and making a whole show of it. We are trying to set up a group trip with some friends, but that has proved tough to coordinate with everyone about to go their separate ways on vacations, so hopefully that works out in the next few months. Either way, Dan wants to take me up to Seoul to a place he knows, so that should be fun! Yay!! :)