There’s no place like Yongpyong for the holidays

“Hi Mom! Merry Christmas!!” I called my family Christmas day, from Yong-Pyong ski resort in Korea’s North East Gang-Won-Do region. “Yes Mom I am on a ski trip…SKI…yes I am skiing!” “No I am not kidding, I am on a ski slope as we speak.” It went on like this for about three minutes, me convincing my mother that I had overcome my fear of heights, snow, moving objects, crowds of people…the list goes on. I grew up surrounded by mountains and sea, why I never learned to ski can be blamed on weekend Nutcracker rehearsals all winter long from the age of four, and the fact that I was afraid of just about everything. I assume my parents knew that their adventurous genes would have to kick in eventually and that is why this Christmas my Mom was both surprised and elated at the news that I was spending my vacation in a set of skis. Despite my fear of an infinite amount of trivial things (ferris wheels, pigeons, clutter, mold) I consider myself an adventurous person, and especially when with every waking morning here in South Korea, comes the goal of finding at least one thing that scares the crap out of me…one thing that I eagerly accept and face. With Christmas vacation came the ski slope.

“Korea is dynamic” is one of the first things we were taught at our orientation back in August, a point that has been driven home nearly every day since. Our direct bus from Busan up to Yong-Pyong was supposed to depart Christmas eve, and instead was re-scheduled to depart 3am Christmas morning. No big deal, the celebration started early while we toured Busan’s Kosin University for their AMAZING tree light festival http://www.kosin.edu/ . At 3am we boarded the bus for Yong-Pyong along with fifty other Korean families set to spend Christmas on the mountain. Matt fell asleep in record time while I sat wide awake, per usual and listened to the bus driver and his preferred Christmas soundtrack: The Best of the Beatles, until the sun rose. We booked our trip through Eun Sung Travel agency, with the help of a translator as the company is Korean speaking only. With our ticket we received 70% off our lift passes and ski rentals so the 3am departure time wasn’t looking so bad the next day. The trip from Busan is about five hours, but there are several other options. Daewon bus service runs a 2 1/2 hour bus between Seoul and the resort for 15,000 Won each way, and there is a free shuttle running between nearby towns Hwenggye and Gangnung.  All of which can be found easily through a simple online search or by going to the resort’s transportation page: http://www.yongpyong.co.kr/eng/trans/tr_sbus.asp . 

Yongpyong itself is everything you would expect from a ski resort complete with a beautiful hotel, condos and cabins to rent, a hostel, fine dining, a burger joint, bars, shopping and a giant water park/spa and Korean bath house. Our party of 14 stayed in two of the hostel’s ondol rooms, perfect for large groups with a self service kitchen. Beware however that the staff of the Yongpyong hostel will at random charge extra for kitchen use and the facilities are bare with stove top cooking only and requires guests to provide their own cooking oils, utensils and propane. The hostel is in the center of the action at the resort across from the main hotel and in view of the slopes.

We spent the first full day on the mountain, and I have to admit that until I actually got to the top I could have fooled any onlooker as an X games athlete…well maybe. Within a minute and a half of my first run I had taken out a snowboarder and scared an entire family of skiers into taking the gandala down to the bunny slopes. “This isn’t for me” I pathetically pouted to Matt whilst trying to untangle my Bambi legs from the out of bounds net they had become wrapped in. Matt is the most patient man I have ever met, and this is in part what makes him such a fantastic teacher and coach, and personal ski trainer! After two runs with Matt by my side I had outgrown the slope I was on and spent the rest of the day braving new terrain while Matt “messed around” as he called it on the double black diamond runs.

By 6pm our gang of 14, exhausted Westerners sludged back to the hostel with the ever growing realization that it was Christmas and all supressed memories of home began to surface. As two members of our Korea family braved the cold on a winter walk…TO GET ENGAGED!!! …I pulled out what I now think to be the key to any Christmas away from home: Holiday ham! A quick trip to Costco before our vacation had us set up for our hostel style, makeshift, Korean feast, putting everyone in the mood for holiday cheer and secret santa gift exchange. It really does take a village  to successfully engineer a traditional Western, Christmas meal here in Korea. One person was in charge of finding enough propane to fuel four small burners, one person on a hunt for cream to whip the potatoes, three people trying to open wine bottles without wine opener/knife/ or spoon options (*Chopsticks have far more capabilities than seen at a first glance) and at least five of us inflicting Christmas cheer on the other Korean guests staying in the hostel. I think onlookers were moved as some of them joined in by accepting Christmas cookies and allowing us to play holiday themed music during dinner. I really think that as much as we are here to absorb the customs and culture of our surroundings, it is also expected that some of our traditions be shared. It becomes more and more apparent that we are representing a side of the world that many Koreans have had no contact with and because of this we continue to try and by as demure and aware of our actions as possible…and then someone offers up the soju and the demure act fails miserably, but that is for another post.

Between our four days of ski and snow adventures the resort provided every opportunity for memory and mischief making a group of well deserving, vacationing, foreign English teachers could ask for. The lodge at the resort is a perfect place to watch first timer four-year old Koreans complete with face mask roll down the bunny slopes, while drinking a cup of hot toddy. There is a Korean sauna in the hotel, perfect for overworked knees and frosty toes, and a plethora of international cuisine. And if that wasn’t enough there is a permanent stage set with the mountain as a backdrop boasting such shows as the one seen by our eyes on boxing day. The day after Christmas we were fortunate enough to have Korean MTV broadcasting a K-Pop extravaganza live from Yongpyong ski resort, and if you remember our “K-Pop and circumstance” entry we are never ones to turn down a k-pop concert. In one evening we listened to the stylings of FX, Girl’s Generation, Brian and a handful of other heart-throb Korean sensations. The temperature dropped to M-16 that night, but waiting to hear “Chocolate Love” made me warm inside with anticipation.

By Monday afternoon it was time to drag our chilled noses, overworked livers and un-wrapped presents back to “the real world” (Can you believe we have started thinking of this year in Korea as the real world when it is still such a fantasy to be here!?)  Matt and I spent a day before leaving the resort hiking to the top of the mountain at 1700 meters in -14c conditions. On the way up we saw lone skis gliding down abandon runs as the winds picked up and people hid indoors until the weather calmed down. It was one of my favorite hikes that Matt and I have taken in our four years of vertical wanderings, not because it was difficult conditions, or because their was a churro stand at the top, but because we spent the day together. Sometimes when you relocate with someone so much time is spent surviving, translating, exchanging, experimenting. It’s exhausting really. I spent Christmas with new and dear friends on a snowy mountain in South Korea, and with my very best friend whom I also got to come home with to plan our next adventure. What a sweet life!

Happy Holidays, Matt and Emily