For the second year in a row, we attended Korea's International Ski Festival. Since my school graduation last year prevented me from actually doing any snowboarding, I was excited to be involved in the full weekend of activities this year.
We arrived Friday night to prepare for a day on the slopes Saturday. When we were picking up our lift passes and banquet tickets, I met the Korean girlfriend of another Danish guy, and she told me she had signed up for the women's snowboard race. I thought that was pretty cool and asked her how many women had signed up. To protect my own image, I will not disclose exactly how many participants there actually were, but there were few enough to get me to consider entering the race myself in spite of a two year snowboaring hiatus. She finally convinced me to sign up, and I was issued a bib and race instructions.
Morten and I managed one gondola run before I had to go to the race start point. Though I had issues (to put it mildly) with the second gate due to extreme ice, I completed the rest of the course in good form.
The award ceremony took place at the Saturday night banquet. The Korean girl came in second, and I finished third. We had both decided to race for Denmark to boost their representation, and even though their only placers were American and Korean, they were very excited to have been recognized in the Alpine events. I did not realize, however, that I would be given a certificate on which I was declared as being from Denmark, and I apologize to any of my American family or friends who are offended by this lack of home-country patriotism--it was not a deliberate snub.
03 April, 2008
Gangwha Island, January 27th, Korea
I almost forgot about this day we went for a little drive out to Gangwha Island on the northwest coast of Korea. We started with some good BBQ then drove until we couldn't drive anymore. Being so close to North Korea, razor wire seemed to grow like vines along fences and roadways, and the road along the northern coast was heavily guarded and accessible by permit only, much to our disappointment. At one point we pulled to the side of the road to take some pictures. A motorcycle officer approached and slowed as if to speak to me through the passenger window. I pretended I didn't see him, so he caught Morten's attention. 'Are you American?' he asked. 'No,' Morten replied as he always does, and like the proudest Dane in the world, 'I'm from DENMARK!' Turns out the cop had actually worked in Denmark as an engineer for Siemens. He invited us down to his little police station for coffee and told us to come again for a tour. I shall end here as the power just went out.
Everland, February 6th, Lunar New Year
As Morten would probably rather watch paint dry than go to an amusement park, I knew my only chance of going to Everland during the Lunar holiday was a 'pretty please' and batting eyes. I think it was the angelic smile I finished with that swayed him. So anyway, on a sunny, freezing cold February day, we drove out to Korea's idea (rip-off?) of Disneyland for some childish fun. I had a grand old time, and Morten had a grand old time watching me act like a five year old on a sugar high.
11 March, 2008
Christmas in Idaho, December 2007
Morten and I went our separate ways for Christmas this last year. While he headed off to Denmark, I boarded a plane for Idaho. It was a very short ten days, but it was great to see the fam. I did some whirlwind shopping, Emily and John helped me clean out 'the dreaded storage unit', mom slipped on the ice and broke her wrist, and overall it was just a good old Schuh family Christmas.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)