Hitting the slopes.... face first

I'm sorry to keep banging on about the weather, but it's damn cold over here ok? My sun-loving frame is not used to all-day negative temperatures.

We had a bit of good luck recently, when we found 3 quilts, a big blanket, and about 4 thick tracksuits that some silly person had thrown out; all in great condition, just needed a wash. Perfect timing. Only drawback is that now I go to school dressed like a member of the Italian soccer team.

More interestingly, Kate and I went on our first snow weekend recently. We went to Gohan, which is the next town over from Taebek, which we visited and loved recently. There is a big ski resort in Gohan called High One, and it has a LOT of really big ski slopes to get hurt on. One particular slope can only be reached after ascending 4 different sets of ski lifts. The resort is enormous. Probably a little bigger than we needed, to tell you the truth. In fact, it took us about 2 hours to find our way down just one 2km long slope, given how terrible we are at all things snowy.

Having said that, we had a lot of fun, and made the most of it. Kate resorted to using the snowboard as a bobsled; while I held back the tears as best I could and continued my method of boarding for 10 metres, falling, getting up, falling, getting up, and repeating the whole process.

It took a while for us to be able to walk comfortably again after snowboarding, but I have already set a date for the next assault on the slopes (or on my kneecaps, whatever). I am determined to be able to snowboard well, and I have enjoyed the little time actually spent upright on the board so far.

Now we are gearing up for Christmas, which has kind of crept up on us, since it isn't such a big deal in Korea. There isn't much in the way of public decorations, there are no carols being sung / played anywhere in town, and everything is pretty much business as usual. We have our own little christmas tree set up in our place, and we have organised a little get together with a few friends for christmas day, since obviously no foreigners in town will have any family members to go and see.

Finally, just back to the weather again; How in frozen hell is it zero degrees over here, and yet there is not a single flake of snow in our town right now? If I must be pretty much desexed by the climate, then I would at least expect a cliched White Christmas to go along with my new high voice for caroling. Geez!

//Brendan

ps - Merry Christmas everyone :) hope you enjoy it wherever you are!