Ski Trip

Early Wednesday morning we set out for the Seoul Station train terminal. We left the house for the bus stop a little after 5:30 am with bags in tow. It was a brisk cold morning but we were adequately bundled. Our bus, the 5500-1, arrived and we boarded. We lugged ourselves and our luggage on and plopped down in the first available seats. We settled in and arrived about 45 minutes later at Seoul Station, well, sort of. We arrived at the bus stop near Seoul Station. We could see Seoul Station but it was across the street, a major street mind you. So we did what you normally do when you want to get across a major street downtown, we dropped into the subway and walked under (across) the street. We popped out right in front of where we needed to be and proceeded into the station. As we were walking in the door we spotted some people who were headed up to ski as well. They had already picked up everyone's tickets and we were all set. Nice!

Once everyone was accounted for there were quick runs for coffee (Dunkin Doughnuts) and a breakfast sandwiches (McDonalds). When the time arrived we made our way to the platform and boarded our train bound for High1 Ski Resort. Once aboard we settled in for our 5 hour ride. A cribbage board was broken out and games ensued.

Upon arrival we were picked up by a hotel shuttle and whisked away to the mountain-side condo where we would be spending the next couple days. We settled in to our 2 bedroom condo which we were sharing with two other 5th grade teachers. The other 5th grade teacher named Ben and I decided to hit the slopes for some night skiing. We boarded from 5 until about 9. Of course I stacked on the first run and banged up my elbow. I could feel that it was not right but decided to not look at it until we got back to the room. When we arrived at the room hours later I unveiled my injury and to my chagrin found a nice egg shaped bubble on my elbow. I iced it a bit and the swelling went down. By the next morning it was almost undetectable. It's still a bit swollen but doesn't seem to be too worse for the wear.

The next morning Julia hit the slopes in the am and I went out the for the afternoon. The next morning the weather turned and it was snowing and foggy. We spent the morning getting ready to go and I hit the slopes solo in the afternoon. Visibility was about 15 feet with high winds which in turn discouraged most to stay off the steeper runs. This meant that I had them almost to myself. I skied for a couple hours almost completely alone. It was sweet.

We could not have lucked out and spent our vacation with anyone more cool than the people we were with. One couple have two boys who were super cool with Q. They spent an amazing amount of time just hanging out with him and making him feel part of the crew. Here is a pic of them on the train.



Of course no trip wold be complete without some drama. The short version is that on departure half of us ended up at the wrong train station. Here is that half, at the wrong station.


I'm sure you would be happy to know that we all ended on the right train after all was said and done. We all celebrated a good week of skiing with brews and cards on the way home. Here is a pic of us upon arrival.

I have no idea who that Korean guy is on the far right but I do know that I would give him a high five for totally jumping in a random picture.