hello all. i feel like i haven't been on here in ages. there is so much to write about especially since i had houseguests this past week. however, before i get into what we did i must first finish my taekwondo winter retreat story so here it goes…
people started awaking around 6:30am. they were eager to get snowboarding. there was some misunderstanding throughout the night and most people thought we weren't getting up until 7:30am. needless to say the morning started off very shakey. the tension from the previous day had found its way into the morning. scrappy was already getting on peoples nerves. it seems that many people couldn't sleep with all the snoring that way happening throughout the night. luckily enough for me i slept through it all. "r' wanted to stay behind and sleep a little more but we found out that we all had to be out of the apartment. that didn't sit well with him. once we all rallied we piled into the van to head off to the slopes. we had to make a stop for "j" and i to rent equipment. this didn't sit well the "master" who made some snide comment about us being on our honeymoon and that it was going to take an hour to rent our stuff. "j" immediately snapped at him and it was at that time that i decided i wasn't going to snowboard. i'd been going back and forth and since my back still hurt and due to all the added chaos i felt that i wanted some alone time away from people. the idea to do my own thing was very appealing. plus i didn't want "tkg" to have to help me out. "j" returned 10 minutes later and we were off. at the slopes it was decided that we'd all meet back at 11:30am to head back. i waited around a bit until "j" and "r" where ready to take off for the slopes. once they were gone i set off on my own little adventure.
a little background on yongpyong ski resort. not only did it almost host the winter olympic games but its also the setting for a popular korean drama called winter sonata which is now very big in japan along with the actor bae, yongjoon. hi, how perfect for me. so i decided to set out and explore what it had to offer. here's a little snippet from my winter sonata tour map about the drama and the characters:
winter sonata - about unchanged love and people
even if he has changed his name and became a different person, his nature always remains unchanged. though the world keeps changing rapidly, there are people in unchangeable love. yoojin, joonsang, and sanghyok, the main characters of teh winter sonata, are one of those people. the story tells about these 3 friends' destined love, at teh same time, it makes us yearn for our past memories and old-pals. additionally, it will give a little comfort to someone who is exhausted to living in a bitter life, while bringing out dim recollections of the first love from thecorner of their hearts. thsi is the first starting and also, the last ending point of the drama.
the main characters
kang, joonsang [bae, yongjoon]
the son of a pianist, kang mihee. born as a fatherless child. sensitive, cold-hearted personality makes his look even pale and sorrowful. joonsang meets yoojin and sanghyok by destiny while he transfers to jaeil high school in choonchun to look for his father.
lee, minhyong [bae, yongjoon]
a man who is the exact image of joonsang. he is a supervisor of the skiing resort, white, which belong to the 'sewoon group' but he doesn't like to distinguish himself. he, as a representative of the construction company, comes across yoojin by destiny on his renovation project of the skiing resort.
jung, yoojin [cho, jiwoo]
after 10 years of joonsang death, yoojin is running an interior design company named, "polaris" with her colleague and is engaged to sanghyuk. but as soon as she meets chaerin's boyfriend, minhyong, who exactly looks like joonsang, she falls apart discovering the memory of joonsang that she buried in her heart.
kim, sanghyok [park, yongha]
after 10 years of joonsang's death by a car accident, he is happily engaged to yoojin. but uncexpectedly he meets lee minhyong, the supervisor of white skiing resort, whom yoojin is working for. he gets shocked knowing the fact that there is a man who has the same look at joonsang.
oh, chaerin [park, solmi]
a woman with full of groundless confidence and haughtiness. she has ambition and persistence to have everything that she wants no matter what happens. her on and only wound was from joonsang at high school who rejected her love.
let the tour begin. i was in my own winter soap opera land. how exciting. the funny thing is, is that i haven't even seen this show yet. i'm truly a dork. here are some of the highlights from my winter sonata tour.
1. the first scene: the beginning of love-cafe "cheo-um (the first)"
"you've never been in love before, have you?"
the cafe yoojin was in charge of its renovation, where joonsang played the piano and prepared the first dinner for yoojin.
i didn't have any drinks in the cafe but i did take my picture with the cardboard cutout the first night here. hehe
2. scene 2: the walkway between youngpyong condos
the promenade minhyong and yoojin strolled surrounded by snow.
i, too, was surrounded by snow as i walked through it.
3. scene 3: restaurant 'chalet' 'lobby'
the place where minhyong and yoojin had a cup of hot chocolate.
i got a latte here.
4. scene 4: dragon bar
the place where minhyong and yoojin had a cup of tea in a sweet and smooth atmosphere.
i didn't get anything here, just peeked my head in. i'm so retarded.
5. scene 5: the bench near the slope bottom
the place where yoojin and minhyong were just like a part of a beautiful picture.
i, too, was like a part of a beautiful picture as i sat here and watched the skiiers and snowboarders come down the slope.
6. scene 6: dragon plaza
the place where yoojin refused sanghyok's proposal and accepted minhyong's love
this where i browsed through a souvenir shop but didn't buy anything.
7. scene 7: boarding of gondola
the place where yoogin and joonsang confessed their love for each other
seeing that i was walking around in a drama-daze i didn't realize i could actually take the gondola to see scenes 8 and 9. now i have something to do the next time i visit. YEAH!!
that was it for my winter sonata tour. i did manage to stumble upon another souvenir shop near the cafe where i purchased a winter sonata t-shirt. can't wait to wear it.
walking around was really cool. i saw lots of interesting things. it was so beautiful seeing everything covered in snow. there were lots of crazy korean snowmen, igloos, and i even saw a film crew filming something. i'm not really sure what they were working on. i tried my best to become an extra but it didn't work. it was pretty cool watching them though. by now it was time to head back to the van. of course when i got their only "the master" and "dr. no" were there. finally people started to show up but since "j" and "r" were on the lift "the master" gave everyone 20 more minutes. i got stuck going for coffee with "the master" and "dr. no" which turned into my own personal nightmare. "the master" kept asking me if there was anything going on between "j" and myself. even though i told him a million times no he kept saying that they won't interfear if there is. as we walked down the mountain he mentioned that it wasn't fair that i paid the same amount and didn't snowboard. and that i probably wouldn't get any money back. i politely told him that life isn't fair and that i'm not asking for any money back. it would have cost me more had i done this trip alone even without snowboarding so i really didn't care. all through coffee i had to hear "the master" complain, bug me further about "j", and defend "scrappy". i felt so sorry for "dr. no" who looked completely bored. for some apparent reason koreans can't understand that a guy and a girl can just be friends. they automatically think it's some kind of relationship and that was the root of the problem. finally i told "the master" to just drop it. on our way back to the van we ran into "r" and "j". i immediately told "j" about the "coffee talk" with "the master" and how it seems to be a problem that we were friends. the road trip back was pretty much the same except that both "scrappy" and "the master" were doing their best to impress the two korean women. it was so sad. it was like watching school boys. i decidced it was best to put the headphones on and tune it all out. and thats what i did. we did get pulled over by the police but managed to get out of the ticket. mostly likely cuz it was a car full of westerns. we did stop once where we were able to grab some food. i went for the egg toast sandwich. otherwise it was nonstop. the koreans really wanted to get home and i don't blame them. back in ansan it was decided that we were all going out to dinner. i politely told "the master" that i was going home. he tried to convince me to stay saying it was going to be free food. free food or not my apartment was one building away and i wanted out so i left. i stopped at the family mart grabbed myself a beer and went home. it was the best beer ever.
at monday's class "j" was a no show and i had to listen to more of "the masters" rants. he took up the first 30 minutes complaining. i'm not going to go into it all cuz i'm sure my now you guys get it. at point i almost left the class because he just wouldn't shut up. will some people ever learn.
that basically sums up the crazy weekend and monday. for a sport that is suppose to bring people together and help us mentally and phsyically this class does everything but that. hopefully now that "scrappy" will be departing things will get better. we can only hope.
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