The weekend in Pyeongchang was a great retreat from the busy-ness of school and city life. Joy and I met at in our town 8:00 on Saturday morning and took the subway into Seoul, where we met Catherine and M and caught a bus from there to Pyeongchang. Meanwhile, T and H-k and their two little girls E and L went by car. It was about a 3-hour bus ride through Seoul and east to the mountains, but it was pleasant. Cherry and lilac trees and azalea bushes were all in bloom, and the trees are beginning to show small, bright green leaves, making the scenery very pretty. Catherine and M slept, and Joy and I talked the whole way there. We beat T, H-k, and the kids by about an hour, so we checked into our condo and walked around for a while. We stayed at a ski resort, but since it's most certainly off-season, we practically had the whole place to ourselves. It was a little surreal but also really nice to be away from the crowdedness of the Seoul area.
After T, H-k, and the girls showed up, we walked to a restaurant in town for a very nice, long lunch--acorn jelly, kimchi pancakes, spicy red chicken soup, cold noodles, and kimchi, of course. Yum! Sorry, I didn't take any pictures. After lunch, the men went back to the resort to play pool, while the women and little girls visited Herbnara ("Herb Land"), a giant herb garden and park. It was a little too early in the year, especially at a higher elevation, for much to be growing, but there were still a few things in bloom, and it was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
At Herbnara:
After returning from Herbnara, Joy and I went for a walk around the resort. We walked past the ski slopes to one of the golf courses and then followed the golf cart path around part of the golf course. It was starting to get dark, so we didn't follow it the whole way around. We still had some time before we had planned to meet back at the condo for dinner, so we went to the bowling alley and watched two teams compete against each other. The two teams were obviously some kind of group, and they were having a lot of fun, so we really enjoyed cheering them on. When the games were over, we headed back to the condo for a wonderful dinner of samgyeopsal (without kimchi for a change). Yum!
We all ended up sitting in the living room and talking until 1 AM and then headed to bed. I didn't sleep all that well because the room I was in was very hot and dry. This didn't help the sinus and chest congestion I've been trying to fight off all week, and I woke up with no voice and feeling pretty uncomfortable this morning. The resort had a sauna (showers, public bath, and steam rooms), so Joy and I headed there for a couple hours this morning. I felt a lot better after that. My voice is still pretty hoarse, though. We went back to the condo for breakfast--ramyeon noodles and cherry tomatoes (yum!)--and sat around and talked some more. Then we all went out and took a walk in the woods behind the resort. It was fun to see the tiny leaves on the trees and the little flowers just beginning to poke through the soil.
After our walk, it was time for Catherine, M, Joy, and me to catch the bus back to Seoul. We made it back in the city by 3 PM, ate lunch together, and then headed back home. It was a whirlwind of a weekend but a good time. It was a lot of fun to be with everyone without talking (too much) about work or running off to classes or being interrupted by students. It made me realize yet again how fortunate I am to be surrounded by people I really enjoy. I am thankful for the ways in which each of them contributes to my experience here in Korea and makes my life better.
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