Ice Skating

Date: 12/18

This past weekend I went ice skating in the 'city'/'town' next to me.  The town is called Iksan; it is slightly bigger than Gunsan.

One of my friends, Lindsay, has been in Korea for 2 years and, if she can, is trying to stay a 3rd!  Because she's been here to so long, and she teaches in schools way out in the boonies, she owns a car.  It's surprising how much of a luxury it is to ride in a car.  After 2 months, I really start to understand what a life-changing invention a car is.

Lindsay picked me up around 11 and then we picked up Jen--another foreign teacher.  Sidenote: Jen and her boyfriend James are hosting a Christmas Party on Thursday--I am very excited!  After a 30 minute ride, we pull up into a small parking lot with only one small building.  I was a little confused until I learned that the rink was underground.

We go and buy our rink admission--which was super confusing.  Jen and I don't have skates, but Lindsay (who is from Canada) does.  We spent a good five minutes trying to figure out how much it was.  In the end, we all walk away feeling like we've been through a Korean tornado.  Lindsay said she's been here for almost 2 years and that was one of the worst communication issues she's had.  And Lindsay speaks enough Korean to be able to order tickets and such without hassle.  So it really was just a confusing time.

Anyway, we are the only ones at the ice rink.  It's about 11.30 by the time we get to the rink and it takes us another 30 minutes to figure out what size skates we are.  At this time the man who was helping us with the shoes asked if we minded him cleaning the ice.  We all shrugged and said, "sure, okay!"

And this started the Epic Zamboni March.  I found out that Lindsay actually taught ice skating lessons for 8 or 10 YEARS before she came to Korea.  So this girl knows a thing or two about skating.  And she told us that it would only take 10 to 15 minutes to clean the ice.

Started out fine....and then it just kept going and going and going.  This man took over 40 minutes to clean the ice. He went around just brushing off the extra snow and then went around a second time with the hot water to make the ice real smooth.

AND THEN, we were told we couldn't get on the ice until the water had frozen (which doesn't make a lick of difference.)  So, we literally had to watch water freeze for 10 minutes.

Jen had to go a wedding that afternoon, so the amount of time we actually spent on the ice was really small.  But, we had a real good time while it lasted:

Me, Lindsay, and Jen

I really wish I had pulled out my own camera and snapped a couple shots of Lindsay on the ice.  She was doing jumps, twirls, spins, one leg skating, and all the fancy stuff.  It was impressive to watch.  I have never been around someone who can actual skate.  I mean, I can go backwards and forwards, but this girl knows how to skate.  It was neat to watch.

On the way home, we stopped at a Paris Bagette we had seen on the way to the rink.  They had this cute snowman with the face cut out so that you could stick your head in.  I don't think the Paris Bagette people actually intend to see anyone actually use the snowman, but three foreign girls changed that real quick!

Of course, after looking at this photo, I realize that we befriended a seriously disturbed snowman.  I mean...he is creeply telling everyone that "You are not alone" and he's serving up one of his own kind on a platter.  Hello? We made friends with a cannibal.