Earth, Wind, Fire, back to the Shire

i remember going to bed fully realizing that i was waking up in 4 hours.....it’s strange how the knowledge of future events clouds the body’s ability to function properly, like say when one knows that 4 hours sleep is better than none at all and yet the brain zips around like a hummingbird trying to cross the ocean after drinking an espresso and amphetamine cocktail

4:30am was a sadistically horrible time to wake up, but excitement gets the best of you from time to time.....by 5:20am, i was in downtown Kangnam getting picked up by Lee.....I was introduced to Lee’s friend Mi-Hwa before scooting across town to pick up Jina.....then we headed straight for the mountains under the angsty suggestive tones of old Smashing Pumpkins and Green Day albums

after stopping to purchase gloves for about $10 and pick up board rentals, we reached the park by about 8am.....the weather was flawless and the slopes were heaped with snow and well-groomed.....around 2pm, a popular Korean movie star showed up in the main chalet for an autograph and question session whereby the mighty din of excited Koreans almost drowned out the soothing tones of my cell phone that i hadn’t a hope of reaching through three layers of pockets and zippers

boarding was intense and i remembered how freeing it is to fly down a hill with naught but the wind.....once the hills turned icy and the sun began to set, we purchased some emergency supplies (food and booze) and checked into our chalet 10 minutes down the main street.....to say that the chalet was nicer than my apartment is like saying that liquid nitrogen is a bit chilly.....it was exactly the kind of ski lodge that one might remember from movies, only cleaner, smaller and more efficient.....and our ‘party of four’ raged quietly for about 5 hours until everyone passed out in makeshift furniture constructed from extra linen supplies left in the closets.....after a nice long 5 hour sleep, we packed up and somehow headed back to Seoul and work and classes and teaching and pain and such