Our
Olympics (continued)
Ice
Dance: Free Dance
Well this was an event enjoyed by Denise. I Absolutely loved it!
The music was varied and unusual and the
costumes were amazing. We must remember Petie
Pie has no sense of artistic taste what so ever. At home we go to the theatre and leave him at
home. Why you may ask, well it’s a waste
of money to take him. I found it
interesting, trying to work out why everybody was clapping during the
performance. Is it because the skaters
didn’t fall, or was it because they just enjoyed watching the skaters? I am going with the first – they didn’t fall.
We had no wardrobe malfunctions (Thank Goodness), and only one fall during the whole
event. The most exciting part for me was
seeing if the little kids (he was calling them ducks) who
skated on the ice after each performance could actually catch the stuffed toys
that were thrown on to the ice after most of the performances. It seemed a bit hit and miss with who got
stuffed toys, but the best hauls were for the Koreans and the final Canadian
pair who I predicted after their performance would win. I should be a judge as they did win gold. He predicted my eye,
no idea!!
I must say that if Denise has
the same enthusiasm for the other snow sports we have seen as I do for ice
skating, well she hides it quite well. I’m sure I struggled with staying awake for
the Men’s Slalom. Over 100 competitors! Freezing
my buns off!
Getting to the event was interesting as it
was only 30-40 mins up the road so we left a little later. When we got on the first bus there were only
two seats left. A women got on behind me
and made a commotion that she wanted to be with her friend who was already on
the bus. I decided we should get off and
get the next bus (10 min wait) as we weren’t in a hurry. He was grumbling!
The woman tried to thank me, but I
really wasn’t interested after the commotion she caused. No empathy! I gave her a hug and said it was OK! The next bus we missed as we had gone back
into the warmth and when we got into the line we missed by one. The third bus we were at the head of the line
and some old women (local) decided they were going to push in – not likely, and
I told them so and pointed to the back of the queue. They still tried unsuccessfully, but my
elbows won out. I saw they got on a few
people behind me. I sometimes wonder if he is going to be the grumbliest old
man or he has always been like this but only people at work had to put up with
his nonsense.
Men's
Slalom
The slalom was a good day. We missed out on seeing the first few
starters as we arrived about 15mins late.
It was always going to be cold as the forecast was for 0-1c with a wind
chill to reduce that by at least 10c, even with the sun out.
There were 108 starters (did you see that 108 starters! Bloody Hell! He whinges about the Ice Dancing) and all
got a run. The first 30 started after
the previous skier had finished or crashed out, but after the first 30, they
were let go when the previous skier had done 75% of the run or crashed out. It made watching a little confusing at time.
We could see the whole course but used the
big screen to watch the first half of the run.
To qualify for a second run, you had to finish your first run so there
were a few skiers went back up the course to get round a gate they had missed. Most just gave up. There were 56 who failed to finish the first
run. Thank Goodness!!!!
The second run decided the placing by adding
both run times together. For the second
run the first 30 started in reverse order and didn’t begin their run until
after the previous skier had finished or withdrawn. As skier 31 was already 6 seconds down, the
winner was going to come from the first 30.
Once the first 30 skiers finished, everybody decided to leave, including
us. The remaining skiers started as each
preceding skier got had done 75% of the run or crashed out. I have no idea how many saw the last skier,
but we were probably still waiting for a bus.
Lucky for me, we met at lovely
lady and her family from Iceland. She is
the girl that took the photo of me looking like the Michelin man. Anyway, we have exchanged email addresses and
plan to go there when we can.
Men's
Ice Hockey - Semifinals
When choosing tickets we decided that the
Men’s Ice Hockey semi-finals would provide us with the best games in the world.
Then the NHL decided to withhold all
their players, so you guessed it, USA failed to make the semis and Canada only
got Bronze. Sounds a little like they
got what they deserved.
We ended up seeing Czech Republic v Russia
(or Olympic Athletes of Russia) and Canada v Germany. The second game didn’t
start until 21:10 so it was another taxi home.
Another adventure!
The NHL has much to answer for after
stopping players from representing their own countries. Not only were teams without their stars, the
two semi-final games we saw were lacking the skills as well. Poor handling skills
and sloppy plays made it difficult to watch.
The Canada v Germany game saw the Canadians
doing everything but score. They should
have been well ahead, but their finishing was ineffective. They clawed their way back from 0-3 and 1-4,
but just couldn’t find the net.
The support was about 75% for Canada and we
had many of the Canadian athletes beside us. I hope the Canadians had all finished their
events as the beers just kept on coming in trays of eight or ten at a time.
It was our last late night and another taxi
ride home. Denise was navigating by
voice and the cabbie had no idea what she was saying. It was amusing watching as both thought they
were in control. At least we made it
home and I think the cabbie was relieved when we got out. Mind you, he is also poor
at conveying his thoughts to the locals! I’m so glad he found it so funny!!!!!
Alpine
Team Event
Alpine Team Event
Next morning, we were off early, and again
it seemed like the alarm went off as soon as we got to bed.
The Alpine Team Event was already getting
poor press as the top skiers had decided they wouldn’t compete for various
reasons. Some of the reasons even sounded plausible.
The weather was OK with 0c forecast and -6c Windchill,
but the sun was out, sort of.
Once again, we could see the whole course
and this time we didn’t require the big screen as it was a short course. It was being held on the hill beside where
the Slalom was held so we were in the same seating area.
The speed of the event was amazing with a
new race every minute. Each run only
took 20sec and it was two skiers, racing through parallel poles, first to the
finish as long as they made it through the course legally.
As we were on the aisle seats my view of the
finish was blocked occasionally by people deciding to chat or watch from the
stairs. I began telling people subtly (like being slapped in the face with a wet fish) to
move, but by the last race I nearly crash tackled someone. They all got the hint to move reasonably
quickly. I think one bloke was
important, but I wasn’t arrested so all good.
On the way home, the ground coming in to the
town near our hotel was covered with 1-2cm of snow. Denise missed that as she
was fast asleep. Because at this stage I was sick and as usual there is no care and concern
from my husband.
Gala
Exhibition
This was the event I was hoping I would
enjoy, but I had my doubts. I could tell
Denise wanted to go as it’s the fastest I have seen her walk on the trip so
far. Whoops, I lie. She actually ran a few days ago when we were
booked on a train that was departing in a matter of minutes. The cashier actually ran with us to ensure we
made the train. Where else would that
happen?
I am now convinced that the crowd applauds ice
skaters when a skater does a trick and doesn’t fall, although they also applaud
the ones who do fall once they get up.
The other thing I worked out was when a male
skater wears feathers he is probably good. Why else would he wear feathers? Unless he
lost a bet.
The event was enough to keep me awake, just,
and everyone appeared to enjoy themselves.
Very entertaining and I loved it! We are not surprised!
…and with that, our Winter Olympics are now over,
and it is with mixed emotions that we are leaving to begin the next stage of
our adventures.
Overall I thought the Olympics was
overpriced, but as it’s a captive market I suppose they can
do what they want, and they did. We were
told that what we encountered was normal and to be expected.
For the amount of money we spent and the
time the organisers are given to get things right, there is a lot that you
would expect to be done better.
Would we go to another Olympics? Probably
not. We are
going to Iceland!! Yeah!
Did we enjoy our time at the Olympics? Very
much.
Olympics
on TV
It has been frustrating trying to watch the
Olympics on TV over here. For a start
the commentary is in Korean and you can’t get an English version or even watch
it online in English. Then when they do
put up graphics they are in Korean, plastered over the English words, so not
only can’t you read what is happening, you can’t understand what is happening
either. The only way to get some order
is to have the Olympics website on the laptop and see who is competing in the
event and the updates are almost instant with scores/times.
Having several hundred channels to choose from, the Olympics was only shown on two channels. Most of the time they showed repeats of Korean wins in heats etc. If Korea wasn't involved, it was highly likely there would be no Olympics telecast at all.
Haesindang
Park
On one of our days off Denise decided we
should have a cultural experience as suggested by a nameless friend (Stinky
Dave). Stinky
was very keen for us to go to this Park.
We went to a place called Haesindang Park. Check it out on the net. Denise said it was a quick trip down and
back. We left around 10:00 and got home
around 16:30. The first bus trip was an
express bus to the next town/city, and after that it was a local bus which
stopped regularly. The coastline was
interesting and we even saw a cable car going across a small harbour. This area looked like it would be packed in
summer.
As we travelled on the bus I was watching
our progress on Google Maps, so I knew when to get off, but once off the bus it
was find your own way, although a local did give some directions. I realised quickly that this place isn’t
popular in winter, and we were the only non-Asians there. We only saw about 20 others in the whole time
we were there.
The place itself is quite interesting, but
when we went up to the headland I think the breeze was coming straight from
Siberia - it was freezing, so on went another two layers.
There were statues everywhere and legend has
it that a woman was left on a rock off the coast by her partner to collect
seaweed. Unfortunately, before her
partner returned she drowned in a storm. Now it gets weird. After that, the village people were not able
to catch fish. Some people said that it
was because of the dead woman. One day a
fisherman peed in the water and afterwards he was able to catch fish, so it was
thought that exposing himself to the deceased woman pleased her. To soothe her spirit further, the local
village people made several phallic wooden carvings and held religious
ceremonies on her behalf. After a while,
the fish slowly returned and the villagers were able to live comfortably again. Sounds a little dodgy to me.
Anyway, there are large phallic statues
everywhere showing all sorts or organs - standing erect, drooping, you name it
they have it. I even saw a model of a
couple about to have sex, or at least he looked ready. The park is otherwise known as Penis Park
Penis Park had all manner of
displays for which Old Fellows are depicted. There are the 12 Chinese New Year Penises, The
chair penises, the rocking horse, the totems and the list goes on. I could say more but I will refrain!
So, sorry to those friends of ours,
that will be offended but it is one of those experiences that happened on holidays.
Oh well, we can tick that off our list, if
we actually had a list and that park was on it.
Other
things
Thank to Google, I have worked out why
Google Maps doesn’t work properly over here in Korea. The Korean Government has blocked it apart
from providing public transport information.
Presumably to stop the North Koreans if and when they get across the
border.
The hotel stairs are always an obstacle
course as I assume nobody, except me, uses them. They are used for storing the rubbish bags
and always seem to have door stops in the middle of the landings for each
floor.
Since arriving in Korea, we have seen the
latest of Samsung, LG and Hyundai with hydrogen cars, electronics in everything
including whitegoods, and even the new Samsung 9.
Something that surprised me a little is that
Korea is dirty once you leave the tourist path. Not as dirty as Kiribati or Tanzania, but
rubbish in many places. In the tourist
spots there are cleaners, but beyond that you see rubbish on the ground.
I have worked out why you bow to taxi
drivers when you leave the cab. Try
saying goodbye from outside the cab without bending and also there is the
mandatory check to see if you have left anything.
Unsurprisingly I woke up one morning with a
sore throat. So far it hasn’t progressed
to anything further…Denise also came down with a cold a few days later.
Once you find the right restaurants here
(with meat) the food is amazing. We have
had a few great meals, and some so so. So so means it was spicy and heaven forbid, the food has flavour.
The beers here comes in 500ml stubbies
but it can’t be too high in alcohol. I
knocked over 3 with no problem or does that mean I’m a soak!
We have met some great people during our
time at the Olympics, some of whom we will visit on this trip and possibly
others in future trips.
A word of warning to you all, there is a possibly
a further blog coming up in 2019 as I have agreed to ride (bicycle) across the
USA (LA to New York), and Denise is coming along as one of the road crew. Yes, another charity ride, and I know I’m a
sucker for those things. When will I ever
learn? Never!!!
Big hugs Everyone
Denise and the boy that drives me
Mad
