This past weekend we decided to join some friends to go ice skating in Seoul. There are several skating rinks set up in different areas of the city, but we went to the skating rink that was at City Hall, in the middle of downtown Seoul I guess you would say. We got there at 4:30 but tickets were selling out fast so we couldn't skate until 7 pm. The tickets were outrageously cheap, 1,000 won per person (which is equivalent to about 73 cents US right now), and included skate rentals and skating for an hour. If you did not have gloves, they made you buy them for 500 won (half the price of skating)--they were ADAMANT that everyone wear gloves. haha they were really cheap gloves but of course Michael had to buy some because he left his own at work...they had all these strings hanging off of them and closely resembled gardening gloves. haha Anyway, it was really cold when we first got there, so we went to sit in a Starbucks and chat with people until it got closer to time to skate. When we finally got to go get in line, the temperature had dropped even more, because of course now it was dark. It was SOOOOO cold! I think they said it was the coldest day of the year maybe? Anyway, we froze our toes off but that didn't stop us. What almost did stop me, though, was the extremely horrible excuse for ice skates that we had to wear. The blade on the skates was just a blunt piece of metal, there were pieces of plastic sticking into your feet and digging in on some of them, and they gave no ankle support. But, what do you expect when you spend cheon won?! So, I skated a little and then took some time to take some photos of people skating in action. There are more photos posted on my Facebook page. Anyway, it was a fun experience, though a little chaotic. There were SOO many people, and they don't smooth over the ice at all, so there were bumps and holes in the ice, and the workers would go around with a pitcher of water and pour it into the holes and then put little orange cones around the area. It was quite amusing. Also, my right skate would not stay straight and kept slipping out from beneath me, I felt like a moron! I had to keep asking Michael if he remembered that I could skate decently when on normal skates!! He did reassure me. :) My feet were killing me after the hour, but it was worth the pain (I think). It also made my knees hurt, randomly. I never fell, so I don't know why.
Here are some photos from the night:
Me and Becky with a random blue guy that all the kids were having their picture taken with.
I guess it is still considered "Seasons" here in Korea.
Me and Amanda (she is crouching down to reach me).
Michael, Travis, and Shawn.
Shannon, Josue, Becky, Abbey, and Jessica.
Hehe, here is the little guy fixing the ice.
I really like this photo of us!
Near the end--right about the time that we started our own little waegukin (foreigner) dance party on the ice.
And here is a video for your enjoyment! I guess this was right after they made an announcement saying that it was time to get off the ice...you can see the chaos of people trying to shove their way out of the rink. haha That is Korea for you!!
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