At least this past weekend allowed me to cross some things off my mental checklist of things to do before I leave. First off was visiting a museum. Yes, I have done this before in Korea, and it wasn't a giant check on the list, but it was still interesting and one of the more cultural experiences that I have had in the country. Not one of the most important or memorable, mind you (though taking jumping pictures in front of a giant poster of the Taj Mahal doesn't really happen everyday - see picture on the right), but interesting. I spent a couple of hours checking out pottery, shipwrecks (like the one in the picture on the left with Jodie) and taking pictures in front of the G20 summit sign (see the other picture on the left which also involves my uber-adorable new kitty-cat hoodie. Yes, it has ears.), so all in all it was a fun experience in any case.

Another giant check that I can put on this mental list is next to trying to ski. Note that the check goes next to the trying mental note rather than the skiing one. This is because I didn't actually get very much skiing done on the trip. Due to some rather unfortunate situations (stupid boots) I ended up arriving at the resort after everyone else and getting rather lost. Thankfully, I had someone with me to help me get my skis on, teach me how to move forward and point me in the direction of the bunny slope. Unfortunately, she turned out to be highly mistaken. After falling over trying to get onto a ski lift, I got to the top of the hill only to find that it was really rather high and rather steep. My new friend tried to teach me how to stop, but this attempted lesson was a bit of a fail, ending up with me on my ass enouraging her to go ahead and promising that when she came back to the top I would either be ready and raring to go or else, I was a hopeless case and we would try to find me another way down. An hour later, it was the middle of lunchtime and there was not a foreign face in sight. I was stuck at the top of a mountain, and there was no way I was going to ski down, no way they were going to let me skilift down and I was feeling pretty damn screwed. Cue the random foreign boy who happened to climb off the skilift about fifteen minutes later and, when faced with my cries of woe, helped me communicate to the Korean skilift attendant that I couldn't get down. Cue the patrol arriving with a stretcher and cue me being pulled down the mountain in said stretcher only to get to the bottom and climb out of it completely unscathed in the midst of a rather large group of curious bystanders. Cue the end of my skiing attempts. It turned out that the slope I was on was the hardest of the course (not even the girl who had helped me at the start could handle it and had ended up walking, skidding and sliding rather than skiing down the mountain). When I saw the actual bunny slope, I was a little disappointed because I SO could have managed that, but there was no time and I had given up. But, I have a story that involves trying to ski now, and I think that deserves a check even if it isn't actual skiing. I also have a picture of me in all my skiing glory with some people that I met on the trip (see left). So overall, I think it was a win.

And the final check of the weekend is more of a half check. You see, I may not have travelled around Asia yet, but I now have plans to do so. More than just plans in fact! I have tickets and a hotel booking! Come 29 December, I am going to be jetting off to Bangkok, boarding a nighttrain to Koh Samui and spending 4 wonderful nights in beautiful Thailand. Well, I am hoping they will be wonderful and beautiful. We are going there on a budget after all. But we are hopeful, and that is what really matters! So hooray for hotels and flights and travelling! Hopefully this will be the start of many travels!