Author: Melody Ann

We certainly had a good time here! We worked, learned, spectated and  played! Now it’s time to pack it up and hope we make it back safely home!

I happened to be at the right place at the right time and was able to carry the torch for a few precious moments! It was much lighter than I would expect. I noticed the handle was not meant for holding for long periods of time as it did not have grip holds and it would easily become slippery.  Super happy!

When we came to Korea as a class, I didn’t really know any of the other students very well and many come from different degree focus areas.  I am pleased to report that we are all making the most of every moment and friendships are also being made along the way.

The Media Center is the media’s main location for eating and sleeping in the coastal cluster.  The Korean OGOC connected media with the history of paper and writing in their country and an interactive expo for the media to learn appreciate the Korean culture.  They had hold printing tools and a letter press that were operational.  They had you operate them to make your own books and paper prints. They even made you your own Korean name as a stamp to take home and use later.

Additionally, they had clothes from another area to try on.   I thought this was a wonderful idea, and really enjoyed the experience.

Trails and Maps in Korea:

While I am here in Korea, I am also training for Boston Marathon.  This means that I need to do several long runs, if I want to feel good while running Boston.  I ran several times while here.  My longest runs have been 18 and 19.5 miles.  I was a little unsure how enjoyable these runs would be as I didn’t know if there would be trails. I was also, told that Asia in general, there are a lot of people, so I was also prepared to weave through crowds. Once I did get here, I learned that  Naver is the best app to view trails and roads and get directions in Korea (not google maps).  I found an amazing trail network in Busan, I was able to run 18 miles easily with-out issues, it was also scenic. I didn’t have time to run in Seoul; however, I may have time on the way home.  Once in the Pyeongchang region, I needed to get that 20 miler in.  Again, I was able to find trails to keep me running for about 20 miles.  They converted a wetlands area in to a trail network. Additionally, there are a couple miles of trail along the beach, that is enjoyable to run.  In both regions (Peyongchang and Buson) there were several local people running, not just me, we smiled and wave as we passed each other.

Below are a couple pictures or my route and the views along the way. Bottom line, I recommend packing your running shoes and rent a bike when you come to Korea!

Korean Culture

It turns out, everyone seems to have an opinion about K-pop and Korean movies.  Since I was going to ride the train from Busan to Seoul, my local Korean friends insisted that I watch the movie “Train to Busan”, the night before I took the train.  This was a Korean Zombie movie,  on the train almost everyone turns into a zombie and dies by the end of the movie. This was filmed or based on the aactual KTX-the high speed train I was riding the next day. There were no English subtitles, but the movie was graphic enough, where they were not needed.  When watching the movie, I was surprised that there was such long tunnels. IT turns out the tunnels are really that long! Clearly, after watching this Movie, I did not sleep on the train ride to Seoul.

This was my first opening ceromonies.  The opening ceremonies were amazing, but really cold!  To help keep us warm, they had warming centers where you could stand in a room just to warm up.  They also had a bag of gifts on your chair.  This back included a hat, a seat warmer, a pen, a blanket, and a toy to be used sometime during the ceremony. Just like any event large event with few ingress and egress routes, logistics were the biggest challenge. The PyeongChang Olympic Park venue is not near the main city, so we needed taxis or busses.  Then there are lines to get to parking. Once you park, you need to then take a shuttle to venue area.  Once you get there they turned a small town into a winter wonderland. It was cold, but beautiful.  I felt like I was watching an event at the Kennedy center.  General comments from other spectators was that the event didn’t have the pop of other openings. However, I don’t know that it needed a pop.

Today I am in Busan, visiting friends.  Busan is in the southern region of Korea.  This is a location where the torched passed through in November of 2017 leading up to the Games, so there is a touch of the Olympic spirit here as well. At the beach they have Soohorang and Bandabi statues for people to take pictures with.

Additionally, there is a are disposable water bottles sold at convenience stores with the Olympic Rings.

I also noticed an Olympic building when riding from the Busan airport to the Marine City area. Speaking of the Airport, when riding from Seoul to Busan, Korean Air did not have any of the Olympic themed magazines or marketing items. This implies that the marketing for international flights is different than national flights, and for some reason, they did not feel the need to market internal to the country.

Korean Air is one of the official Korean Olympic sponsors for the Games. I was lucky enough that I found an direct flight on Korean Air on Korean Air.  So far, it’s been great! The flight staff have been super nice, one thing that took me aback was just how polished the flight attendance are.  My last flight was to/from Germany (very different experience). They had a couple items with PyeongChang 2018 Olympic branding. One was a sleep pack for the trip another was a magazine. This was the magazine for the airlines.

The Morning Calm had a picture of the Korean bobsled team on the front and magazine included articles about food in the regions near PyeongChang as well as a short overview of the Olympics.  Unfortunately, I forgot to reserve a seat, so I am stuck in the middle for the next 13 hours (lesson learned). Also, if you are flying from Dulles, I recommend doing web check-in. Once you get there, there may be a smaller line for web check in, as there are no automated kiosks for faster check in– I only check 2 items at it was free.  There are other people there with several boxes with shipping locations… I am not sure what that was all about, may be someone can explain that to me later.

Arriving at the Inchon incheon airport was pretty easy going, after landing I needed to stop and get my credentials laminated, the Olympic Welcome Center process was easy to find, and the line moved quickly.

I was able wonder around the airport for a bit because had a transfer to Busan to see a friend before heading back to Seoul. I kept a look out for Olympic merchandise and marketing.

Marketing was subtle, Samsung had a large screen and interactive demos.

It took awhile to find any Olympic branded merchandise.  They only store I found was by gate 252 in the transfer terminal, that was marketed for the Olympics!

They do warn you to expect an increased time for additional screening through customs.