Checking off the bucket list...

"Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody."

-Scott Hamilton

   This past weekend I got to cross off going to the Olympics from my bucket list.  I am a bit obsessed with the Olympics, as in every two years I glue my butt to the couch and watch 24/7 for the two weeks that the events are happening.  I love every minute from the opening ceremony, to the commentators trying cultural activities and touring the host nation, to the tear inducing magic winning moments, to those amazing P&G thank you mom commercials! I love every single second of those two magical weeks.  When I first moved to Korea I had only planned on staying for two years.  Those two years were up last October, the reason for me staying? The Olympics! How could I pass up the opportunity to live in the host nation and attend the Olympics in person?! So I signed on for another year with the condition that Lindsey and I got Friday, February 9th, off to attend the Pyeongchang 2018 Opening Ceremony! 

We took the train to Gangneung early Friday morning.  From Seoul the train was about 2 hours. From there we went to the Olympic Park and had so much fun visiting all of the Olympic sponsors pavilions.  I am becoming way to relaxed in my old age and didn't even think to double check where the Opening Ceremony was being held.  I just assumed it was being held at Olympic Park.  It was not.  It was in Pyeongchang which is about an hour away by bus.

Here are some of my favorite parts of the ceremony!

Lindsey and I were not able to sit together for the ceremony but we both got to sit next to the North Korean cheerleaders! If you look in the bottom right half you can see the flags of the group by me and then Lindsey was sitting right next to the other group on the left side.

I know the opening ceremony is usually filled with symbolism and tells about the country's history but honestly I had no idea what was happening most of the time.  When you are actually there watching the ceremony you miss out on the commentator explaining everything.

We also had absolutely no idea who these four singers were.  I found out from my Korean co-workers later that they were rock singers from the 80's.

The ceremony was held in an open arena so it was freezing cold and the wind was whipping.  Don't get me wrong it was amazing to be there but its hard to enjoy yourself when you are trying to stay warm and are completely lost as to what is happening on the stage.  That all changed in the magical moment Yuna Kim showed up.  I forgot all about the cold and almost started crying.  Yuna Kim was the figure skating gold medal winner from Sochi and is Korea's darling.  All of my kids idolize her so its hard not to get swept up in that love for this person.  From Yuna Kim showing up to the final fireworks I was in awe.  

We stayed the weekend, so on Saturday we did some more exploring of the Olympic Park and one of the other venues for the skiing events.

This was supposed to be a giant vending machine and when you put in the coin you got a prize.  We only got coke but some people got teddy bears and canvas bags.

We also were able to visit some other countries "hospitality houses."  These houses are areas for their fans and athletes to hang out and to share their culture with other people.  The next summer Olympics is in Tokyo.  At the Japan house we were able to try out some new sports added for the 2020 Olympics.  I think this is how you Tae Kwon Do right?

We then visit Austria House, Swiss House, and Swedish House.

At the Swedish house we were able to try using the guns that they use for the biathlon. It is so much harder than it looks.  And then we filled up on delicious Swedish meatballs straight from Ikea! 

After visiting all of the houses we went back to where the Opening Ceremony was held and played with some new Samsung products at their pavilion.  The new Galaxy phone is waterproof so this section allowed us to play with our photo underwater.

Here we got to play a virtual reality game where we shot electricity stealing monsters.  Again didn't really follow the purpose but it was fun!

On Sunday we attended the team figure skating event.  We saw the women's short program, ice dancing short program, and pair's long program.  The competition went on a bit longer than expected so we were only able to check out the outside of Canada House!

The skating was also amazing.  It was so cool to see some of my friends posting photos of them watching the Olympics on TV knowing that I was really there! The most surreal part of the whole experience was seeing the NBC sports commentators actually there and commentating.  I have spent so much time listening to them on TV its so cool to see them do it in person.

One of those commentators is of course the amazing Scott Hamilton.  We were watching him from afar and then saw someone approach him.  When he agreed to a photo with that person I practically ran to be next!

After the ice dancing portion ended we had a 15 minute break.  In that time we spotted one of the Japanese ice dancers just hanging out in the stadium so we asked for a photo.

Some Korean girls printed these posters to cheer on the Canadian ice dancing couple Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir.  They went on to get first in the ice dancing competition.

We also got to hold one of the Olympic torches in the Samsung booth!

Because it was so cold at the opening ceremony we were each given a swag bag to keep us warm.  We were given a hat, blanket, poncho thing, seat cushion, and hot packs.  They also had a Korean drum and this awesome mini light up torch pen.  If you watched the opening ceremony and saw lights bobbing in the crowd that was these.  We also collected so many pins over the weekend.  Every pavilion and house we went to gave out pins.

My kids were so excited for the Olympics.  One of the moms told me her daughter watched the opening ceremony and any time they showed a white person (men and women) her daughter would scream, "Erin Teacher".  I brought back stickers of the mascot for my kids.  On Friday one of the moms sent me photos of her daughter drawing the sticker! How cute!

Next week our school year comes to and end! Thursday is graduation.  My kids have worked so hard and so have I! Our graduation is of course about the Olympics.  Here's a small taste of our performance: