Halfway Through the Olympic Journey: More From the WRAL Team in South Korea

WRAL-TV’s Jamie Munden captures the Olympic rings on the beach in South Korea.

Competition is underway in South Korea and multiple Americans are already winning medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The WRAL-TV team in PyeongChang has established a steady rhythm of covering events and finding great stories about the people, the food and the Olympic events.

“So basically we’re about halfway through this little journey,” said WRAL-TV News Photojournalist Richard Adkins. “The time is flying by right now. This is a fun crew to be with, we’re having a very busy, but enjoyable time. And I’m especially a big fan of our food outings… And eating out is pretty damn inexpensive. Seriously, or we go out to eat, some nights we don’t even spend $10.”

Speaking of food, Adkins and his fellow WRAL-TV News Photojournalist Jamie Munden got a special surprise at a recent dinner. Munden explained:

WRAL-TV’s Jamie Munden and Richard Adkins stumbled upon a new restaurant for dinner and ended up getting a big surprise, a free meal. Munden said, “The thing they wanted from us the most was to take our picture with the chef mascot which of course we obliged.”

So Richard Adkins and I took a little longer walk tonight looking for dinner. We walked out of the little neighborhood close to the media village and went to an area next to the Athlete’s Village. We stumbled upon some place with a cool little chef mascot.

We wandered in and they were serving ramen with you choice of meat. I had the beef. RAD went Chinese beef. It was a great meal minus the fact that all they had for us to drink was beer or hot water. When we finished we went to pay and they waved us off.

All we can figure is the place was having some kind of preview/soft opening or we joined a cult or the mafia. Not sure which. The thing they wanted from us the most was to take our picture with the chef mascot which of course we obliged. We will just tell ourselves they’re big fans of the media.

WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter Kathryn Brown has been learning a little Korean and FaceTiming with her kids back home. She watched Apex native Randi Heesoo Griffin skating in Team Korea’s second women’s ice hockey game and NC speed skater Heather Bergsma trying to win gold.

From WRAL-TV’s Kathryn Brown: Having some fun at Olympic Park!

Her fellow WRAL-TV Anchor/Reporter David Crabtree ran into NBC Anchor Lester Holt on the beach and learned behind-the-scenes details about the Opening Ceremonies from a camera operator he met on the media bus.

The crew has adapted quickly to life in South Korea Olympic Zone, navigating doing laundry and coordinating eating schedules with aplomb.

“My new best friend is Google Translate, an incredible app that will allow real time translation, you can even use the camera in the phone to read menus or directional signs in real time,” said Adkins.
It’s pretty cool.”

Read more about the crews adventures on WRAL.com and WRALSportsFan.com:

From the Winter Games: What you didn’t see
From the Winter Olympics: Kathryn Brown gets opportunity to unleash curiosity
From the Winter Games: Language and Laughter
The Olympics: The world comes together
WRAL VIDEO: Kathryn Brown and David Crabtree go shopping at the Olympics
WRAL VIDEO: Fire Arts Festa ignites ahead of Winter Games
Find more stories from early in the WRAL crew’s Olympic journey on the Inside WRAL blog

Find the latest scores, medal standings, television schedule and much more on WRAL.com and WRALSportsFan.com by searching for ‘Olympics’.

The WRAL Olympics team is reporting on WRAL-TV every evening, live at 5:00, 6:00, the Olympic Zone at 7:30, and WRAL’s 11:00 News. Brown and Crabtree are also posting daily on WRAL.com and Facebook.

SLIDESHOW: More From the First Half of the WRAL Team’s Olympics Journey

From WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins: Finally made it to the beach here in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins: Finally made it to the beach here in South Korea.
WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown & WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden (center right) having fun while covering the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins: Finally made it to the beach here in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown: Having some fun at Olympic Park!
WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins has fun while covering the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins: Become a photojournalist, they said. You will travel the world, it will be exciting! Sunday night, editing my Monday story while doing laundry in a converted parking garage.
WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden captures the Olympic rings on the beach in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown: Having some fun at Olympic Park!
One the many delicious meals WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown is enjoying in South Korea.
WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown bids a good morning from South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown: Staying connected!! 7,000 miles and a 14hr time difference is a challenge, but we are making it work! Today I taught my son some Korean words! He wanted to know “flu” (poor kid has been down for the count for a few days), nightmare (Tamiflu is giving him nightmares!), hockey, football and all our names! I’m thrilled to help broaden his horizons!!!!!
From WRAL-TV's Kathryn Brown: Good morning from South Korea! Practicing my Hangul (Korean alphabet) on the frosty bus windows. This means “PyeongChang".
WRAL-TV's David Crabtree snapped this photo of the Golden Arches' giant fries while covering the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: Another night in the mix zone with some happy skaters from the Netherlands and three NBC crews. (He had been there to to cover the women’s 1500m speed skating event with Heather Bergsma who is from NC. She was disppointed in her 5th place finish and did not come through the mixed zone as athletes are required to do.)
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: Another night in the mix zone with some happy skaters from the Netherlands and three NBC crews. (He had been there to to cover the women’s 1500m speed skating event with Heather Bergsma who is from NC. She was disppointed in her 5th place finish and did not come through the mixed zone as athletes are required to do.)
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: 5pm live shots at home mean a 4am call for us. We are 14 hours ahead of NC.
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: 5pm live shots at home mean a 4am call for us. We are 14 hours ahead of NC.
WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden and Richard Adkins stumbled upon a new restaurant for dinner and ended up getting a big surprise, a free meal. Munden said, "The thing they wanted from us the most was to take our picture with the chef mascot which of course we obliged."
WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden and Richard Adkins stumbled upon a new restaurant for dinner and ended up getting a big surprise, a free meal.
WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden and Richard Adkins stumbled upon a new restaurant for dinner and ended up getting a big surprise, a free meal.
WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden and Richard Adkins stumbled upon a new restaurant for dinner and ended up getting a big surprise, a free meal.
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: I’ve been in some media scrums before but this one has to rank right up there waiting for the Korean Unified women’s hockey team to come through the mix zone for interviews.
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: isited the Superstore yesterday. Soohorang the games mascot is everywhere along with the Paralympics mascot Bandbai. Lots of cool things to buy if you’ve got enough Won or Visa (which is the only card they take)...
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: I’ve been in some media scrums before but this one has to rank right up there waiting for the Korean Unified women’s hockey team to come through the mix zone for interviews.
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: The 2018 Winter Olypmics mascots
WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden covering the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: isited the Superstore yesterday. Soohorang the games mascot is everywhere along with the Paralympics mascot Bandbai. Lots of cool things to buy if you’ve got enough Won or Visa (which is the only card they take)...
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: isited the Superstore yesterday. Soohorang the games mascot is everywhere along with the Paralympics mascot Bandbai. Lots of cool things to buy if you’ve got enough Won or Visa (which is the only card they take)...
From WRAL-TV's Jamie Munden: isited the Superstore yesterday. Soohorang the games mascot is everywhere along with the Paralympics mascot Bandbai. Lots of cool things to buy if you’ve got enough Won or Visa (which is the only card they take)...
WRAL-TV's Richard Adkins covers the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea.