Thursday 26 March 2009

How Do Koreans Exercise?

As you live your day to day lifestyles, I am sure that you find yourselves wondering what a Korean fitness class may be like. You are in luck, for today I will describe to you my first encounter with a Korean spinning class.

Back in the day and in the little parts of Wooster, Ohio, I was an avid "spinner." For those of you who are unclear as to what this pastime consists of, it is essentially riding a stationary bicycle at an intense pace for a specified amount of time. I cannot clearly recall my method of thinking, but I loved to exercise in any form that I could. Spinning and kickboxing classes were my ultimate favorites. Since my university days, I have not tortured myself in such a fashion. My gym provides spinning for its members and well...I suppose "the curiosity killed the cat," for I wanted to find out how on earth they do it over here. God have mercy on my soul.

So I, a creature with orange hair and white skin who appears as though I have never gotten a kiss of sunlight, lurked into the room where spinning is conducted. Of course I do not speak the language so I just smiled and hopped on a two-wheeled devil. An array of souls filled up the class, low and behold, I was not the only foreigner. A small and very serious looking spinner man with a decorative rainbow tattoo on his leg shimmied his way onto a bike about two away from where I was stationed. The lights cut out, the multi-colored disco began to flash and 'oh shoot, here we go!' I thought.

The bass began to boom at an increasingly rapid pace and the lyrics were a complete mystery to me. All of a sudden, I had drawn the perfect parallel. My feet were peddling to the max but I felt as though I were at a rave club in the middle of an unknown (but still Asian) land. The words of the instructor befuddled me as well, but I can take a fitness class in any tongue because all you have to do is watch the limbs of fellow classmates. The weekend prior to this Monday evening, I attended a concert of one of my favorite electronic dj's of all time, Benny Benassi. From the concert, I still had a hot pink glow bracelet in my freezer at home. I really wish somebody would have let me know to bring it to the gym that night.

The instructor was a hoot and was certainly the star of the show on his bike elevated above the rest of us. He knew every word to every song and he had some serious swivel hips as he shook it to the beat without a bead of perspiration. I anticipated glitter, whistles and angel dust to flutter down from the disco ball. We just kept peddling and peddling and all of a sudden, the cool down was upon us. The class got off of the bikes and then the instructor had us doing stretches that I have only seen middle-aged, Korean men and women do. The first of these "Korean stretches" are to place both hands on the waist and move the waist in a circular motion. The second stretch is to hunker down in an almost-squat position and then bounce on the knee caps...to keep them limber or something perhaps. I really have no idea what either of these Korean stretches do, but try them sometime and let me know.

All in all, that was a hilarious Korean experience. That being said, I'm ready to mount the bike again next Monday night at 8 p.m.

Friday 6 March 2009

Mexico Meets Korea...y Dice Queeee?


If you are not aware, I had my first visitor last weekend!!! Of course, it was no other than my lovely friend Jonathan from Monterrey, Mexico! Approximately two weeks prior to our overdue rendezvous (it had been about seven months), Jon contacted me to let me know that he was headed my way to attend expositions in both Tokyo and Seoul pertinent to his family business. After chatting with Jon while he was in Tokyo, it was apparent that he had already developed a disdain for the abundance of rice in the East and small amount of English spoken. He got into Seoul on Thursday afternoon and got extremely lost in taxis while searching for the exposition (per my directions and the extreme language barrier). After Jon's Korean escapades all over the city, I found one of my favorite people in the mundo passed out in the dark on my bed when I got home from work. It was then that I knew all was right with the world.

Jon and I had tons to discuss as we galloped out of the J-Castle (my apartment building...full name: "The House of the Lord") to feast on scrumptious Korean style nachos, burritos and quesadillas at Dos Tacos. We were like lost Chihuahua puppies trying to find any morsel that hinted at similarities to our comfortable Mexican surroundings. On Friday, Jon and I left The House of the Lord to pursue our livelihoods (mine: 6 months left and counting).Justify Full

Friday night was the first night I had ever been to Outback Steakhouse in Korea! I had been craving one of their salads (and to balance it out, we had a "Bloomin' Onion") for the longest time. We met up with my co-workers Carly and Sue. It was a big night out to dinner and was topped off with watching season 5 episodes of The Office for Kindergarten graduation ceremonies followed bright and early on Saturday morning. To this day, I am so thankful for Jon's timely visit because I had my own personal photographer at graduation! I have included a video taken by Jon of my baby Armadillos. Please pay special attention to Sally Cho (the pee-er) and her lack of interest in our performance. I made the costumes myself and I plan to add it to my resume so employers flock to me upon my return.

After the ceremony and dance performances, we all went to lunch together and then Jon and I peeled out in a cab to get home and watch The Office with Jon's mimosa-like concoctions. I cannot get enough of the top American drama and I am so thankful that my visitor a) brought the show and b) shares the same enthusiasm...we quoted it almost all day, everyday... even as we went souvenir shopping and sightseeing at the Seoul Tower, the highest point in the city and a large tourist attraction. As we hustled to the top (via cable car of course), I reminded Jonathan of Ariel rushing with Flounder and the barrels of oil to crash the wedding before sunset. We were able to strategically place ourselves at the tower before sunset
and made it just in time for the spectacular view.

After the awesome weekend, Jonathan had to leave for Mexico and I had to resume my Korean life and return to being a kindergarten teacher.

'Six months.' Inhale... exhale.