because i dont funtion properlly when im not working out i joined the gym. sarah - one of my co-workers - came with me and my first korean gym experience started out with a little spin class. actually i shouldnt say little. it was a killer. and the guy who lead it was the most peppy, spandex clad trainer ive ever seen. picture brad pitt as the personal trainer in burn after reading - only asian and wearing much more spandex. at least it made the class a little more enjoyable. the gym is pretty standard with the exception of a few old school machines. did you ever see those vibrating belts that women used in the 30's or so? well they have them here, and the old ladies love them! it makes no sense, you arent getting any sort of work out if anything a sort of massage but everyday theres someone on them. they also have this rotating bead table. and they start out with their feet on it and slowly cover all body parts. its quite amusing - i have a picture of it, and will post it later. oh the outfits at the gym are quite different as well. they have shits and shorts that you can wear for your workout - orange for the ladies, blue for guys. pretty sure they came from some prison or something. so most people there are dressed alike. i can proudly say i am the only one in the whole gym wearing lululemon! for those who arent clad in orange or blue they are wearing what looks like came out of heidi montagas music video. tights, leg warmers, and booty shorts, velvet crop tops...all of it at once. its quite the sight. tonight i went to another class with sarah, it was a step class. now i find step class hard enough in english. in korean its a whole other story. but we survived and got a good workout and a few laughs out of it. the music they play in the gym is from the late 80's and 90's, as well as anything benny benassi - they love him here.
on friday night a few of us went to hong-dae - the "party zone" it was a sloppy night. first off i must say that korean streets are slick. i was slipping all over the place in my shoes - and had a few memorable wipeouts inthe middle of the sidewalk. we went to bar boom. 10 bucks all you can drink. nuff said about that place. after which we went to another bar which was far more crowded than the first. full of club hoppers from all over. quite the party. i like hong-dae. although in that bar there were people dancing on the tables. well typicaly you do that when you know your bits and pieces are not going to be on display. this one girl had not heard of victorias secret, or at least was putting it all out there....literally.
sat morning was rough. at 830 - keeping in mind i didnt get home till about 5 or 6- i was woken up by craig. i forgot i had to go to the hospital to get checked out for my alien card. it was not fun. starting out with the blood test. now typically im used to going into a private room for something like that. here was like a take out food line up. wait for your number to be called sit inthe row of 7 other people getting it done at the same time and watch the tube go in a container with about 50 other peoples. i didnt handle this sight too well and had to lie down inthe middle of the waiting room. after i didnt feel like passin gout anymore we had to give our urine samples. easy enough? not here. the toilet was non-existant, basically a hole in the wall, and not even handles like there were in france. that was also not fun. from there a quick chest x-ray and youre good to go.
sat evening i climbed up the mountain near out apartment. now i was wondering how koreans are still so tiny when they eat basically empty carbs all day. well its because they hike like crazy. and they take it seriously here. they have the full gear on, huge back pack, poles, shoes, north face jackets - everything. they look like they are about to treck across europe when really its just a little stroll up the mountain for a few hours.
sunday i spent in iteawon with some teachers and found the foreign food mart - 28 bucks for peanut butter!! and the foreign book store and other little landmarks. went to the open mike again whcih was better than last week and called it a night.
its weird that ive only been here over a week, but feels like at least a month.
korean culture tidbits...
Sars masks - now back in the day when i was taking the 510 spadina streetcar to u of t track i would see many people walking around china town with the sars masks on. and when ever someone got on the street car i would hold my breath in fear of contacting SARS. here they wear them all the time! at first it freaked me out a bit thinking that so many people here have sars or soemthing. but its the opposite. they wear them for two reasons. the air here can get really cold so it makes it a little easier to breathe and also the pollution is awful so it helps in winter time. they have fancy ones with little animals on them to make them more fashionable.
the double handshake. to all those goodlife people - patch did not invent this. koreans have been doing this as a sign of respect for ages! by shaking someones hand and placing the other one somewhere on their forearm you are showing respect.
man purses - while on the subway i started seeing alot of guys with purses. and i thought that they were simply holding it for their girlfriends or something but they are actualy a fashion statement here. mostly leather handbags. again dont really see this trend coming to the west
the guys all seem gay - to go along with the man purse, most males here seem to be gay or very questionable at least. they walk down the street with their arms around each other, carry purses, dress up for simple tasks like going to the market and dont seem to have that personal bubble that western men have. but...thats just the way they act here.
delivery. most everywhere here delivers. including mcdonals. its dangerous. you can order a single coffee and this guy will come to the teachers lounge delivering a single coffe..wearing his mcdonalds gear and helmet. i was very amused when i found this out.
no tips - there is also no tipping here. for anything. so that same guy who delivered that single mcdonalds coffee which costs about a buck, will get nothing. i like this concept alot
dressing up your dog - most dogs, actually all that ive seen so far have had some sort of clothing on them. although most were simple sweaters or something along those lines some people go overboard. dressing up your dog as tinkerbell, or a princess is very common here. in face in iteawon there are a few stands of people just selling outfits for dogs. its quite sad, i feel bad for those animals
alcoholism - on the streets here there is a lot of puke. i found out that alcoholism here is a major problem. its disrespectful to turn down a drink. so if your boss or someone else offers a drink, you take it. if someone offers 10 soju drinks, you have 10 soju drinks and are most likely going to puke somewhere on the streets of seoul. its quite discusting, but put in perspective most people when they have had too much are taking a cab home or are along the free way - which you dont see. here eveyone walks or takes public transit....so its quite visible. and not pleasant.
my address! so you can all send me peanut butter - seriously!
SLP sungbuk c/o tara koenig
3rd Floor, Heonghwa Brown building, 75 Dongsomoon-dong-4-ga
Sungbuk-gu, Seoul, Korea
136-033
and if not peanut butter little bits of canadian love! miss you all like crazy but wish you were here to experience it all at the same time!! xx
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