I was so happy...

Today, I came home from school on my lunch break. One of the men that works below my aparment in the car shop opened the door for me, and presented me with two large boxes! I hadn't ordered anything, so I was taken by suprise! One was from Mike Kubisak, and the other Analiese Tushaus, one of my best friends from back home. I haven't been that excited in so long! It was a great feeling!

I ran back to school before opening them, because I wanted some pictures taken. Mihey was just as excited as me! Here I am. Look at how happy I am!



I tore into both packages, and had such fun opening them. They each contained the necessities. For example, shower gel, t-shirts (Go Badgers!), chocolate, Hershey's, Dove, candy canes, and macaroni and cheese. I just put them into my cabinets today after school, and I've got one designated specifically to American food. Combined with the food my brother brought over a few weeks back, it's the fullest cabinet! And mostly with junk food. It's a good thing I joined a new gym yesterday in my neighborhood since my other membership expired. It may not be as nice, but it's about half the price, and it doesn't take me a half hour and cost 1,000 won to get there each way! Which reminds me, I'm off to my training session. Just wanted to say thanks again! ^^

G-Dragon "Heartbreaker"

This song alone may be the only reason I go to the gym. On Monday nights, I take a spinning class with about 20 other middle-aged Korean women. Sometimes there's a few men that even join. During said spinning class, our instructor LOVES to play the latest KPOP song. I think this may be one of her favorites. I should say first that the version she plays is sped up a little. When this song comes on, she hops off her bike, and makes arm motions in the air that mimick our feet moving really, really fast. She then walks around the room singing and dancing like crazy. She gets really into it, its highly entertaining. Maybe I'll do the moves to the chorus next time I see you!



There are some other songs which she does the corresponding dance moves on her bike. I know the moves for each, and it's pretty fun. However, I'm not sure what the songs are, and I don't know how to ask. I suppose I could say the word for music, "음악," and then do the moves. Maybe next week I'll have more videos to post.

Korean Language Classes

Korean class continues to go well. We're on unit 6 currently, where we get to learn the days of the week and how to tell time. We've covered a lot of topics and learned tons of new words. Our last unit was on Dail Life. I'm now able to talk about what I am doing now, and will be doing in the near future.

In class, we get excited when we learn new things. It's a great feeling. Now, I can order confidently in Korean, and can pick up on some of the words my co-teachers say at lunch. I enjoy telling them what I am going to do that evening and over the weekend.

I got to put my language skills to use last night on my way to exercise. I got a ride to the gym from my "Korean Boyfriend." He asked if I was going to "health," and I said, in Korean, "I'm going to the gym." (운동을하요). He was happy to hear me say that. The ride to the gym takes about 10 minutes by car if you hit the lights, and the rest of the conversation was very strained, to say the least. I just enjoyed some of the KPop songs he had on CD.

The trainer at the gym also likes that I can speak Korean. There are about 4 male trainers who all say "hi" and "bye" when I'm at the gym, and last night I got measured in front of all of them (they think I'm very "long"). I told them in Korean that I am 167 cm, and they were so impressed, but still measured me to see if I was lying.

It feels good to be making progress even though it is a time commitment! Going to Chonnam University takes about 1 hour plus more if you miss the bus!

Random Things

Here are some random stories that have happened over the last couple of days.

1. Yesterday, I had a break after lunch, when my co-teacher, Mr. Kim, came into my room. I turned around and he was holding a huge black and white bird in his hands. At first, I thought it was fake, but the closer I got to it, the more real it got. His English is somewhat limited, but he said that the bird had been "causing trouble" somewhere in the school. I'm not really sure what that means. I wanted to take a picture but he left to fast. Then, I was looking out my window and Mr. Kim had attracted attention from a bunch of 7th graders down in the courtyard. I grabbed my camera, and snapped a picture real quick. I'll post it soon.

2. At the gym yesterday, I got on the eliptical. I was quickly shooed off by the trainer, who sat me down and went over my BMI, strength results test, and other health related things. Let's just say I scored in the middle for everything. He walked me over to the treadmill after and said "slow, slow today." He had the treadmill turned all the way down to 1- which is slower than I normally walk. He wanted me to walk for 30 minutes like that. Well, I had just spent a half hour on the bus, and there was no way I was going to walk that slow! So after he left, I cranked it up to 7.5 and broke a sweat. It seems that I have a workout plan for each day I come, and next time I go we will work on my shoulders. I wasn't really expecting a workout plan, but maybe that will be a good thing.

3. After the gym, I was walking back to my apartment and passed a few shops. While I was waiting at the cross walk, a young boy stood next to me. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and wondered, "Is he one of my students?" I work with 525+ students a week, and I don't know many names. And they all look somewhat similar. The boy caught me looking at him, and jumped a few feet in the air and said "Seonsaengnim!! I... uh ...mean... Mara Teacher!" We chatted for a little while we waited for the light. His English was good, so I decided he must be in an advanced class. He told me that he was coming back from his music academy (he's been playing violin for 4 years). He has gone everyday for the last 4 years and absolutely hates the violin. His parents make him play. He said "it's really boring!"

Later, at the grocery store (it's pretty small), I was approached by another student! I was trying to decide on a marinade for some pork, and asked for her advice. Unfortunately, since she's only 7th grade, her mom still cooks for her. Guess I forgot what it's like to be 14. Wasn't much help, but I think I figured it out anyhow.

4. Students at lunch do not sit across from each other. When the kids are done getting their food, they will sit down next to each other in a line. It is strange to see literally one SIDE of the table full with the other seats across from them empty. I haven't quite figured out why that is, but it's interesting.

5. The other day I saw some live octopus in front of a store. They were really creepy and slimy looking. I'm not sure if I'll be able to stomach eating one live...

6. I crave Kimchi. Our region has a Kimchi Festival, and I'm praying it is not cancelled because of Swine Flu. Lots of festivals country-wide have been cancelled. I think it would be tons of fun to check out because there is such a wide variety. Sometimes when I'm sitting in my office, I really just want to eat Kimchi for a snack.

I think those were the some of the things I wanted to post about this week. I'm really excited for Halloween, and it sounds like I'll be hosting the party for my friends at my place. My coteachers are really excited for it too because we are talking about culture in unit 8 after midterms. They keep on asking about it and what they think we should do.

Things are still going well here, except I'm not getting many emails! If you haven't emailed- you should! I'd love to hear from you! :)

I joined a gym

Yep, that's right. It took me a while to find the gym that Alie and Alex had joined, but finally I found it.

The gym is pretty good sized with new equipment. There is a separate room for the pilates, yoga, abs, and stretch classes. It seemed to be a good gym, so I decided to get a 3 month plan. The way buildings keep sprouting up in my neighborhood, perhaps come December there will be one closer to me.

One thing I thought was strange was after I payed, I had to do a physical fitness test. Everyone at the gym wears the gym's clothes to work out in, which is convienient. I changed in the locker room and met the trainer outside. I didn't know what to expect, and his very limited English and my non-existent Korean made it difficult to communicate. We started off by getting weighed (I've lost 6 pounds since coming here!), measured ALL over, skin fold and BMI test. I couldn't read the machine of course, but I asked him if it was good and he said yes.

Next were the timed tests. How many sit ups, push ups, and squats can I do in a minute? I stopped counting after 10. I didn't even look at what he wrote down on the clip board. I also had to do a flexibility test and a long jump. I almost wish he would have take my temperature to make sure I don't have the Swine Flu, but no such luck :)

For some reason, I wasn't allowed to start working out tonight, I'm not sure why. He just kept saying "tomorrow," so I'll be back then. I'm excited to get in shape, and I'll keep you posted about any other strange happenings at the gym.