Reason #73 Korea is awesome: No need for a gym membership
Everywhere you go here there are parks with exercise equipment in them. Some of it is quite silly; contraptions where you kind of just swing from side to side, or stand on a platform and twist. But they also have bench presses and bars for doing pull ups, dips etc. With a little creativity you can get a great workout. And all while being outside in the beautiful sunshine.
So I'm in the park today at one of these little fitness areas, getting after it Korean style. A grandfather has his two grand kids, a girl and a boy, maybe 3 and 5 years old, with him playing in the park. They were fascinated by my strange machinations and came in for a closer inspection. There I'd be, straining for one last sit up, when what should appear? A smiling tiny face and shiny black hair! The little boy would literally get inches from me and make a silly face and in keeping with decorum I would of course make one back. It really made my workout a lot more fun and kept me from taking myself too seriously.
Then out of nowhere the little boy brought me one of the tiny little yogurt drinks they have over here, handed it to me and bowed and ran off giggling. He even included a tiny straw! My heart just about melted. I've worked out in plenty of parks back home, and never had a random child bring me a refreshing beverage before.
So that was pretty cool.
Reason #112 that Korea is awesome: mingling with the locals
A little while back I was in the market for a new sweater. It was chilly, and it's been about 12 years since I bought any new clothing, so yeah, it was time. I headed to Home Plus, sort of like Walmart over here. Pretty quickly I spot it, a hip green number, all fleecy and zippy just like the kids are wearing these days. They had my size in 2 colors: moss green and dark gray. I can't find anyone to let me into the changing room, so I just start trying them on in the middle of the store. I think I like the green, but the dark gray may be better in the long run as it would hide stains better (I'm a messy and voracious eater OK?). I'm going back and forth here more than Federer and Nadal, unable to make a decision.
After a few minutes of this, an ajuma (middle aged/old woman, all of whom have the same sort of short perm for some strange reason) approaches me, motioning to put the green one back on. She looks me over thoughtfully, then gives the universal hand motion for, "now try on the other one." Another captive look. Then, pointing to green " yong." Then gray, "ajushi (the male counterpart to the ajuma). It took me a couple minutes, but I finally figured out she was telling me the green was young and hip, while I looked like an old man in the gray. So there I was, getting fashion tips from an ajuma. Now, if you've ever seen how most ajumas dress, you know that may not be a good thing, but you still gotta love it.
Needless to say, I went with the green.
These are just two small examples of what makes living here so amusing. I'm not sure what the future holds, but as I outlined in earlier posts, this really is a great place to let God work on me while I work on myself. I don't plan on staying forever, but when the time comes it's gonna be hard to leave. I've got a ton of friends and am becoming heavily involved in the community. Combine that with good health care, money in the bank, random Asian amusement and child provided yogurt drinks, I think you can see why....
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