Dance Class
First thing I must share relates to the title of the post and provided me a wonderful laugh. I joined a nearby gym a few months ago and am enjoying it for the most part. It's much smaller than I would like, the machines are older, and the locker rooms are way too full of completely naked older Korean women for my comfort (seriously, they stand around talking and blocking walkways haha) - but a gym is a gym, and I love that it has given me routine and some other form of exercise than my p90x videos! Anyway, they offer a few classes - yoga and dance primarily. Well, because I'm not quite wonderful at either of those, I didn't think I would embarrass myself and attempt. However, another foreigner I know who also goes to the gym convinced me to try the dance class. I thought it would be a joke and not a work out, so I agreed. Oh man, my mistake. We danced to Korean pop songs for an hour. To clarify, when I say "we danced", I mean that they knew all of these pre-learned dances to the songs and Thumi (my friend) spent the hour flailing our bodies attempting without success to keep up. It was hilarity at its finest. I truly hope someone was watching (the whole back wall behind us is a glass wall to the main part of the gym) and had as much entertainment as I did just watching us in the mirror. At some points I couldn't even try anymore because I was laughing too hard. Now the question is...should I attempt the class again??
If you don't know what Korean pop (kpop) sounds like, here's one of my favorites:
http://youtu.be/JHzSd26gB-c
Transportation
In other news, I've told you about the transportation situation here. Between the subway, cheap taxis and city buses, public transportation is surprisingly reliable and easy to use now so that's not a problem. I know which part of the subway I like - I'd rather be up front, less people, more chance of sitting down - and I have only been yelled at once on the bus (This actually made me pretty mad because the bus driver just was yelling at me in Korean for no real reason in front of a bus full of people. blah). As far as taxis go, I know the words for right, left, straight and stop! Pedestrian walking is a whole other game. I am a pro car-hearer (don't judge my choice of words) and before it gets close I can usually figure out if it is small like a small car or scooter or large, like a van, in which case I need to find a gap in parked cars to wait until it passes. Basically, transportation is like a game. Pick the right subway car, time it right at a bus stop, weave in and out of cars without having to pause in stride to let a big one pass: you win. Opposite of those: loser.
Weather.
Just a warning, but I think humidity might be the end of me. Apparently it not only makes me sweat and feel like I'm breathing water, but it makes me want to curl up in an air conditioned room and drink ice water. That is not a good mix with having to teach. Luckily, in my amazing classroom, I can control the a/c and boy do I ever! I love that wonderful room, and escape there as often as possible. One day, I was having a teacher workshop with the head of the English department and this was the following conversation:
Him: Laychel, do you know how to stay not hot in summer?
Me: uhhh drink water? cold showers? (I knew he had a suggestion coming, so I quit guessing)
Him: Well, you should sleep with aircon on. Then get up in morning, take cold shower, and hurry to school where there is aircon. Then, stay late in aircon at school. Free aircon for you! Then, hurry home and turn aircon on in studio.
Me: Thank you Mr. Cheon - you are so wise!
basically, never go outside in the humid, miserable heat in Daegu.
oh, and it's getting into rainy season. So not only is it hot and humid - it's raining too! wooo!!
China!
Friends, in case I haven't shared it with you yet - I'm going to China for summer vacation!!! I get 8 paid days of vacation during the summer and have decided to visit China for those days! I will arrive in China on July 27 and return to Korea on August 6th. Because of weekends, that gives us ample time to check out a few cities and enjoy our vacation. Traveling with me is my friend Amy Schmidt (I've done many things with her, blond hair) and we will be with 2 of her friends for part of the trip. Our plan is to spend time in Beijing, Hangzhou, Suzhou, and Shanghai. We already have flights and partial hotels booked. Needless to say - I'm excited!! June has been kind of a slow month and I'm ready for some excitement in my life - it makes missing things back home easier if I'm busy here!
Sunset.
On Monday this week, I was feeling pretty down. I missed a lot this past week back home: a big wedding of close friends, Sarah and Josiah visited my parents for a few days, and the first week of camp was beginning at Kidder Creek. After work, I was just relaxing in my apartment attempting to motivate myself to work out and I caught a glimpse of the sky outside my window. Immediately I grabbed my camera and headed up to my rooftop. Look what God painted in the sky - and through it reminded me of all that I have to be grateful for both here and home!
"It is always the simple things that change our lives. And these things never happen when you are looking for them to happen. Life will reveal answers at the pace life wishes to do so. You feel like running, but life is on a stroll. This is how God does things"
— Donald Miller
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