Adventures in a Korean Gym

In past posts, I know I've mentioned that I go to a gym to exercise and after many interesting experiences, I've decided that it deserves its own post.

Almost every time I go to my gym here, I usually end up chuckling to myself about something that happens and secretly wishing I could video all that goes on.  Conveniently, my gym is on the 4th floor above the E-mart (like Wal*Mart) about a 5 minute walk from my apartment.  It's not cheap; about $40 to only be able to go 3 times a week for an overcrowded gym and older equipment.  However, it gives me motivation to work out as well as provides never ending entertainment and bewilderment about some Korean quirks.  As you read the details I share, please keep in mind that I only know of 2 other foreigners that use this gym also and have only seen them there maybe 4 times in the last 7 months, so it's usually me, alone, with no one to share my laughs with because I haven't found anyone who speaks English.

Elevator. 
Don't ask me why I use the elevator to get up to a gym instead of using the stairs, but I do. [Maybe I will change to stairs this week now that I've actually thought of how ridiculous that is].  However, the point is the elevator etiquette or lack thereof.  Similar to boarding subways in Korea, apparently boarding an elevator is just as cutthroat. The elevator is always fairly busy, and I have had old women push me out of the way so that they can get on that elevator, often before the previous occupants have disembarked.  I've gotten pretty good at maneuvering with the flow of them, but am still often grumbling under my breath if my timing is off and I get shoved to the side.

Room Temperature.
Well, Koreans don't tend to be the most logical when it comes to maintaining a temperature in a room.  Often, in the teacher's room at school on a scorching day, the windows will be left open while the air conditioner is running. It's the same at the gym, although much more obvious.  In the middle of summer when it was 90 degrees with high humidity, they would have the air conditioning on (but sometimes not even all of the units!) but with the windows open.  Riddle me that.  And if it cools down like 3 degrees, they will turn off the air conditioning. One day when I went this summer, it literally felt like a slight sauna before I even began exercising.  I can only imagine how it will be during the winter...heater on full blast? windows open with no airflow? we will see!

The Locker Room.
If you are ever in Korea and have a limited amount of time but really want some culture, go into a gym locker room.  I've heard stories from a guy's perspective and it seems as it's universal for both males and females.  For as seemingly conservative Koreans are in public, they let it all out in the locker room. Seriously.  Nudity is the name of the game, and there is no shame. They walk around nude, put on makeup nude, sit and talk to each other nude, slap on lotion [I'm serious. slap...even on their face - cracks me up every time] etc. I opt out of the communal showers because I get stared at enough fully clothed - I'm sure you get the idea. However, one great thing about gyms here is that they provide clothing to exercise in [saving me a lot of laundry!] so I do change into those in the locker room.  Have you ever had a group of fully naked, old Korean women obviously talking about you in Korean as you change clothes? I have. and it's awkward.

The Exercise Room.
The main part of the gym isn't much different than what you would see from a small gym back home - treadmills, free weights, bicycles, machines, etc.  However, they do seem to have different theories for working out. Majority of Korean men are more slender and don't want bulk, so they use the light weights just as much as I do.  Also, Koreans loooove their stretching.  They do all these ones that look a little vigorous and when the older people do it I'm afraid they're going to get stuck or fall over!

Funny Experiences

• Thunder Thigh Man.  Whenever I see a particular man, I instantly think "well here comes TTM."  That may seem a little harsh until you watch this guy exercise.  He's 1 of 2 realllllly buff Korean's I've seen at the gym.  In the first few weeks, he decided that the loose, normal, almost-to-the-knee gym shorts were too much so he would roll them up so they were like booty shorts and then get on the stair master for at least 20 minutes while softly singing to whatever his headphones were playing.  However, now he forgoes the gym shorts all together and I kid you not, wears white booty shorts that have eyes on his bum.  I was relieved to find other people giving him weird looks so I wasn't the only one.  These shorts only accentuate his ginormous, buff thighs, hence the name, Thunder Thigh Man.
• Koreans always know best - even when the instructions are in English.  I was getting on the stair master one day and the instructions are all in English so I decided to do one of the preset hill programs.  I guess since it's not in Korean, the rest of the gym never uses the presets, and when I began pushing buttons (that made an audible beep noise), a middle aged Korean woman began speaking loudly and rapidly to me in Korean, got off her machine and came to mine and then restarted my machine so it was on basic.  She was oblivious to the looks we got and was very obviously proud of herself for helping a poor foreigner.  
• A few months ago, I saw a pizza get delivered to the lobby and then consumed by a small group of ajummas (older Korean women) who had previously been exercising.  It's not the fact that they ate the pizza - it's that they got it delivered to the gym! so funny!

There are so many other hilarious encounters and oddities I've observed, but I think they're the "guess you had to be there" type.  However, I hope this gave you a glimpse of the fun I am lucky to partake in while getting some exercise!