I have been in Korea for seven and a half months now, and being here has definitely changed me. One of the most obvious changes that my family keeps noting is how much weight I have lost (of course this would be one of the first things that my mom notices).
In the first two months that I was here, I lost 10kg. I couldn't understand where it went. I wasn't eating particularly healthily, living off pizza, fried chicken and the occasional Indian. Mom insists that it was the exercise that I was getting walking to school everyday and the occasional hikes that I was going on, but I felt like that wasn't enough to affect me the way that it had. I was happy that I had lost the weight, but I didn't want to gain it back, and when I weighed myself a short while before Grant left, I realised that it wasn't going to stay off forever.
Then, on the drunken night that followed Grant's departure, I met Cara. Cara lived in Yongam-dong, my area, and told me about a Taekwondo class that she took with her friends. Taekwondo, I thought to myself. This could be the answer! And so, a couple of weeks later, I started the classes. Four nervous girls, all first timers, and two experienced ones faced the master on that first night and the training began with a day of stretching and exercises
as we molded our muscles into the shape that they would need to be. The first night was tough, and we all left the studio drenched in sweat, but that was only the beginning. The master never goes easy on us and insists that it's only going to get harder the longer we stay. Yet, none of us want to leave. Every night I walk the twenty minutes to meet Jess and Adriana (the seventh member to join our group) and another twenty minutes to the studio, and every night I come home feeling stiff, exhausted, but a lot more confident and energetic than ever before. Monday was the first test of our skills, and I passed earning my yellow belt, an achievement that I feel ridiculously proud of.
In the first two months that I was here, I lost 10kg. I couldn't understand where it went. I wasn't eating particularly healthily, living off pizza, fried chicken and the occasional Indian. Mom insists that it was the exercise that I was getting walking to school everyday and the occasional hikes that I was going on, but I felt like that wasn't enough to affect me the way that it had. I was happy that I had lost the weight, but I didn't want to gain it back, and when I weighed myself a short while before Grant left, I realised that it wasn't going to stay off forever.What could I do?
Should I join the gym?
After hearing about the Korean gyms from friends of mine and what sounded like horror stories of no airconditioning in the middle of summer (when the humidity was a killer) and owners phoning you up to ask you why you hadn't been there in a day, this wasn't something that I was too keen to do. Also, I didn't have anyone to go with! I am the kind of person who needs motivation, and self-motivation isn't usually enough to kick my ass into gear. I need someone phoning me up or knocking on my door (a friend rather than the gym owner) to tell me I need to get my ass to gym! But all of my friends either went to gyms that were too far away or else went at times that I couldn't go. Gym, for me, was out of the question.
After hearing about the Korean gyms from friends of mine and what sounded like horror stories of no airconditioning in the middle of summer (when the humidity was a killer) and owners phoning you up to ask you why you hadn't been there in a day, this wasn't something that I was too keen to do. Also, I didn't have anyone to go with! I am the kind of person who needs motivation, and self-motivation isn't usually enough to kick my ass into gear. I need someone phoning me up or knocking on my door (a friend rather than the gym owner) to tell me I need to get my ass to gym! But all of my friends either went to gyms that were too far away or else went at times that I couldn't go. Gym, for me, was out of the question.
Then, on the drunken night that followed Grant's departure, I met Cara. Cara lived in Yongam-dong, my area, and told me about a Taekwondo class that she took with her friends. Taekwondo, I thought to myself. This could be the answer! And so, a couple of weeks later, I started the classes. Four nervous girls, all first timers, and two experienced ones faced the master on that first night and the training began with a day of stretching and exercises
as we molded our muscles into the shape that they would need to be. The first night was tough, and we all left the studio drenched in sweat, but that was only the beginning. The master never goes easy on us and insists that it's only going to get harder the longer we stay. Yet, none of us want to leave. Every night I walk the twenty minutes to meet Jess and Adriana (the seventh member to join our group) and another twenty minutes to the studio, and every night I come home feeling stiff, exhausted, but a lot more confident and energetic than ever before. Monday was the first test of our skills, and I passed earning my yellow belt, an achievement that I feel ridiculously proud of.I am only in Korea for four more months, but I am hoping to get at least two more belts before I leave, leaving the country as a blue belt. I am finding myself wondering already how much it's going to cost back home and how quickly I will be able to advance to my black belt. I am ready to start my training.
