Sunday, November 11, 2012

Weekend!

Late Friday & Saturday:
  • On Fridays, I only have classes until lunch time so I usually leave after lunch, and that is exactly what I did this Friday! I just went back to the apartment and relaxed for a little bit until I went to the gym.
  • The workout on Friday was a free day so we got to choose from a list of 7 or so workouts.  For some reason, I chose to swing a 12kg kettleball up and down 200 times and I chose to do 100 burpees.  I was pretty tired and I had to rush so I could get to the bus terminal to pick up Ryan!
  • So my Fulbright ETA friend Ryan lives about 1 hour and 20 minutes away in Jinju.  He is pretty isolated too so he decided to pay a visit to me in Suncheon!  So we hung out with the host family for a little bit and then headed to dinner.  We were wanting some western food, so we went to the local Outback Steakhouse.  It was a bit pricey for my liking, but it was tasty!
  • When we got back, we played with the host family and headed to bed early because the next morning we were heading to the Seonamsa Temple, which is the most famous temple in Suncheon. It was very beautiful and we took a lot of pictures.  I took mine with my 35mm so I can't really put them on here, but Ryan took some with my phone so here a few:
Along the hike that we took

Me, my host father, and my host sister

Ryan and I

Traditional Korean Houses on a beautiful Autumn day

Ryan, Me, and my host family (minus Yung Chan, the other twin boy)
  • It was really nice to hang out with Ryan and show off my city and host family a little bit.  Hopefully, I can do this more often with other visiting ETAs!

Sunday:
  • Sunday was a day I was a little excited for but was dreading at the same time.  It was the day of the Suncheon Marathon.  I did not run a full marathon.  I intended to do a 5k, but was signed up for a 10k so I had to do that instead.  At Crossfit, we do many types of workouts but running is usually pretty rare, and when we do it, it's for a mile (or 1.6km) max so I didn't exactly prepare myself very well for this.
  • There was seven of us running, all of us doing the 10k, thanks to the one individual who signed all of us up.  We met at the gym and we all drove together in the gym van (which I just learned about upon entering it.  I had no clue we had our own van!) We picked an extra passenger up on the way and then headed to a large soccer stadium to get ready.
  • Unlike American races, we already had our numbers and computer chips and everything so we just had to show up.  We did one lap and a couple of stretches and then we were ready (My HS cross country coach would NOT be happy with that).
  • We lined up by the line and everyone was ready to go but the emcee of the race just kept talking and talking and talking.  My listening skills in Korean are not the best, but I could tell most everyone around me was getting annoyed, especially since it was getting cold and it was lightly raining.  After 10 minutes of rambling, he let everyone start and we were off.
  • These big races take a while to start since there are so many people so it was just walking for the first minute or so, but I soon plowed my way through the crowds and managed to get to a place where I could comfortably pass people or get out of the way of speedier folk.  That was pretty much it I guess.  I don't know how to describe running a 10k in a fascinating manner haha. My final time was a little over an hour, but I'd say it was actually under because of the delayed/walking start and that was my goal so I did it!
  • After the race, we all headed back to the gym to shower and order some lunch.  We were all in dismay to discover that the hot water was not working.  I tried to shower with the cold water, but I quickly scurried out of the shower after approximately 5 seconds of the the water touching my leg.  Everyone else braved it, but I could not face it.  Those that know me, know that I do not do well with the cold.  Luckily about a half hour later, I checked again and the hot water was back!  
  • Then we had our feast.  It was a ton of food and we just sprawled it out on the gym floor and went to town.  I had some black bean noodles which was amazing and then some of the others had a spicy seafood soup.  There were also some egg rolls and some glazed vegetables.  It was awesome!  It was a great way to wrap up the day.  It was awesome to get to hang out with my gym pals outside of the regular class.  Communication can be a little tricky but between my very little Korean (I don't even have a toddler's vocabulary) and their various levels of English, we made it work and everyone had a great time!  Here are a few pictures from the day:
All of the Crossfit Suncheon runners!

A ton of people were there!


This is the expression on his face 98% of the time.  This is the owner of the gym and he is a very happy man.

And then he made us do a couple of squats. I clearly do not look pleased and I look like I am going to tumble backwards any second.

Now I have to get working on my lesson for tomorrow.  I have the idea, but now I just have to work out the logistics of delivering it.  I'm the worst Sunday night lesson planner haha!

4 comments:

  1. Nice coat. Let me guess: you bought it in Korea?

    Also, congrats on doing the 10k! Now there's something I ought to put on my bucket list...

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  2. Wow. Impressive for someone who hasn't run sinc HS. Sounds like fun filled and productive couple of days. I am envying you about all the great sounding food. Hope you enjoyed your Outback - did you get a Cheeseburger? Have a great lesson on Monday. Thanks for all the updates! Dad

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  3. Good job Ben! Now you are ready to challenge Uncle Greg. I really enjoyed the pics.

    Uncle Mark

    P.S. Nice tights!

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  4. Haha the tights were given to me by my host father. But I love them! They kept me warm.

    It was a pretty rough race since I haven't ran in forever, but I never stopped to walk and I finished under an hour so I can't complain!

    And yes Andrew, I bought it here in Suncheon! How did you know?? haha. Fits me a lot better than any American coat ever has! I think my body is more suited for Korean clothing. I got it at Homeplus for 79,000 won!

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