Korea Fighting!!!

Am off to Sang Jo to cheer on my teammate, the Korean Bulldog, as he fights today. Be sure to tune into MBC EPSN Sports to cheer on Cheonan. Show starts at 12noon. Today Snickers and I will be announcing out engagement to KBC so lets see how much TV coverage and camera action that gets us.

Bikini number one...

and bikini number two for my honeymoon.

Am hoping that these knock-out bikinis also come fully-equipped with "chest material", aka the chest that I am apparently losing because of my game dieting and training... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Friday, November 25

1. Woke up and headed out the door to measure my run. Running, for me, is the fastest way to drop my weight, and with about 3 weeks left to go, I still have about 3kgs to drop. One of my coworkers leant me a watch that not only times your runs but it also tells you how many calories you’ve burned, your running pace, and how far you have ran. Actually, it does much more than that though. It’s got it’s own GPS software that lets you track the actual exact route of your run and then look it up on Goggle Earth… how cool is that?! Anyways, I measured my running route and it came out to being 6.48kms.

2. Junior Mint wants me to up my route distance and so we agreed that starting this Friday I will be running a route. I measured it out today and it is 8.83kms. Weight training, although it’s been helping to build up muscle, is leaving me sore and weak for boxing. The plan is to drop weight training from here on out and replace it with early morning runs. Then, of course, I have my boxing training every evening.

3. I knew the stress of me testing out Snickers’ game diet was getting to me when I snapped at Snickers failing to help me in the morning like how he had promised he would. Snickers has me on this wickedly-hard diet that’s all about quantity of food verses my quality of food (clean eating). Today his diet royally kicked my butt and sent me into super-spaze-owski mood.

4. I knew I had to get out Snickers’ diet when I found myself hiding the TV remote and then taking it a step further and hiding the remote batteries. “What’s wrong with me?” I asked myself. “I definitely need my protein and veggies back” was my answer.

5. What works for one doesn’t necessarily work for another, this was definitely the lesson of the day for me! And on that note, I jumped off Snickers’ crazy game diet and tried to make an adaption diet that incorporated both Snickers’ game diet and mine.

6. Tried to snap out of my spaz-owski rut by doing some online shopping. Picked out some of the things on my Victoria Secret wish list and exercised the plastic.

7. Despite the numbers on the scale not exactly impressing me, my body feels so different and it’s getting harder and harder to figure out what to wear because my pants are now too big, my shirts fit different, bra shopping was a must, skirts don’t hug my hips like before, and leggings are quick to creep off my waistline. Moreover, I don’t really like how my face looks anymore. I use to think I had a cute face cause of my pudgy cheeks but now the pudge in my cheeks isn’t exactly there. And to tell you the truth, I’m kind of nervous of what I will feel like and look like after I get down past the 47kgs mark. It’s not going to be a pretty sight.

8. All week I’ve been struggling with following Snickers’ crazy-man game diet and tonight I definitely snapped. After putting in a grueling effort at boxing, what should I do but stomp into Lotte Super and buy a massive bag of Snickers snack-size chocolate bars.

9. I’m not a particular fan of chocolate. I usually chop up chocolate and store it in my freezer for the rare occasions when I want a treat or when I come in from an exceptionally hard workout or run. I’m not a diabetic but consider somewhat on the borderline because I get the shakes sometimes if I train too hard. My blood-sugar level after training sometimes leaves me dizzy feeling, especially morning weight training when I train on an empty stomach. I use get the shakes back when I was a high school student and so I use to have to snack on a couple of cinnamon heart candies after track and field or field hockey practice.

10. However, my blood-sugar level had nothing to do with tonight’s buying of chocolate. I wanted to trash the diet and gain my strength back. Mind ya, eating a handful of snack-size chocolate bars and then downing almost a liter of milk left me feeling nothing less than bloated and unable to move… but it felt GREAT!!! After, I laid on the floor and enjoyed the feeling of being full and the feeling of not being a slave anymore Snickers’ crazy game diet.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Why do we willing put ourselves through repeated torture?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
If Heaven made him - earth can find some use for him.
-- Chinese Proverb

Adidas Korea!!!

Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, November 24

1. Woke up to early morning weight training and worked on back and chest.

2. Back to sleep for another couple of hours after weight training and then it was a full day of scheduled plans for the rest of the day.

3. First on my list of things-to-do today was traveling out to the outskirts of Cheonan to a Adidas store Snickers discovered was having a 40-60% discount sale. Snickers bought me Adidas runners the other day but I thought the size was a bit off.

4. Jumped on the city bus and arrived at Adidas. Man, it was like sensory overload for me and I just couldn’t keep my hands off the stuff… hahaha. A sweater that I bought last week for $60 was now on sale for $20, so I picked up an extra two. Got my runners switched and then picked up a pair of training pants.

5. And if I hadn’t enough Adidas for the day, today Snickers and I headed out to Seoul for a special meeting at the Adidas headquarters.

6. Adidas Boxing will be starting up in January and so I was asked by Adidas Boxing in France to pay Adidas Korea a visit. When we arrived at their office, we were taken into a room which had three of its’ four walls lined with Adidas apparel, equipment and whatnot.

7. We talked about pretty much everything, from suggestions about their equipment, sponsors, and boxing in Korea, to Snickers and I wedding plans, and learning Korean. Three and a half hours later, we left Adidas with plans to further our relationship with them and visiting again.

8. Returning back to Cheonan meant I had to race off to boxing where I was then drilled about my meeting with Adidas, and quite frankly I’m a little bit sick of Junior Mint’s questions about other ties I have with my boxing. As a coach, Junior Mint is awesome, there’s no denying it, but as a business man, he’s lacking in skill. I say this because of what went down with the Cheonan Trump in the summer. For two years the Cheonan Trump totally supported my boxing but he grew inpatient when Junior Mint continually refused to print the his name on my game uniform. Instead however, I was forced into buying my own game uniform with someone else’s name on it, so basically I paid to advertise for someone else – how does that work?! It doesn’t. Needless to say, how Junior Mint dealt with the whole Cheonan Trump situation has left a sour taste in my mouth and so I am no longer interested in telling him about other ties I have with my boxing.

9. And on that note, I kept my mouth shut and trained. Sometimes I wish things were back to the way they use to be, back when I was an amateur boxer and nothing was really expected from me. I guess the lesson I’ve learned here is to be careful what you wish for. I don’t regret turning pro with my boxing but there’s definitely a lot more to it than most people are aware of.

10. Am definitely looking forward to January, when I can just focus solely on my boxing.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Who do you surround yourself with?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Surrounded by people who love life, you love it too; surrounded by people who don't, you don't.
-- Mignon McLaughlin

Porridge soap -- I'm a firm believer in it... hahaha.

Why I never ventured to Lush before is beyond me, so do your body good and check it out!

Highlights of my Day... Monday, November 23

1. One phone call to the pension office meant our February wedding date was returned back to it’s original January wedding date. Good stuff. Anticipated date of marriage, January 25th. Anticipated start date of honeymoon, January 26th. Anticipated start date of wedding giddiness – it’s all ready started!!!

2. My new favorite word: fiancé. The thought of getting married fascinates me so much, knowing that I so never expected to meet someone like Snickers. I always thought I’d have to settle, and for awhile I did, but absolutely adore Snickers. Like they say, “You’ll know when you know” and it’s so true. I know he’s the one for me because I just know, and for those who continually ask me “how do you know for sure though?”, it’s obvious that they’ve never experienced that whole “You’ll know when you know” concept. It’s awesome – simply, purely and incredibly awesome!!!

3. Students continue to flood my email box and ears with words of congrats as news of my recent engagement works its way through the student body grapevine.

4. Having a mid-afternoon date with Snickers was a nice way to start off my work week. I sat at what we now refer to as “Proposal Park” waiting for him and what should he be doing while I wait but make the loudest of loud donkey impersonations as he approached me. I had told him the other day that we usually refer to stubborn people as donkeys and he threw in a reference to someone as being so stubborn that instead of being the donkey, they are the inside of the donkey’s butt. It was quite a graphic and “colourful” reference, I do recall, but it was hilarious. Now however, he thinks making spontaneous donkey noises is the funniest thing. I guess on the plus note here, it’s distracted him from doing his usual “dry hump”, or as he says, “dry pump”, gestures… hahaha.

5. Snickers was sporting a particularly extra dose of A.D.D. behavior today and so the very loud, very public donkey noises were just the start of it. He tried to get me to run up a going-down elevator, gave me a huge “Hollywood kiss” while waiting in line, and then he insisted I piggy-back him in the grocery store. Yup, my fiancé is definitely not normal. Mind ya, that’s the pure beauty of him; he’s different.

6. Turns out Snickers over-the-top A.D.D. behavior all stemmed from the fact that he had a whack of surprise gifts waiting for me back at Guum Ggum. I opened the door and there before my feet sat a couple of Adidas bags. He had bought me an Adidas winter training jacket and pants, and a new pair of Adidas runners. I love Adidas but have always been a devoted fan to the Nike Shox shoes. Today I got my first pair of Adidas runners.

7. He looked so proud watching me open up my gifts, though I have no idea why the impromptu shopping spree on me, but I felt caught between being happy for the generous gifts and feeling bad that he had spent too much money on me. Unlike me, Snickers pay is only as frequent as his games and because he had just dished out mad money on my engagement ring and the necklace before that, I knew his bank account was dwindling down.

8. I accepted the gifts, showered him with loads of kisses and hugs, but was sure to throw in many “You shouldn’t have” lines.

9. Dished out $12 for a bar of soap, but it’s not just any bar of soap. It’s a handmade soap by Lush called “Porridge Soap” and it has porridge in it that works wonders with exfoliating your skin. I’ve only used it once but I’m hooked!

10. Got my butt kicked at boxing – literally, and my teammate (the Korean Bulldog) got his royally kicked – if only that was literally. Instead however, Junior Mint took a stick to the back of my teammate’s legs. The Korean Bulldog has a fight coming up on the 28th and apparently he was a no-show for Saturday training. Am sure he won’t miss training again, mind ya, I questioned whether or not he could effectively train tonight. He couldn’t even stand for a bit.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Who do you love?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Love one another and you will be happy. It's as simple and as difficult as that.
-- Michael Leunig

Proudly Polish!!!
And royally served... ouch!

Highlights of my Day... Sunday, November 22

1. So much for today being my last day off from training. Snickers bribed me, saying that if I went running he’d clean Guum Ggum, so I went running and yes, he did clean the house.

2. Running today will hopefully erase the two steps back I took with yesterday’s late night dinner.

3. Watched the Tito UFC fight on TV today – boy, that fight got pretty bloody pretty fast!

4. The UFC fights were followed by the World’s Strong Man Competitions on another channel. Actually, it’s on a lot these days and both Snickers and I love it. I’m always curious as to how one trains for competitions that consist of pulling trains, throwing beer kegs, and squatting cars.

5. Watching sports at Guum Ggum is always accompanied by loud cheering, clapping, and banging on the floor. Today we cheered extra loud for Polish’s very own Marius Pudzianowski.

6. Cheering for our boy Marius turned into Snickers and I some how getting into a wrestling fight after Snickers almost dropped me when he tried to do squats with me on his shoulders… hahaha.

7. I once told my students that best friends means willingly standing in front of a car to save them. Ok, so it’s not the best definition of a best friend but they got my point. Well, today I proved to be Mi Nam’s best friend when I literally stood in front of a car and let it hit me. It was more like a tap, not a hit, but I was left with the dirt from the front of the car on my pants.

8. Mi Nam ran out into the street and down the hill. I called out for him but by the time he started to come back I feared the car would hit him. The car came to a halting stop, Snickers yelled out to me from the park, and Mi Nam ran past my feet. Snickers called me crazy for doing that but Mi Nam wagged his tail to say thank you.

9. Called up my parents in Canada to tell them the news of my engagement. I felt rather awkward telling them that there will be no real wedding but considering the circumstances and whatnot, I think it’s for the best. I rather throw money down for a beautiful honeymoon than a ceremony that will impress our quests but leave us broke. Moreover, the fact that my family and closest friends are on the other side of the globe only reinstates the fact that a wedding ceremony would only be for show and would lack meaning. But anyways, enough about that… time to plan the honeymoon!!!

10. Am definitely looking forward to this time next month. I will have finished my work at Dankook, will have started my holidays, will be closer to my wedding and honeymoon date, and will have Japan under my belt. Life is good – real good—and it’s days like this that I seriously feel it’s TOO good!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Do they have the World's Strongest Women competitions?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Yes, you're strong, but smell's not everything.
-- my father, Papa Bere

How cool is that?! Palm trees IN the middle of the pool!!!

Thought I'd put a shot of the room in here but with all the water sports activities available to us, we really could careless about where we'll be sleeping.

One of the numerous restaurants on the resort.

Hghlights of my Day... Saturday, November 21

1. Weighted in at 50.4kgs and then trained my arms and shoulders like a mad woman.

2. Got a business proposition offered to me today. The proposition was regarding me helping manage a boxing club with Snickers. I would do stuff like coach the beginners and run several box-ercise classes. The way we look at it, however, is that given all the reasons why Snickers’ club is going belly up, his coach is seriously in a desperate position. I knew this would eventually come, the belly-up part that is, and so I responded with saying “I’ll think about it.” So yes, I’ll think about it. There’s a lot to think about here with regards to my own boxing: my loyalty to my current club, my teammates, my coach; how this would effect my license and game schedule… etc., etc.

3. Snickers is super stoked about the thought of running his own boxing club but I’m hesitant because competition in Korea with businesses is fierce.

4. Did a couple of hours of honeymoon planning and figure I have pretty much made my mind up with where we’ll be staying in Bali. We plan on doing a lot of outdoor sport activities, like renting mountain bikes, learning how to snorkle, swimming (of course), playing tennis, and so on. Snickers is totally letting me plan the trip, which only is adding to my excitement because I want to shock the socks off him when he arrives at the beautiful resort I’ve picked out!!! The actual wedding date, however, is continually being played with on a daily bases. I think it's safe to say though that it will be at the end of February.

5. And what’s a honeymoon on the beach without a sexy bikini to keep the temperature rising?! Exactly. I figure I’ll be living in basically a bikini and skirt for the whole vacation and so I picked out a couple of bikinis online. I showed one of them to Snickers and he responded with bulging eyes, “You want die?” He’s not for me being revealing on any level. I definitely learned that when we went to Busan and he literally walked into the ocean with the towel to cover me up when I wanted to go back to shore.

6. Made my Victoria Secret honeymoon wish list... press HERE to check it out.

7. In addition to “A.D.D. Boy” and “Snickers”, Snickers has acquired another nickname. Lately, he’s been referred to as “The-Little-Boy-Who-Cried-Wolf”, in fact, he just about had me pulling his hair out and me punching his teeth out with his “wolf crying” -- fake proposal acts. Whether it was him purposely bending on one knee but doing so to tie his shoe or look at something on the ground, he’s been crying wolf a lot. Even when he proposed to me this past Wednesday and promised me he wasn’t crying wolf, I opened the ring box only to find a tree leaf in it. I yelled out and then he pulled me back with his hand when I tried to walk away. Tears filled my eyes and I hid my face. When he wouldn’t let go, I turned around and there he was on one knee with eyes looking all glossy. That’s when he gave his honest proposal, accompanied by a couple of English sentences he had learned and memorized.

8. Our anticipated evening date on the town turned into Snickers running off to rent some DVDs while I cooked up some chicken and whatnot for us. My game diet has been super tight lately but the cravings definitely kicked in today and so I allowed myself an extra share of chicken, a glass of wine, and some rice. I know, I know – it doesn’t really sound so bad but considering I’ve been religiously following Snickers gram-count game diet plan, eating lately has been all about quantity.

9. The other week I had a glass of hot German wine at a local wine bar and so tonight I thought I’d be creative and try to make a similar delish drink at home. You’ll never believe what happened though. I put a glass into a pot of water, filled it with wine and then heated it up. When I thought the wine was hot enough, I reached for the glass and POP off the bottom of the glass separated from the rest of it and out poured all that wine into the pot. Snickers and I stood there, totally looking all dazed and confused. Turns out heating up wine in a kettle is much easier.

10. Down went the chicken, the wine, the rice, and a couple of picks at the side dishes, but no sooner did it all go down but then I had to fight with it not to come up. Sported a tummy ache for the rest of the night. I guess that will teach me to not sidetrack from my game diet.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where would you go or where did you go for your honeymoon?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The World is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.
-- St. Augustine

Cheonan's newly-engaged couple!!!

Who needs all these lights behind me to light my path when I got this shiny rock on my finger to light the way... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Friday, November 20

1. Well, it’s been one crazy week, and a lot has gone down… A LOT!!! Here’s a quick recap:

a. Decided to resign from my position at Dankook.
b. Decided not to work the Dankook winter camp.
c. Decided to take half a year off work to focus solely on boxing.
d. GOT ENGAGED!!!
e. Scored hugs galore from students as a means of congratulating me on getting
engaged.
f. Exactly 10 hours after I change my Facebook status to “engaged”, I scored 54 messages of congrats.
g. Trained like an animal for Japan: morning weight train, evening boxing, extra
running.
h. Adidas Boxing Korea is starting up in January and so I got contacted for
that.
i. Started wedding planning: “paper wedding” followed by a possible dinner
party.
j. Honeymoon planning: trip to Bali.
k. Lost a little over 2kgs (4.4lbs) in one week.
l. Experienced the first snow fall in Korea for 2010.
m. Figured out how to cash in on my pension plan, meaning I’ve got about $10,000 coming my way!

2. Mid-morning jogging was a bust today. I just didn’t have any energy today to jog by whole route. I walked a bit of it and boy did that ever tick me right off!!!

3. Got a standing ovation today from my students for announcing that I am getting married. That was super sweet of them!

4. I figured the fact that I’m leaving Dankook and the fact that I’m being super tight with my game dieting would balance itself out but it’s not. Silly, little things are irritating me, which only serves to let me know that my body is hating me right now. I have nit-picked and fine-tuned my diet to the point that there is no extra treats allowed and not even so much water drinking allowed. I’ve tried to incorporate Snickers’ game diet mentality with my clean eating and so far it is definitely working in terms of number crunching on the scale but my energy levels, as well as my patience levels apparently, are also dwindling.

5. Snickers’ game diet mentality is based on scale numbering. If he burns off 0.6kgs at the gym training (water weight), than he only allows himself to eat up 0.6kgs worth of food, hence why he can get away with eating ice cream. Ice cream is relatively light. So as long as he is putting in less kgs worth of food than the weight he’s burning off, his body weight will continually spiral down. This, of course, goes against my idea of clean eating but I do see the method to his madness. His game dieting however is exactly just that, a game diet. It’s definitely not a healthy way to lose weight but instead is a crash diet used by many boxers, apparently of which is now me.

6. According to Snickers crash game diet, it’s better to drink a small double-shot of sugar-filled coffee than my black, sugarless regular sized coffee. His coffee has about 210 calories, whereas mine has a measly 4 calories but because mine has twice the amount of water as his, his high-calorie double-shot coffee will not only give me more energy but will show a better number when I step on the scale. How twisted is that?! Anyways, it seems to be working. I guess the point of his diet is that it’s not in what you eat but how much of what it is you’re eating. The point of my diet, however, is in what you eat that counts.

7. So, on that note, I enjoyed a double-shot, sugar-filled coffee at Coffee Bean tonight with Kitty Cat.

I take it he's never heard of a dust cloth?! Here's Milk Dud hosing down the trophies.

Snickers and I share a lot of things but because he's bigger than me, in terms of clothing, we only share socks and belts. This belt, of course, being his one belt I proudly tell others it's his.

8. Arrived for late evening boxing and was told to go home on account that they were doing a full-fledged clean of the boxing club. Well, it was because of that and the fact that my coach is concerned that I’ve lost too much weight in such a short period of time and have been pushing myself too hard with training twice a day. I still have four weeks till Japan and I know I should be pacing myself but I guess the thought of having to jump down to under 47kgs kind of freaked me out.

9. Weighted-in today at 50.6kgs!

10. Being told I had the night off training was like an early Christmas present because with four weeks left till Japan, I know it’ll only get tougher from here on out. Today and I went running and tomorrow I have early morning weight training, and possibly boxing, but I anticipate Sunday being my very last full day off training for the next four weeks.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Can it get any better?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
In the truest sense, freedom cannot be bestowed; it must be achieved.
-- Franklin D. Roosevelt

A Quick Update...

I'm engaged!!!

Nothing else in this week really matters right now and so I'll update you on things later, like tomorrow, but until then, it's time to celebrate.

Pretty on the outside but tough in the middle.

Thanks to my friend Beth for these boxing pics she sent me a while back.

Highlights of my Day... Friday, November 13

1. Waking up sporting a massive ringing in my head meant I was a no-go for weight training.

2. I was also a no-go for first class too – and that was a first.

3. Laying on the floor and trying to stop my brain from spinning in my head was all I did for the first half of the day.

4. Showed up at my last period class, all swollen-eyed and beaten-up looking. They took one look at me and said, “boxing?” “Yup” I replied. “Oh the pains that go with pleasure!” Students continually think it’s funny when I show up for class sporting various boxing or training-related injuries. Whether it’s sore muscles from pushing it too hard at weight-training, or bruised and bloody knuckles from pounding away at boxing, students always given me the look-over for weekly injuries.

5. Continually waiting for Snickers to pop the BIG question is somewhat getting to me now as it has become a daily question asked to me by others. Everyone knows I’m waiting – Snickers knows I’m waiting.

6. Maybe I should just propose to Snickers myself. It’d sure make life easier, though I’m not too sure on how that’d work exactly. Would I have to give him an engagement ring, but don’t guys only wear the one band, the wedding band?! Hmmm… definitely something to look into.

7. Look out Molly Maid – Snickers and I just kicked your butt in our own super-duper, ultra-speedy, totally last minute clean sweep of Guum Ggum when K-Gere called us up and said he was heading over. We literally had but just a handful of minutes to work with and not only did we clean the joint up but I also cooked biscuits!

8. K-Gere walked into a bakery-smelling, beautiful-looking, clean Guum Ggum and was definitely impressed. We were sure to hide our rapidly beating hearts though… hahaha.

9. I like K-Gere, I really do. And despite the strange stalker-like behavior, as I often refer to it as, Snickers’ family often shows, I do like Snickers’ father a lot. I don’t really understand him or his ways often but nonetheless, he is very sweet to me. When I asked him tonight why he had bussed it all the way over to Guum Ggum, he replied with “Because I missed you.” So much for going boxing tonight, that’s okay. It was nice to have an unexpected visit from K-Gere and I’m sure I scored mad brownie points when he opened my fridge and showed a pleased smile at the sight of the packed-with-grade-A-goodies… hahaha.

10. No sooner did K-Gere leave but then we heard this massive explosion sound coming from outside. Snickers and I ran up to the rooftop and there before us was a massive show of fireworks on display. The Building Tool Husband and his son came up to join us watch the beautiful spectacle but Mi Nam was definitely not liking the added company. He continually barked at the two neighbors and I was so thrown off gaurd. Mi Nam never barks at anyone. It's no secret in my building that the Building Tool Husband abuses his dog. Often I hear him literally banging the mutt's head against the wall and I cringe with fear of saying anything on account that I don't want to put Mi Nam in jeopardy. But as the fireworks show came to an end and the four of us headed towards the stairwell, I let Snickers go first and then closed the door, blocking them from continuing down. "You touch my dog and I'll touch you!" I blurted out. I couldn't believe I had just said that, let alone whipped up my fist to make sure they got my point. I tell ya though, if they ever dare to even so much breath on my dog, they're going to have to round up quite the crew of people to pry me off them!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Can you explain your own family?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
War does not determine who is right - only who is left.
-- Bertrand Russell

Check out the old skool machine behind me... hahaha.

And check out the retro-80's poster... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Thursday, November 12

1. Woke up to a message from the Adidas rep telling me that Adidas boxing will be launching in Korea in January and so he’s told his partner to message me…. Wicked!!!

2. Kitty Cat was M.I.A. for weight training this morning and so I geared up and kicked my own butt, training back and chest.

3. Work was work but work is always great on Thursdays! My Thursday classes are awesome, actually, all but two of my weekly classes are awesome. One class is hair-pulling-terrible and the other is definitely questionable. But my Thursday classes… ahhhh, my Thursday classes, too cool to describe.

4. Snickers has been trying to encourage me to drastically drop my weight down to 47kgs as fast as I can by following his very restricted, highly stressful and seriously limited diet. I tried it for two days and then started having cravings like a pregnant woman on the verge of popping out a porker at any minute. I agreed to follow his diet for one more day but tomorrow I definitely plan on going back to my game diet schedule of mixing up low carb days with no carb days and high carb days.

5. $#it hit the fan majorly at boxing tonight after Junior Mint pushed me to my patience limit in the ring and gave me one too many shots to the head with his hand pad. He was getting on my case majorly tonight about my upcoming opponent being a south paw (left handed fighter).

6. I know it’s going to be a hard fight but I’m not so much interested in a victory as I am the total package, the notion of taking my boxing to this higher level and fighting in another country. Anyways, he got frustrated and when he continually asked other boxers in the club if they spoke English, I blurted out, “I speak Korean. I’ve been coming here for almost two years and have always spoken Korean to me. Just speak Korean!” I wasn’t rude in my tone or whatnot but when he mumbled something under his breath I gave him a bit of a dirty look.

7. Not too sure how it escalated to the extent that it did but it ended with me saying that I missed Canada and him yelling at me, “If you miss Canada, then go there!”

8. With my blood quickly reaching its’ boiling point and me being all flustered and ticked off, I stepped into the ring to do match-boxing with the Korean Bulldog. Junior Mint was doing pad work with someone else in the ring and neither of us were watching the other so when I stepped back and accidentally stepped on his foot, he yelled out. Crash I went and bang went my head on one of the ring corner metal poles. Ya, that is definitely going to leave a good week-long bump on my head!!!

9. It had been a rough night at boxing and so after I picked myself off the ring floor, I ripped off my gear and stomped out of the club. Junior Mint called out to me, asked me where I was going and so I peeked my head in. Everyone stood there watching and so I blurted out, “I’m going to Canada.”

10. God bless Snickers. My continual sanity saver and rescuer who always throws out extra kisses to save me when I feel like I’m drowning!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Does counting to ten really work for you?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Patience is also a form of action.
-- Auguste Rodin

I want this pink bike! It's super cute.

And I want this necklace, oh wait, I do have it ;)

Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, November 11

1. Happy Peppero Day to all you out here in the land of kimchi – Korea!!! As for those of you in the Great White North (Canada), my respects to you as you celebrate Remembrance Day.

2. Put in my time at work with my two classes, office hour and then student meetings.

3. Today Grandpa-K’s ceremony was held and so I was really in no mood today to be all cheery at school. I really regretted not ditching my job responsibilities and heading off to be with my soon-to-be in-laws.

4. Lately I’ve been seriously struggling with focusing on my job. I still can’t get over Dankook’s unjustifiable stance they’re taking and I am feeling more and more bitter towards Dankook as a whole by the day. I really wish I didn't have this bitterness in my mouth. It never used to be there and things at school used to be so different. Lately, however, there are some days when I seriously wish I could just quit. I won’t quit though, nor can I. My responsibility is no longer directed towards the school but instead is towards my students. I could never, nor would I ever step away on such a sour note and halfway through the semester. My disappointment with Dankook has nothing to do with my students and, if anything, it’s them who have kept me there for so long.

5. Apparently drinking on weeknights and showing up at work stinking like soju and beer is acceptable but me boxing isn’t… or so I have learned. Cheers to my mates at work who continually get away with it but boo to me who apparently is now the good professor gone bad (because of me being a boxer, apparently).

6. Labeling my homepage “Living on the Flipside” was definitely more appropriate than I ever imagined!!! I love Korea but some things here are just too twisted for my liking.

7. Thankfully, returning to Guum Ggum is like a mini adventure all in itself. I open the door and all the stress of Dankook and whatnot just stops at the door. The name “Guum Ggum” is so incredibly fitting for where I live.

8. I went boxing super late tonight and so it was just Junior Mint, some other dude, and myself training. I’m not too sure what the scoop is on this other dude but he’s always doing errands for Junior Mint and he usually ends up cleaning the place, too. I really need to come up with a nickname for him.

9. Junior Mint is out of commission for the next couple of days on account that he got into some kind of street fight and smashed his knuckle... ouch!

10. Snickers showed up unexpectedly at the club tonight to walk me home. I thought he would be out of town for the next couple of days but I guess not.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How "flipside" is that?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Every day may not be good, but there's something good in every day.
-- Author Unknown

Yes, I "crazy" love him. While other couples tell each other "I love you", Snickers and I say "I crazy love you", and by that we're really saying "I love you so incredibly much."

Not too sure if he likes the ppeppero but no sooner did I take this picture but he then went and ate half his chocolate love letter.

Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, November 10

1. Had anticipated waking up at 5am and heading out to Grandpa-K’s house at 6am but around 4am Snickers called me to tell me that plans had yet again changed. Grandpa-K lives way out in the sticks where the number of buses that travel to it are definitely limited. Snickers called to tell me that his cousin would be too busy to pick me up and that the 9am bus would make me arrive too late. So going to Grandpa-K’s house was a no-go today. My last chance to say goodbye to him was no longer an option, and I felt terrible.

2. Today was my day off work which always means it’s my day of most work. Tuesdays are for planning my writing level one and writing level two Power Points, which is always so much “fun”. It took me quite some time to get down to work though. My mind was so distracted with thoughts of Grandpa-K and the ceremony I’d be missing out on. I really wanted this to be my big chance to be involved with the family.

3. Snickers has definitely had a rough couple of days, what with his grandfather passing away and then him helping to bury him up on a mountain, and so I thought I’d cheer him up by giving him my homemade chocolate treats.

4. My chocolates were a success. Mind ya, as soon as I opened the door he was all smiles and so my chocolates didn’t really bring about a smile like I had anticipated but instead they kept him smiling.

5. I was supposed to attend a dinner party being hosted by the foreigner’s dinner club but with Snickers returning earlier than anticipated, I decided it best that I treat him to dinner and just have it be the two of us.

6. And what better dinner to offer him than the feast I bought for him at Mainz.

7. Feasting out at Mainz was then followed by ice cream from Baskin Robins.

8. I had gone boxing earlier on in the afternoon and so my evening was free. Mind ya, I really wanted to go run off the food and ice cream I had indulged in. I didn’t eat a lot, definitely not as much as I would have liked, but with my game diet now in full effect and both Junior Mint and Snickers getting on my case to monitor my weight, my days of sinfully delicious foods are over.

9. Tomorrow Snickers will be heading out yet again to Grandpa-K’s house and so it felt good time with him. I know all his stress and heartache will return with tomorrow’s sun and so I really tried to let him relax tonight.

10. Evening running was a no-go on account that I feel asleep during tonight’s movie.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What am I suppose to say next time I see his family?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Sometimes our grandmas and grandpas are like grand-angels.
-- Lexie Saige

Stage one, which evidently enough, was the only stage that was relatively messy-free.

I made a love letter out of chocolate letters but in doing so I also made quite the mess in the kitchen.

And of course what Peppero Day celebration is without ppeppero. Mine were rather ugly but it's the thought that counts... right?!

Highlights of my Day... Monday, November 9

1. My pile of training clothes that I wore today and that needs washing consisted of the following:

- 3 pairs of Adidas training pants
- 3 pairs of socks
- 3 tank tops
- 3 sports bras
- 2 long sleeve shirts
- 2 sweaters
- 2 pairs of leggings
- 1 baseball cap
- 1 pair of hand wraps

2. Today’s training consisted of weight training in the morning, running in the early evening and then boxing in the late evening. I’m switching up my training soon to ditch my leg workouts at Hongik and take on more running but today Junior Mint insisted I load up on training today.

3. Ah my one Monday class. God bless there cute-as-a-button little faces and generosity with bombarding me constantly with smiles. This class IS the perfect way to start a work week.

4. An even more perfect way to start a work week would have been to come home and find my gorgeous man all smiley on the couch. However, he’s still off at his grandfather’s house dealing with that whole situation.

5. Today Snickers called me and told me he cried. He cried in the arms of his father and I couldn’t help but kick myself for not being able to be there for him and his family – our family.

6. In hopes of cheering up Snickers once he would return to Cheonan later on this week, I made him some homemade chocolates. Wednesday we’ll be celebrating Ppeppero Day here in Korea. It’s totally a commercial-made holiday centered around chocolate and Snickers already voiced his refusal to participate in such a money-maker holiday, but I thought a homemade gift would put a smile back on his face.

7. So for the next hour or so I made chocolate ppepperos and then I made chocolate letters for a love letter I later spelled out on a plate for him.

8. Guum Ggum smelt like chocolate and although I must admit I don’t eat much sweets these days, I did indulge in a bit of chocolate. Mind ya, when I went running I seriously thought I was going crazy because all I could smell was chocolate! Turns out I had accidentally smeared a bit of chocolate on the lower part of my nose… hahaha.

9. Took a break in between my intensive training schedule today to chat with Kitty Cat and another coworker of ours at Coffee Bean… and to breath.

10. No sooner did I catch my breath and get comfortable with relaxing but then it was off to more training, this time it was boxing. I showed up just shortly before 10pm. Junior Mint wasn’t impressed with my late arrival so I got stuck on laundry duty after training.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
When did Ppeppero Day first start in Korea?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
I love hugging. I wish I was an octopus, so I could hug ten people at a time.
-- Drew Barrymore

Option one of where I thought it would be a beautiful place for us to get married is in Bali.

And option two. Both are stunning and breathtaking!

My first choice for my gown, the only exception being that I would get it minus the burgandy accent/belt.

And the two runner up gowns. All three beautiful gowns are designd by Maggie Sottero.

Highlights of my Day... Sunday, November 8

1. Woke up to a collage of thunder and lightening mixed with a lot of rain. I love rainy days but I like it more when I’ve got Snickers beside me.

2. Rainy days are meant for lovers… hahaha. I love it how Koreans use that word. “He’s my lover.” As if saying “he’s my boyfriend” doesn’t do him enough justice.

3. I waited till the rain stopped to get loaded down with layers and go running. The rain may have stopped by the puddles on the ground definitely interfered with my running by latching on to my pant legs and weighing them down. Still had a good run though, despite the overly sloppy and floppy stretched wet pant legs.

4. Around 3pm today Grandpa-K, in his country home and in the presence of his loving wife, passed away.

5. When Snickers called me to tell me the sad news about Grandpa-K my heart sank. I felt terrible. I felt terrible not because he died but because if only I had gone with Snickers to his mother’s house last night I would have been there to comfort him and to go to Grandpa-K’s house with him. Instead, Snickers made the trip to Grandpa-K’s house without me.

6. I once had a Baba, that’s Polish for grandmother. She lived in downtown Toronto on Bathurst Street in a house that smelt like moth balls. With her frail aging hands she used to make use her traditional Polish cabbage rolls for holiday celebrations, a recipe she passed down to my mother, and I remember she use to laugh at the fact that I liked to chew on the fake rubber grapes that she had as her dining room center piece. I never thought much of what she really wore until she passed away and then I all of a sudden insisted on wearing her clothes. I still wear some of her sweaters. Baba was the only grandparent I had. Correction, she was the only blood-related grandparent I had. An elderly lady at my church once adopted me as her grandchild, Grandma Burrage. I don’t even think that’s how you correctly spell her last name but that’s okay. I loved her dearly but she too passed on.

7. I was quick to adopt Grandpa-K as my first and only grandfather. It was at Snicker’s boxing fight that I first met him and with every fight Snickers had after that, Grandpa-K always showed up. He didn’t talk much but I you could tell by how intensely he’d watch Snickers’ fights that he was just so incredibly proud of Snickers. When Grandpa-K started to count down his remaining days, I was then introduced to Granny-K, a quirky little lady who was instantly very affectionate with me the first time we met. I knelt beside her as she cried over Grandpa-K and she sat squeezing my hand. At night she slept beside me smiling, with her legs crossed and one heel up in the air. She slept exactly like Grandpa-K and it was no wonder either because the two of them have been married for around 60 years. But now Grandpa-K is gone and so while I know he is off in a better place, a place away from pain and sorrow, I worry about Granny-K. Who’s going to look after her now after the very person who looked after her for over 60 years is now gone?!

8. Thank you God for video calling. It’s way of making it possible to be in two places at once… and I love it!!!

9. With Snickers off at his grandparents house, I was left home alone with my thoughts and so an interesting thought creep into my mind late tonight. How about a destination wedding for just the two of us?! I don’t know why I hadn’t thought of this sooner!!! I thought of so many reasons why it seemed so perfect and so I searched more about in on the web. A destination wedding in Bali… perfect.

Why so perfect?
- it costs less
- avoids the whole guest list problem of who and how many to invite
- having the wedding at the honeymoon location hits two birds with one stone
- getting married in the winter weather wouldn’t be an issue
- I don’t belong to a church in Korea and I can’t stand Korean wedding halls, so
something beyond the expected ceremony locations would be great
- what better way to start a new life together and our marriage than having a little
wedding ceremony adventure in an exotic place?!

10. The downfall to my destination wedding idea is that time is limited. My work visa ends in March and Snickers agrees that if we’re already going to get married then why not do it when it could really help me, at the end of my visa. So if my visa dies out in March and today is already the second week of November, this means that we’d have to get married in January, leaving us but oh so little time to plan this. No worries, I already found my dress.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Did Snickers cry?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
A grandfather is someone with silver in his hair and gold in his heart.
-- Author Unknown

A Korean B-Boy breaking out his break dancing movies with his boys on the side providing the back beats and the crowd providing the energy.
And talk about a crazy amount of energy that massive slab of toffee would give you... delish!

One of my favorite places to shop while in Insadong. It's a building lined with stores that spirals upwards instead of having to go up stairs.

Snickers trying his hand at the outdoor baseball batting range. He didn't do too well, actually he was pretty brutal, but he looked so dang cute... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Saturday, November 7

1. Had been anticipating a little day-trip date in Seoul with Snickers all week and so today we headed off to Insadong in Seoul. I love the Insadong Market for it’s constant busy streets that are loaded with a fabulous array of shops ranging from traditional Korean culture souvenirs to high end clothing and hand made jewelry. The streets of Insadong are always cluttered with people enjoying various street vendors, street goodies, street performers, and there’s really something for everyone there.

2. I particularly love the “dragon hair shops” that put on quite the entertaining performances while making their traditional honey sweets that they’ve labeled as dragon hair. They usually have three guys yelling out quite the chant that has the random English word hear and their to appeal to the foreign crowd.

3. I had to snicker over Snickers and the fact that today marked his first time to Insadong. I visit Insadong every year, at least once in the summer and once in the winter.

4. A trip to Insadong isn’t complete without indulging in some super sweet, super creamy, and super thick ice cream. It takes more like Italian ice cream but the performance that comes with buying a cone of this ice cream is worth it’s weight in cold. I really should record what buying an ice cream cone at this place is like. The dude strikes up a conversation with each customer and then does random things to entertain them. My conversation started with the dude laughing at me when I responded with “I’m from Cheonan” in Korean when he asked me where I was from and then I practically made him deaf when he pretended to throw the loaded ice cream cone at me and I screamed out… hahaha.


5. There was really no purpose to our Seoul venture beyond the simple enjoying of each other’s company and well, we definitely accomplished that. Snickers is quite the hopeless romantic and sensitive guy and so today I got an overdose of it from him. He was publicly all over me like white on rice… hahaha. I blamed it on the mockalee (traditional rice wine) that he had drank at dinner. Well, that and the fact that he’s been so super giddy around me lately.

6. Playing dress up at various stores was hilarious and resulted in a bunch of Japanese tourists taking our picture.

7. “Amy your soul mate” Snickers mumbled out in a super low voice. “Who was that?” I jokingly asked. “That was God” was his response. Snickers has been blurting out these lines a lot lately and insists that God has personally told him that he made me for him. He even goes so far as to call me Angel, too. Snickers use to never really believe in God but ever since my mother miraculously went from having her days numbered to being completely cancer-free and surrounded by dazed and confused medical doctors, Snickers has really reconsidered his train of thought. “How come God doesn’t talk to me like he talks to you?” I asked him today. “Because you’re Polish. Polish are stubborn.” Very true… hahaha. “He talks but you’re too stubborn to listen.”

8. “Next year we’ll come back here a different couple” he told me. “We’ll be a married couple.”

9. At Gangnam Express Terminal Snickers and I both went our separate ways. He had to head over to his mother’s house to help her clean it for moving day and so I headed back to Cheonan. I see Snickers everyday but watching him board his bus and leave without me felt rather sad.

10. I contemplated heading over to Little America with some people I know but when I finally arrived in Cheonan I was too pooped to party. I popped in a movie but within 30 minutes or so I was out like a light.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What hotspot do you like in Korea?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
You can fall in love at first sight with a place a
s with a person.
-- Alec Waugh

My favorite machine to workout on!

And amen to the results it's given me.

And here's Kitty Cat sweating it up on the lower back extensions machine. Work it girl!

Highlights of my Day... Friday, November 6

1. Piled on the layers and had a very sweaty run on the treadmill.

2. Pushed myself too far with training chest and back today after I stepped on the scale and looked down at a disappointing number on the scale. YBin is pushing me to be 47kgs in about 3 weeks so that I can then jump back up to 53kgs temporarily, gain more strength and then drop down to 47kgs again for weigh-in. My goal is to lose 2kgs (=4.4lbs) a week.

The picture is a bit fuzzy, I know. I think it's cause I scared Kitty Cat a bit when I gave her my tough girl flex for the shot... hahaha.

3. The student who labeled me the “girl with sunshine in her eyes” in his writing continues to write about me in class and continually hides his writings from me. I use to think it was really flattering but now I seriously question his intentions. When he asked to go to the bathroom I scooped up his book once he left the room and noted that all his writings were about me.

4. At the back of his book he had listed various strange things about me: likes Anna Sui perfume but stopped wearing perfume in October, only paints her toes hot pink, wears a watch but uses her cell phone to check the time, likes almonds in her yogurt, and so on. To tell you the truth, I was rather freaked about what I had read but I didn’t know how to respond or react so I simply put his book back on his desk.

5. Two of my female students in my last class of the day are always chatting with me about diet and exercise. Apparently I have become the “Know it girl” about health and fitness and so I love it. I’m always reading articles online about training and whatnot so it’s great to be able to pass on what I’ve learned to others. My tip of the day to these two girls was to make a goal, create a plan on how to get to that goal, and go get that goal. For me my goal is obviously oriented towards my boxing game. If it weren’t for my game weigh-in requirements, I really could careless about what number pops up on the scale. My goals beyond the 47kgs weigh-in involves getting my 6-pack, getting a more defined v-cut in the side of my shoulders, and scoring buns of steel… hahaha.

6. At boxing tonight I was told to give my right hand a rest, it’s still somewhat in pain, and so I was told by Junior Mint not to work the heavy bag or do any pad work. It was so frustrating. I had the energy, the drive, and the desire, but I just didn’t have the strength in my right hand to be able to. Hope is to be better by Monday so that I can continue to go hardcore with training.

7. Snickers showed up to walk me home from boxing tonight and so that was definitely a sweet surprise.

8. Junior Mint was as cute as a button tonight when he took it upon himself to put his arm around Snickers’ shoulders and sit him down for a heart-to-heart talk about Snickers wanting to marry me. The two of them never did tell me what they talked about but Snickers did note that Junior Mint referred to himself as my “older brother” in the conversation. And on that note, I think I just found out who’d be worth it for me to get to walk me down the isle and give me away if my own father can not travel to Korea for my wedding.

9. Waiting for Snickers to propose to me is driving me bonkers and making my brain work on overload. He’s always calling me “C.I.A” because I think too much but also because I always manage to figure things out on my own. One thing I know he knows is that I’ve started to put the pieces together with his proposal plan and so I know I am taking the surprise out of his surprise by doing so.

10. “I just want to be Mrs. Kim.” I told him. “Let’s do this!”

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How can a society that exists on instant mashed potatoes, packaged cake mixes, frozen dinners, and instant cameras teach patience to its young?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Patience is something you admire in the driver behind you and scorn in the one ahead.
-- Mac McCleary

Snickers and his... victim.

He totally gave it to this guy.

It was a good work out for Snickers, great entertainment for those watching, a proud moment for me, and an embarrassing mess for his opponent.

Highlights of my Day... Thursday, November 5

1. On account that I couldn’t really make a fist with my right hand, unless I wanted pain to shoot up to my elbow that is, I switched up my weight training and trained legs today at Hongik. The pain continued long into the day and evening into the late hours, meaning that boxing tonight left me frustrated.

2. After my post-weight training nap, I woke up to a strange smell in my house. Turns out it was the smell of sweet potatoes steaming in my rice cooker. While I was totally out like a light on the floor, Snickers had prepared some potatoes for me (which he and his father grew – he wanted me to tell you that) and then wrote a cute love letter for me to find.

3. I think one of the reasons why my classes are so much fun teaching and whatnot is because I try to keep it real and I am open and honest with my students. I’m constantly giving them my personal opinion on things, dishing out advice like an older sister, and chatting with them during break time or whenever. Having said that, I shared with them the fact that I think Snickers is going to propose to me soon and so I couldn’t help but laugh today when I counted five students who asked me, “Did he ask yet?”

4. Shocking my director last night by asking for a letter of reference was met with “We have to meet and talk about this” and so we met and talked about it. I was rather curious what we really needed to talk about but I was rather disappointed when nothing new was brought to the table. The phrase “Don’t burn your bridges” was what stopped me from really saying what I wanted to say.

5. Got told by that my hair doesn’t make me look like so professional anymore. “That’s funny cause I don’t think the black eye I’m dying to give you will make you so professional looking either” I screamed in my head.

6. Coming home to be greeted by Snickers sitting in the park beside Guum Ggum waiting for me was exactly what I needed.

7. At boxing tonight Mr. Dumb-Nut, as I will now refer to him as, egged on Snickers to spar with him. I tried to convince Snickers to ignore the guy but he geared up anyway and sparred. “You’re an idiot.” I told Mr. Dumb-Nut and he knew exactly why I said it too, everyone knew. Snickers is allowed to train his right hand now but has been holding off, making sure it’s completely heeled. I knew he was itching to get back into the ring but Mr. Dumb-Nut pushes his buttons and shooting his mouth off was uncalled for.

8. “Kill him” I said to Snickers and as I leaned in to help him gear up. “I heard you” Mr. Dumb-Nut said. “Good. Do you want to hear it again?” I added.

9. Snickers didn’t kill him in the ring but he definitely made a fool out of Mr. Dumb-Nut, making him stop not once, not twice, but THREE TIMES from random body shots Snickers gave him. After two rounds Mr. Dumb-Nut called it quits. He looked at me and I smiled. “Amateur” I mumbled.

10. Was certainly surprised when I called my parents in Canada and my mom picked up the phone. I got a chance to chat up a storm with both my mom and my father but throwing “by the way I’m planning to get married in a couple of months” wasn't exactly easy and so I didn’t get to throw it out to them. Earlier on today Snickers and I got taking about things and he blurted out “I want to get married February 6, 2010.” Wow, I knew he was marriage-minded but I didn’t know he had picked out an exact date… and a date that is so close, too!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What do you see in your future?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
And in today already walks tomorrow.
-- Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Pictures taken at one of Snickers' fights arrived today.

Note the little boy hiding behind Snickers' legs. That's my "mini-boyfriend", as I call him. He always insists on sitting on me, holding my hand, and stealing things for me (definitely related to Snickers). He's such a cutie and is my favorite of Snickers' twin nephews.

Highlights of my Day... Wednesday, November 4

1. While Snickers was vacuuming, he stopped in the middle of the room, turned off the vacuum, and asked me, “Do I have to meet your parents before we get engaged?” “No” I replied.

2. He then vacuumed a bit more and then asked a second question. “Do you think I should meet your parents before we marry?” I stopped to ponder that one but replied with another no. I figure that considering the fact that mounds of preparing even bigger mounds of paper work to get Snickers a temporary visa to visit Canada, mixed with the fact that my mom is still too sick to travel, both Snickers and my family will probably meet each other after I become “Mrs. Kim”.
3. My parents once asked me if I was happy with Snickers. Of course I replied with a yes and I think that’s all they’re really concerned about. As long as I am happy I know they’ll be happy for me. Sure they’ll have their own opinions, like how they have with my boxing, but my parents know I’m a smart girl and they’ve raised me well. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that Snickers is the one for me.

4. On Wednesdays I am required to do one hour at the school’s English café and so today I met with a couple of students. One of the students who showed up was one of my Thursday students from my boys’ class. He’s never really talked to me before and is quite shy but today he was quite the chatty Cathy.

5. As for the other student, he was more interested in asking personal questions about me than I think he was in learning English. It was the first time I had ever met him and so him starting our conversation off with “Do you have a boyfriend?” made the whole twenty minutes together very uncomfortable for me.

6. One of my coworkers joked with me today, telling me that if I was single I could have a field day at work with the male students who are supposedly interested in me. Thanks but no thanks. That just grosses me out. Sure I have many awesome students and yes, I do have many attractive male students but I am not cool with mixing business with pleasure. Teaching Snickers random English lessons doesn’t really sit well with me and he’s my boyfriend. My boyfriend who has nothing to do with my job at Dankook.

7. Called up my director and asked her for a letter of reference. She was surprised by my request. I take it that she was expecting me to give into her “take it or else” spiel and drop my boxing for my job, instead however, I dropped my job for my boxing. Our short phone conversation ended with her telling me I had to come to her office tomorrow to talk to her. Not too sure what she wants to talk about though because nothing I could or would say will change anything and so I really have nothing more to say.

8. Headed over to boxing with Snickers tonight. He’s still not training with his right hand but he’s training hard and definitely working out his left hooks, jabs, upper cuts, and body shots.
9. With Snickers’ gear still at his own club, I let him use one of my gloves and hand wraps tonight, meaning that I had to use someone else’s gloves during pad work. The gloves felt a bit uncomfortable and they didn’t give me the usual support in my wrist that I’m use to with my Ringside gloves but I continued on… and I shouldn’t have.

10. Left training with a cramped muscle in my forearm, dang. I once broke my hand in a fight (no, not a boxing match) and because I was silly in taking off the cast well before it healed, it aches every time the weather changes and I always have to be careful with it, making sure I wrap it good for boxing. I had wrapped it good today but I definitely did something to it during training and so even making a simple fist with my right hand ached and sent a piercy sharp pain from my pinky finger all the way to my elbow… ouch!!!

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What's left to say?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The world is round and the place which may seem like the end may also be only the beginning.
-- Ivy Baker Priest

Leave it to my boyfriend to drink water like this... hahaha.

And leave it to me to think it's hilarious and totally encourage his A.D.D. behaviour by taking his picture and giving him a good pat on the bum... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Tuesday, November 3

1. Geared up with lots of layers: a t-shirt, long-sleeved shirt, a hooded sweater, winter hat, gloves, leggings, Adidas training pants, socks, and my Shox shoes. Popped in my iPod earphones into my ears and off I went for a chilly morning run.

2. Dankook University has a lake on campus with a beautiful trail that outlines it and so that’s where I headed off to. Returned 6kms later a very sweaty and very worked-out girl.

3. Today I arranged to meet up with a former coworker of mine at his university and so that’s exactly what I did today. Snickers came along and so that was quite sweet of him, but then again, would you honestly expect anything less from my man? Exactly… no.

4. Despite the numerous reasons I can think why I should stay at Dankook, I can think up of just as many, if not more, reasons why I should go, them forcing me to quit my boxing being at the top. One of my coworkers was right when she said to me the other day, “Maybe this could be the start of a new adventure.” Her words got me thinking. Sometimes ending something doesn’t necessarily mean giving up, maybe it means knowing when to let go. I think now is the time for me to let go of Dankook.

5. It was nice to head over to the other university and give it a chance. I’m leaving my options open and so it’ll be interesting what becomes of all this. The thought of this being a new adventure in my life has already helped to refresh me.

6. Snickers and I took the bus home and it was nice to just sit there and chat with him. We usually have our daily coffee routine that we do where we make coffee, curl up together on the kitchen benches, and just sit and talk. The bus ride home together felt like a bonus.

7. Once we arrived back at Guum Ggum, Snickers headed off to see his sister and her twins. I stayed home and worked on my two Power Point lecture files for my writing classes.

8. Headed off to boxing and ran into my most current “fan”. He’s about my age and is quite nice to me but it’s so obvious that he likes me more than just buddies. I say that because not only do I know he likes me but Junior Mint knows, his buddy knows, and most of the other guys know. He knows I have a boyfriend and so he’s held but from really saying anything directly to me but when Snickers came by to pick me up he blurted out that he wanted to go to Japan with me. Wow, that was gutsy! Snickers doesn’t even want to go to Japan with me, saying that it’ll distract me and whatnot.

9. Later in the evening Snickers and I popped in a movie and curled up on the couch together. He’s all about the scary movies but I can’t stand movies with a lot of blood, guts and gore, so while he dozed off I was left wide-eyed and totally awake.

10. With Snickers totally out like a light and me totally awake, I turned to the only person I knew would also be awake – Mi Nam. Took him out for a 2am run and he loved it. I loved it that he loved it.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
How do you know where something ends and another thing ends?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Every beginning is a consequence - every beginning ends some thing.
-- Paul Valery

Are you reaching for my hand cutie?

Well, you better ask me "the question" then... hahaha.

Highlights of my Day... Monday, November 2

1. No sooner had I finished my morning weight training but Snickers text messaged me to tell me that he missed me. The other day he video called me and it couldn’t had happened at a funnier moment. Kitty Cat and I had just finished weight training at Hongik and we were putting our coats on in the change room when he video called me. It was hilarious but I had to make the video call short on account that at any minute the naked women showering would walk into the scene… hahaha.

2. After school I went boot shopping with Snickers and found a wicket shop that sells handmade custom boots! I was tempted to buy a pair but the impatient part of me couldn’t wait a week and so I bought a different pair of boots. I love my new boots!

3. Called up one of my former coworkers and was told to come in tomorrow to drop off a resume tomorrow at his university…. Sweet!

4. K-Gere dropped off kimchi jjigga for Snickers and us and let me tell you, wow, was it ever packed with loads of tuna!!! It was super spicy, super tuna-packed, super delish, and super packed with K-Gere’s father-in-law-to-be love!

5. Did some grocery shopping with Snickers, which meant he taste-tested things that weren’t exactly meant to be taste-tested… hahaha.

6. In the early evening I got a call from Kitty Cat. She had called to see if I had seen one of our coworkers today. I hadn’t and neither had my other coworkers apparently. Moreover, she hadn’t been heard of since Saturday, it was definitely not in her nature to just go missing, and we feared something had come about from either her fight with her boyfriend or her weekend drinking, hence the concern. We felt sick to our stomachs, assuming the worst.

7. What initially started off small telephone between Kitty Cat and I was quick to explode into a full-on crowd search. And by crowd, I mean we ended up getting Snickers to call emergency. At first we tried to break into my coworker’s house. Snickers was going to scale the wall from the roof but as soon as he told me it’d be me holding the rusty chain I called it off and insisted he called for backup.

8. Well, backup came. Along came a police cruiser with the police and an ambulance with personal that were quick to put on plastic gloves and gear up to scale the wall. In total I think there were about 8 emergency men that showed up on the scene. They asked Snickers and me numerous questions while they broke into the apartment. Then the door opened. Snickers pulled me back, thinking that maybe the worst had happened. However, she was no where to be found.

9. The story of this evening’s coworker hunt ended with us finding out the truth of what really happened and while we were frantically looking for her, she was safe and sound at her boyfriend’s house. Of course we were relieved but it was also rather frustrating. "If I ever put you through all this, please kick me in the head!" I told Kitty Cat. Too many things had conveniently occurred together and so it was so strange that she had been so invisible. Beyond not knowing where she was though, it was very scary in that without Snickers' help I don't know what we really could have done.

10. Some of the emergency crew members recognized Snickers and I, which only served to remind me that I would so be getting into trouble tomorrow for missing training tonight.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What have we learned here?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The trouble with using experience as a guide is that the final exam often comes first and then the lesson.
-- Author Unknown