1. You know you're a geek when you find yourself springing out of bed and eagerly racing off to class... yup, that's me. I think it's a combo of reasons why I really look forward to my Korean tutoring lessons. It's a change of routine, a change of scenery, my teacher is quite the funny lady, the lesson material is challenging and I can immediately apply what I'm learning to my daily life.
2. Arrived in Seoul and was greeted by snow! Wow... the first snow fall of the season. I remember Byung Hyuk telling me how the first snow fall is always special. I even remember last year's first snow fall. I was sitting in Kim Tae's car at the Cheonan Stadium parking lot, having quite an "interesting" discussion... hmmm....
3. Passed this week's Korean language with flying colors... sweet!
4. Literally got knocked off my feet with a bare-fist punch I took in the cheek bone... oh gosh! At training today Junior Mint dropped the pads to show me something. He yelled out "left", which he meant to say "right", and so BANG... a 35 year old, full grown professional, former Korean champion boxer punched me right in the cheek bone.
5. There was about a 2 second delayed reaction and then I dropped to my knees and burst out in laughter. It hurt so much though and so my eyes instantly filled up with tears. Everyone in the club stopped at the sound of the punch and Junior Mint rushed over to me. I was ok but for the rest of the day I sported a swollen cheek. I think it'll bruise, for sure.
6. Out of pure curiosity, I dilly-dallied around the gym after training. I knew "He" would be coming around 5pm and so I was curious about how he'd react to me with the others around and if the others already knew or not. He never showed up and so I spent money feeding Junior Mint and Milk Dud in my efforts to kill time... that's ok. Five minutes after I left, his truck past me in the street, Murphy's Law!
7. So... Saturday is the BIG day.... oh gosh. I've been working my butt off this week cause "He" asked me to go to his hometown (Daejon) with him. He's meeting up with some of his school mates from public school but the reason why this is such a big day is because he'll be taking me to his family's house.... I'll be meeting his parents!!! Apparently they're well aware of the fact that he has a girlfriend, which I find interesting cause we haven't even been together for a week now. Mind ya, what they don't know is the fact that I'm not Korean... oh gosh! Let's see how this goes down. Pressure is on and I'm already stressing about it!!!
8. In Canada, my ex's and friends' parents always loved me. I was always the cute bubbly little Polish girl who always said her "p's and q's", as my mom calls them (=please and thank you), ate everything on her plate, who laughed at the cheesiest of jokes, contagiously smiled, and was from a good Christian home. Here in Korea though, manners are so different and many people are Buddhist, so I don't really get the props I did before about being Christian. My technique with winning parents over in Korea is all about educating myself about Korean manners, culture and learning more Korean. Manners are huge here... I like it! Korea is definitely a land of one people and I find that despite how much they say they may like us foreigners, when it comes to being the girlfriend or boyfriend of their son or daughter, it's a whole different issue. For the most part, they like us as long as we don't get too close or too serious and, you know what, I can totally understand. After all, Korea is definitely very rich in culture and tradition and they want to preserve this. I respect that... doesn't mean I'm not going to date their son though.
9. Spent a good part of my evening doing more marking... this seems like the story of my life lately. I keep reminding myself though... 4 more weeks! Four weeks of being in workaholic mode and eat, sleep and breathing marks is nothing compared to the TEN WEEKS of vacation that I'll be having... sweet! My plans for this vacation involve weight training, boxing and studying Korean... nothing more, nothing less.
10. My marking was interrupted by Jae Min who continually insisted I take a break and join him downtown, so, I did. I showed up, he was there with another random cute girl he's trying to hook up with and some dude I met once before. Jae Min always has some girl with him... incredible. Tonight's girl was really pretty but there's something about a girl who goes to the bathroom with a massive bag, takes about 2o minutes and then comes back with refreshed make-up and smelling like she just escaped drowning in her perfume that doesn't sit well with me. Jae Min may not be Prince Charming, nor is he the brightest light bulb in the pack but, he is pretty great. I don't want him with some flake who's obviously more into herself than him.
QUESTION OF THE DAY...
Where's my other half tonight?
QUOTE OF THE DAY...
Life is tough, and if you have the ability to laugh at it you have the ability to enjoy it.
-- Salma Hayek
As the story has it, one day I headed to the opposite side of the globe – the Flipside. I arrived in Korea February 16th, 2005 and thought I’d do a year, then leave. I was wrong. I stayed, launched my first company, Flipside Fitness, and then opened Korea's largest boxing club, Hulk's Boxing (now called Hulk's Club).
After 11.5yrs in Korea, I then picked up one day and returned to Toronto, Canada. But then I left again.
Now I live in the Philippines where I am the CEO and head coach of Empowered Clubhouse, the Philippines' first and only boxing clubhouse exclusively just for women. I also am the founder of the Lil' Sistas Project, CEO and designer of Slay Gear and Baa Baa Black Sheep .Ph.
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