Highlights of my Day... Saturday, December 20

1. Koreans are all about sharing. They’re more like a community of people attached at the hips. They call each other brother and sister and so their family is like your family… and so is their food. Which means buying a drink means buying drinks for everyone and opening up a bag of goodies means sharing it, correction… splitting it up for all that are present. Well this may be all fine and dandy for the person who didn’t buy the drinks or bring the food, but it flat out sucks for people like me who are on a strict diet and really do need to eat the food they bring. Knowing full well that it’d be a three hour drive, proceeded by an extra long day with a questionable lunch, I packed some chicken I cooked last night, along with a steamed sweet potato, a bottle of water, some almonds, yogurt, and a protein shake. I refuse to put my diet on the back burner and so I was going to eat my meals in secrecy, or at least try. Q gave me a bit of an odd look when he saw what I had packed. “If you want food, by all means, buy it, cook it and then pack it baby.” I told him. Sharing may be the Korean way but I’m not Korean. I’m not selfish but I also wasn’t about to sabotage my diet for the benefit of others. I’m no one’s sister here, no one’s mother, and I sure as heck am not anyone’s free meal ticket!

2. I deliberately sat at the back of the van so that I could eat my meal during the drive and without people spotting me.

3. You want to make me cranky?!... then eat my food and deprive me of any water and food for countless hours. That’s what exactly happened today and later in the evening cranky is exactly what I became. One of the girls took my yogurt and almonds (meal #3), I was more or less forced to offer them to her. It was either that or listen to another hour of her “I’m so hungry” moaning. And then my protein shake kind of exploded when someone sat on my bag (meal #4). So basically I only had meals #1 and #2. Eight hours later I was finally able to get food. They insisted I head out to the restaurant with them but, well I was cranky, and so I didn’t go. All I wanted were my four egg whites and two green peppers and so I went home and ate exactly that.

4. But anyways… my food, and lack there of it, wasn’t the biggest highlight of my day today, Junior Mint’s fight was… it definitely was! Eleven of us piled into a big rented van and made the three hour journey to where his fight was. Five others meet up with us and so we had quite the crowd there. Actually a lot of people came out to see him today, people even he didn’t know. Talk of his long list of credentials and accomplishments have been flying via word of mouth and so the place was booming with curious spectators all eager to catch a glimpse of him.

5. It was funny to see Junior Mint taping his own hands, usually it’s done by the head coach but Junior Mint is stubborn like that, plus he IS the head coach. We all crowded around him in the change room as he got ready for his fight. Up until today, he’s been telling me that he’s excited about this match. “It feels natural” he told me but today he looked anything but natural. He looked stressed. I think all the hype has finally got to him. Today would either make or break his name and his reputation as a boxing coach and manager.

6. Definitely a defining moment of the day was when Junior Mint stepped out of the ring and there stood Panty Boy Jr., priceless. The two haven’t talked or seen each other since Panty Boy Jr. announced he was quitting the team, quitting boxing, and Junior Mint’s been bitter about it ever since. Panty Boy Jr. arrived right at the start of the fight and he snuck behind me to say hi. I turned around and was so overwhelmed to see him. I’ve missed him a lot, we all have. He did the right thing by coming.

7. So there we were, the old crew all together again, well most of us; Panty Boy Jr., Black Skinny, Q, Handsome Boy, Milk Dude, Junior Mint, and me. Who would have thought this time last year would be the last of our crew but that we’d be reunited by a fight involving the very man that created us, Junior Mint.

8. Junior Mint’s opponent was this strapping young boy with muscles way beyond his years. He stood a bit taller than Junior Mint but Junior Mint stood with more pride and more experience. Six and a half years ago Junior Mint stepped out of the ring but when he stepped back in today, it was like it was just yesterday. The match was only four rounds but that’s four rounds our hearts pounded louder than ever before. I swear we all stood there holding our breath. I said a little prayer for Junior Mint and then round two started. In between rounds three and four he looked over to me and I mouthed the word “kill” to him. That’s been our inside joke for the longest time. “I don’t want to fight” I once told him, “I want to kill… so they remember me.” By “kill” I don’t mean the literal sense of the word, instead, I mean a rough, brutal fight in which the winner is obvious.

9. Junior Mint’s fight wasn’t a kill but he definitely proved that he still has what it takes. I’m sure his fight would have been a killing though if one of the officials hadn’t talked to him prior to the match. Q’s Junior Mint’s official manager and so he was standing by Junior Mint and overheard the whole conversation. “You’re a sure win” the official said. “… we all know it. Just be easy on the kid”, and that he was. He won the match but after he looked so disappointed. It hadn’t been the match he had anticipated it would be.

10. Regardless of whether it was a killing or a fight, we all felt proud of Junior Mint. We stuck around to watch a couple of more matches while a television crew interviewed Junior Mint and then we loaded into our vehicles and headed back to Cheonan. Traffic was brutal and so five hours later we finally arrived.

QUESTION OF THE DAY...
What did you eat for breakfast?

QUOTE OF THE DAY...
The breakfast of champions is not cereal, it's the opposition.
-- Nick Seitz