I live in Cheonan but NO foreign women from Cheonan took me up on the offer. Some tried but it was a no-go. Ended up being contacted by a group of girls living about an hour and some away from Cheonan, in Bundang. Eight women came out and impressed the socks off me and it wasn't because they trained hard but because of what they talked about both before and after the class. Instead of ranting and raving about downing x-number of drinks or hitting the bar later tonight, they talked about how they're swapping clean eating receipes, jogging together on the weekends and how there's more than just these eight in Bundang that are like them. There's a massive group of them.
I'll be honest, I envied them. My Advanced boxercise ladies are a fierce group of gals but they're a small number. Our numbers in Cheonan aren't anything like those in Bundang. Maybe they are but in the seven years that I've been living in this city of Cheonan I've yet to be shown otherwise. The Cheonan crowd is a tough, tough crowd and by 'tough' I don't mean strong tough.
The group of Bundang ladies that showed up today represent only a small percentage of a much bigger crowd of physically-active foreign women. And they're not the only city that's got a good healthy group of health-conscious folks. For example, Seoul, it's loaded with tons of athletic things to jump into. Their running club has a membership of a couple of hundred and they've got a women's rugby team that tours, to name off a couple. But Cheonan... what does it have?!... it's got me with my Flipside Fitness. I've become like the It-girl to go to for health in this city but you'd be surprised at just how many people seriously could give a damn about their health. I'm just sick of feeling like I'm back in university again with the dominant crowd that is here. If you don't drink or shot pool than you're totally out of the social scene. I don't drink, I don't like pool and I sure as hell don't want to be the sober one at a drunk man's party or smell like smoke thanks.
Whether it's been imprompt sleepovers at the boxercise club or having trainer-buddies slip me the key to their fitness gym for my friends to play squash at midnight, there are a ton of things for foreigners to do in this city that don't involve alchol or dishing out mad cash.
Time after time I hear so many foreigners admit that they used to be so fit before Korea but now they're so out of shape. Why does moving to Korea mean ditching your health? I understand where they're coming from -- new country, different food, change of jobs, etc. -- but we all go through this. Moreover, I make it my business to try to help them. I am MORE than happy to help them. I sure as heck don't make a crazy living running Flipside Fitness. Trust me, there's months when bills (as small as they may be) are hardly met, but I continue. I continue to run Flipside Fitness because I believe in what I'm doing is right and I think I can help people but, more importantly, I love seeing people get excited about changing their ways. I take great pride in knowing that I helped them become healthier, stronger... happier.
Having said all this, today I vented my frustration on Facebook, this is what I wrote:
ATTENTION CHEONAN WOMEN, It's with great sadness -- sarcastically speaking -- that I tell you this... Bundang women rock.
Now, don't get me wrong, there are some of you Cheonan ladies who I can so easily list off as being proactive about your health and do put more time into being proactive about your health than simply sitting around and complaining about it over the latest Starbuck latte, but what I saw today with the crew from Bundang who joined my free first-timers boxercise class was incredible. Incredible but also somewhat discouraging. They trained insanely hard but their concern for their health went so much more beyond the boxing club. After class, they pulled out brown-bagged lunches full of clean-eats and good foods.
Health IS life. Health IS my business -- YOU are my business, and somedays I honestly feel like I'm the only one in this damn city that cares two cents about your health. I think I care MORE than you care, how strange is that?!!! Having said this, I'm not saying you have to join my boxercise class or hire me as your trainer. What I am saying is that we're already 21 days into the new year and yet old habits and bad eating from last year continue.
MAKE THIS YEAR BE YOUR YEAR -- YOUR YEAR OF CHANGE!!!
So whether you come out to my boxercise class, go jogging, join a gym or just focus on cleaning up your eating, DO SOMETHING. For the love of yourself do something. Don't feed into the stereotype of what a typical foreign woman in Korea is like. Show them that the foreign woman is healthy strong -- mind, body and soul. I've lived in Korea for almost 7 years now and I'm sick and tired of the brutal foreign woman stereotype being recycled over and over with each new flight of foreigners who arrive.
TOGETHER LET'S BREAK THE STEREOTYPES.
Let's be the strong foreign women most of you claimed you were before you came to
Korea!!!
4 comments:
I could be wrong, Amy, but I don't think fat-shaming is a good way to improve your attendance numbers. You attract more flies with honey than vinegar. Telling someone that their health and appearance stinks, 'don't they want to get better???' is not very motivating. It's great that you are concerned about people's health but this is not the Biggest Loser, you can't force them into a different lifestyle by insulting them on your blog. I think you're going about this the wrong way.
Hi Mrs. Kim,
Please understand, I am NOT fat-shaming. That was definitely not my thinking or intention behind what I wrote. I wrote it out of pure frustration because I'm so sick and tired of foreigners coming to Korea and just "letting loose", then complaining about it. It's one thing to be unhappy and complain but it's a totally different thing to be unhappy but do something about it beyond complaining. I hear it WAY too much.
Too many people jump on the "sympathy bandwagon" but I'm so done riding that. Been there, done that, not doing it again and I don't see what feeding into people's sympathy bandwagon does beyond drag it out longer than it should be.
I never said that their health or appearance stinks, I actually noted that "I've never been a believer that "beauty" is a specific size or number but, with over 60% of Americans being overweight or obese, things associated with being overweight -- high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attack, and depression -- are anything but NOT beautiful" and I firmly stand by this.
I think yes, people do need a harsh reality because flowering things up and making it all pretty just isn't doing anything. Sure honey attracts more flies than vinegar but I'll tell you this, the gals that come out to my boxercise class don't get away with slacking at training. I train them hard, I push them hard, heck I've been known to kick them in the ring during warm-up but I know they respect that. Sometimes we all need a good push, to get to our potential, and I'm that person. I get paid to push people to their potential but my way about it is more of a boot camp instructor with tough love as opposed to another more gentle way.
I'm so over dealing with the stereotype of what people think of foreigners in this city -- lazy and loud. I may be loud at the gym but I am nothing close to lazy and neither do I let the ladies I train be.
I know my approach may be a harder one than others but that's ok. I'm just as hard on myself as I am those I train but trust me, I do get results. My fitness company provides intensive training for those who want to push themselves or need that extra push but it's a very positive environment I make at the boxing club and that's why they continually come back.
I'm sorry that you regarded me as a "fat-shammer" but that label is so not fitting for me and just because my approach is different doesn't mean that it's wrong. I admit it's not for everyone but then again I don't want to train everyone.
"are anything but NOT beautiful"
You mean the complete opposite of what you wrote, Amy.
"Anything but [adjective]" means it's *not* the adjective. You just negated a negative statement, thereby saying obesity is beautiful.
Hi Anonymous,
Oops... :( Thanks for catching my mistake. I still think it sounds right though I'm sure you're right. Speaking too much Korean means I'm losing my English... hahaha. How about I change the sentence entirely. Thanks for the help;) Saying obesity is beautiful was definitely not what I was going for!!!
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