No boxercise class today on account to this scene that greets us today.

So we took a detour and I introduced one of my boxercise gals to this old guy -- Brown Bear.

I don't really know Brown Bear but I think he's awesome -- perhaps I have a soft spot for oversized dogs;) Speaking of soft spot, the little mini Korean in the pink has a HUGE soft spot for Pyen Chi. When I snapped this shot, it was probably the only second she wasn't touching, kissing and hugging Pyen Chi... hahaha.

Big Doggies of Cheonan... Saturday, March 31

Amy Bere, Amy Bere, what do you see?
I see Brown Bear smiling at me.
... Or so I’m convinced he’s smiling at me, after all he does wag his tail when he sees me now.

Brown Bear, or Birrown Gom as he’s called by Koreans, is an oversized, overly-fluffy, under-loved four-legged old man who lives right near my boxing club. I spotted him the other week, correction, I heard him the other week. I was walking to boxing late at night when I heard this deep down, husky bark coming from across the street so I took a detour to seek out who was barking. Low and behold there before my eyes laid a sad looking dog.

He looks like he’s supposedly the guard dog of some kind of appliance fixer-upper shop but he’s too old to do so, so he just lays there watching people walk by.

Today my boxercise classes were cancelled on account of a rescheduling problem with the painters who, as I found out today, are working today at the boxing club. All my boxercise classes this weekend consequently have been canceled. Boo to that. When I arrived with one of my boxercise students we were greeted by painters so we had no choice but to turn around and go home. It was then that I introduced my student to Brown Bear. A lady walking by commented to us, telling us not to touch him because he’s an angry old dog but he’s definitely not. He’s much overdue for some love though.

It’s obvious I’m a huge fan of four-legged friends – I like my four-legged friends more than many people I know, it’s true – so seeing Brown Bear alone makes me sad. He could be someone’s Mi Nam but he’s not.

When I arrived home after seeing Brown Bear, I hugged my two four-legged friends extra long and then took them out for a walk. When the weather is a bit warmer and the sun is high, I take both Balboa and Pyen Chi out by the river together. Lately there’s been a crew of mini Koreans playing in the river, under the bridge by my apartment, and there’s one little girl that’s exceptionally affectionate to Pyen Chi. She comes up to my waist, is probably no older than five and she has absolutely no fear of Pyen Chi. Today she tried to sit on Pyen Chi like Pyen Chi was a horse… hahaha. She draped her arms around Pyen Chi’s body and then let her legs hang. I find this all too funny and Pyen Chi seems a bit confused by her excessive hugging.

Pyen Chi usually gets a lot of comments by other people out by the river but she also gets screamed at and I’ve seen full-grown men run like little girls at the sight of her. For every 10 people that pass her, I’d say a good 7 of them become uncomfortable and go out of their way to walk far around her. And out of those remaining 3, 2 will simply ignore her while only 1 will try to pet her. Only one out of ten, it’s true. So when Pyen Chi is out by the river and this particular little girl comes flying down the path, running with arms wide open and yelling Pyen Chi’s name, well you can imagine it’s definitely not what Pyen Chi is used to. This pretty little mini Korean seriously gets Pyen Chi so worked up that Pyen Chi ends up having to pee right after this mini Korean bombards her with hugs.

Don't talk about wanting change, go out and put your want into action!

Proudly Naked... Friday, March 30

"Get naked with confidence", that was one of the goals of a personal training client of mine and let me tell you, mad props to her for reaching this goal. Today she walked out of the boxing club changeroom completely buck naked and completely confident. This was a first for her... and for me too (having a client peel totally down). She walked out of the changeroom wearing nothing but a huge grin that stretched from ear to ear. She sat through our entire meeting in the buff and though I thought it was rather funny to a certain extent, I felt rather sad to know that she's never been able to show anyone else her body up until now. Relationships that should have been and could have been but never continued on account of her lack of confidence and insecurities was what made her contact me.

I've been working with this particular personal training client for about five months now and even from the get go she never really interested in her measurements. She never had goals like a 30" waist or 15% body fat because her interest was more so in how she felt and in starting a healthy lifestyle. She had realistic goals for her -- a realistic woman in the now. Her goal was to start and maintain exercising three days a week, eat five times a day, lose 5% body fat and "get naked with confidence".

Regardless of what YOUR goals are, figure out what you want in the first place, set realistic goals and map out a route to get them. You won't get anywhere fast unless you know where you're going... unless you take action and START!

Literally sweating from my head down to my toes and I'm not even done training -- I love it!!!

No "Catch-Up"... Thursday, March 29

You can't play "catch-up" and by that I mean you can't make up for loss time, make up for things not done, things you should have, would have and could have done if only had the extra time, extra energy, or extra means to do so.

I haven't stepped into the boxing club for my own training this past week so I really wish I could play catch-up to make up for days I didn't make it to training. I miss my coach and teammates, I miss doing pad work, I miss going round-for-round on the sandbags... I miss my boxing.

I miss a good, grueling, heartpounding, sweat-draining, hardcore workout that leaves me with swollen arms, exhausted abs and jelly legs.

Today that's exactly what I got in though; I got in that much needed grueling workout. I suppose it was my attempt at catching-up, making up for training that didn't happen this week. It's not that I didn't want to train or made excuses why not to, that's totally not it. I've been so overly busy -- overly busy training everyone but myself that is.

They say you can be addicted to training just like a person can be addicted to smoking or drinking. Perhaps I'm addicted to training, yes possibly, but I do love it. Training for me is more than just getting into the boxing club or out on my running path, it's much more complicated than that. There's a wicked energy and vibe I get when I'm surrounded by those at my boxing club. It's like no matter what has happened that day or what the night will turn into, the boxing club is like a second chance to make your wrong right, to just escape. And when I'm out running around the lake, there's an awesome zone I let my mind drift into and I love it.

I've been asked if it feels good to take my stress out on the sandbags but it's never been about relieving stress to me. I don't box because I'm stressed out, after all, what stress do I really have?! My biggest stress these days is trying to get Balboa to pee on the newspaper and trying to get Pyen Chi not to always sit on my chest when I'm sleeping. No big stress here.

And despite boxing, I definitely don't consider myself an aggressive person. Boxing has relaxed me a lot and it feeds me a constant flow of awesome energy. It's empowering but it's different for everyone. The other day I saw such empowerment in the eyes of one of my boxercise gals. She was doing her rounds on the sandbag with me calling out the combos. I noted to her that I thought she could hit harder and when I blurted out "Hit it harder -- for all the wrong that's ever been done to you!" that's exactly what she did. That was empowering -- empowering for her to let out the aggression and empowering to me to be able to teach her a means to relieve such stress.

Tonight I trained hard. Coach pushed me hard but I definitely pushed myself harder than I had anticipated and it felt good. It was such a rush stepping out of the boxing club. I was sweating from all two thousand and one body parts and though I could never catch-up for lost days I didn't train, I definitely made today count.

That's what I've been really trying to do more these days, make the days count. Not make them count as they pass by but in the current moment, the current day I'm in. I used to always say "I'll do it tomorrow" or "I'll start tomorrow" but really, what about today?! Why wait till tomorrow when I can start over now, right this very minute... this very second. I've been trying to really encourage my personal training clients to really think about the now. You'll always find excuses to put off tomorrow what you can do today, like cleaning up your diet or training. Bad days don't have to stay bad though, you can change it... so change it. Change it now, not tomorrow.

There is no catch-up but there is a now and what you do with your now will ultimately change your tomorrow, but why wait?!

It's amazing just how shaped my life has been because of my boxing and for that reason I will forever love, love, LOVE boxing. It's given me so much... so much more than I've ever expected.

I originally got into boxing as a means of protecting myself but what I've got out of it has been so beyond anything and everything I could have imagined. Take for instance this picture. That's me in the background preping for my first official professional fight. Q is standing with me, helping me, and yet this picture was taken of us or for us. It was a picture taken of Snickers, years before anyone knew our paths would cross and we'd get married.

Indecisiveness... Wednesday, March 28

Korea seems to be the perfect transitional place between leaving an old life and starting a new one, a place to tie up loose ends. For many, the old life is finishing university with the loose ends being student loans or figuring out what career path to take. But what about us on the verge “lifers” here in Korea, what is Korea to us and how do we know if we’re even so-called lifers?!

The other week I met a sweet gal who came out to my boxercise class. She’s a young girl fascinated with the Korean culture and her story is much different than many because she originally came here as a foreign student. When I asked if she wanted to train to Korean music or Western pop she replied with “I prefer Korean pop.” I’ve only met this young lady once but already she’s made a strong impression on me because in many ways I see myself in here – a foreigner who doesn’t fit the label of what it means to be a foreigner. A foreigner who could very well fit a better life here than any where.

Too often I meet foreigners who so fit the foreign stereotype like a glove and it’s frustrating to me. It’s not necessarily them that’s frustrating to me, they know what they want and for the most part it’s to do their year here and then leave, it’s me and my own position that’s frustrating. I somewhat envy them for the fact they know they want to leave. I don’t know if I do. I’m a foreigner, true, and I’m not a Korean, true, but I so often feel like I don’t fit either groups. Moreover, the fact I’ve realized I’m so indecisive about whether or not I want to return to Canada is also very frustrating because I always thought that was the plan.

I thought it was the plan when I originally arrived here engaged. Then I thought it was the plan in my second year after I broke up with The Ex. It’s always been my plan to return but there’s always been something to detour me away from continuing – getting a university job, going pro with my boxing, meeting Snickers, my second family at the boxing club, and the list continues.

Realization of the fact that I’m so indecisive about Canada hit me the other day when I saw pictures on Facebook of a friend who had recently painted her apartment here in Korea. Simply painting her apartment instantly changed her four walls into a home and it got me thinking, why didn’t I ever paint my house? I’ve been living in this transitional phase, just like when I arrived here, so I never painted my apartment because I suppose I never thought it’d ever become my home. I never expected Korea to be my home but now it is.

I’m now 31 years old, I’m not getting younger, and sometimes it worries me that I don’t know exactly what I want to do with my life or where I want to live it out. I don't know what I'd do if I were to move to Canada today but I know I'd surely be in the company of some much missed friends and family. Sometimes Canada seems like a far-off, too hard to reach land of freedom. Other times I think I’m just thinking the grass is greener on the other side and that the reality of it is I’ve got it better here on the other side.

My biggest fear at this point of my life is not knowing whether I want to be in Canada or stay in Korea. My life is so different here in Korea – so simple, so safe, so easy – but sometimes it’s definitely feeling like it’s lacking. It’s missing the friends and family from Canada that I just could never replace but I know if I were in Canada right now I’d be missing my Korean friends, like my boxing coach and teammates that have become much needed components in my life.

Is there such a way to have the best of both worlds -- a way to find balance? Can I balance both or do I have to pick just one?!

I feel so indecisive but in being indecisive about moving to Canada or staying in Korea, I don't want that to be what decides because that's not really a decision, that's just more indecisiveness.

My goal -- I WILL get these abs!

Is that a Korean Ken or a Western Ken because back in Canada those Kens come pretty supersized and they pack massive muscle!

Abs In the Kitchen... Tuesday, March 27

The other day when Snickers was out at 5-Star’s restaurant he overheard an argument. It was between 5-Star and all his wait staff. Snickers kept his nose out of it and sat quietly, waiting for it to end but how it ended was nothing like how anyone anticipated it to. It basically ended with 5-Star firing his entire wait staff. Yup, that’s right. And with the restaurant just an hour or so left till closing, 5-Star turned to Snickers and asked him, “Can you work right now?!”

That’s what went down and now Snickers works at his buddy’s restaurant until he can hire a full staff of new waitresses and waiters. For the most part, 5-Star has Snickers busy in the kitchen, learning how to make various dishes and appetizers. The extent of Snickers’ cooking is basically showing up at his mother’s house or opening up a call-food menu. It’s not that he doesn’t know how to cook, it’s just he really doesn’t feel the need to cook. Having said this though, it’s not like I even cook for him either. He usually eats out with his buddies or eats at a restaurant. He’s a two-big-meals-a-day kind of guy where as I’m a six-small-meals-a-day kind of girl. Our eating styles don’t match and of course we both think we’re each right in our ways. I’ll never agree to eating only two meals a day or the massive size of such meals he eats.

I can’t stress enough the importance of eating – to my personal training clients and to my own husband. Eating changes everything!

My own eating has been questioned a lot by me lately.

Every day I try to aim to eat the following:
5-6 servings of Protein
2 servings of Simple carbs
2-4 servings of Starchy carbs
4 servings of Fibrous carbs
<3 servings of Healthy fats

Getting in my protein isn't the problem, it's my veggies that are.

In terms of my physique, where I am, where I think I should be and where I want to aim to be still continues to be three different places and it’s frustrating me a lot recently. So I’ve been mapping out a different plan of attack. Training only accounts for 10% responsibility, genetics is another 10% but eating is a massive 80%. I already eat super clean but I know my problem is getting in my veggies. I’ve been struggling to get my veggies in lately and have resorted to simply blending them and then downing them. Actually, I got pretty lazy the other day and ended up downing raw eggs too. I could have, would have and should have prepared my meals the night before but I didn’t and then I woke up to late, so I threw about 8 eggs into a bag and then threw that bag into my big bag. Downed all eight in a matter of two meals.

I'm convinced the key to my success lies in veggies. I'm downing protein like it's going out of style, fruits aren't a problem, and my starchy carbs are pretty clean -- leaning on oatmeal, sweet potatoes and homemade whole wheat tortillas.

I'm all about the one-dish meals but in terms of veggie snacks, I'll be honest, I'm lost. I definitely have to get more creative with coming up with ways to incorporate more veggies into my clean eating!

Taking a break out of my hectic schedule to watch my two 4-legged friends play. I love these two little ones but wouldn't it be so cool if Mi Nam was here with us still!!!

Organized Chaos... Monday, March 26

Getting back to what I love, or so has been my plan lately.

So what do I love, that's easy. I love working out hard -- boxing, weight training and running.

This past week I've picked up some extra work, a lot of extra work actually -- three more personal training clients, a set private group boxercise class and 7 additional hours at a random parttime gig. I was asked if I'd take on a private boxercise class for one -- for a male. He knows my boxercise classes are girls-only so he's willing to make it up to me in pay for hosting a weekly private class for him but I just don't have the time or energy right now.

Besides my set private group boxercise class, I'm not hosting any weekday morning boxercise classes this week and I'm not too sure if I will be next week either. I love training with those who come out but, in all honesty, me showing up for an hour to hour and a half training with one student is really tapping into my own personal training. And with only a few weeks left till my half marathon, I really would like to up my running but I just don't have the extra time and energy based on my current schedule. I'd like to think I'm a cuter version of a crazy chicken running around with its head cut off but none the less, I do feel like I'm just like this chicken.

With all my personal training clients, boxercise classes and parttime gigs, I now officially work seven days a week starting today, with Wednesday being my longest workday -- 11hrs of work in three different cities, Cheonan, Seoul and Suwon.

Trying to finalize and register everyone for A Day At the Races (5km, 10km and half marathon race event I'm bring a group of 26 to) is driving me a bit bonkers. Only today did I find out that I had to include everyone's alien registration number, a fact I wish the organizer had mentioned to me when I talked to him the other day. So ya, I ended up having to deal with that which is one thing but the fact that some people make it so impossible for me to get a hold of them is frustrating. Feeling a bit stalkerish because it, me having to hunt down people's phone numbers through random people. Not fun. Those who responded to my message today, asking for their ARC number, were awesome though. They definitely melted my soon-to-be frozen frustrated heart so mad props to them.

Pyen Chi ate a corner of my Adidas shoes today, which isn't so randomly off topic here to mention. A bored Pyen Chi is a bad Pyen Chi. I looked at her today when I came home and envied her for having such excessive time to be able to be bored.

Maybe I'll have to schedule in some time this week, just to let myself be bored.

If you're blessed enough to have your mother close by, hug her today.

My Tribute to My Mother... Sunday, March 25

This is my mom, a woman I should be able to go on and on about and yet sitting down to write this tribute left me stumped for words and with pure writer's block. Friends and family gave me tips; do this, try that. I thought if all else fails I could give it in Korean.

When I was 19 years old I moved away for university, then from there I went straight to Korea. I think it took me to move to the other corner of the world to really see my mother for the real woman she is. Up until that point she was my mom -- a tough mom, always the boss of the house and always the one in charge of the paddle. She always used to tell me, "Your father may be the head of this house but I'm the neck that turns the head", and that was exactly true. She was a tough-love kind of woman, stubborn in her ways and strong in her beliefs but she loved us, there wasn't anything we could possibly do that would ever change that, and she tried her hardest to be the best mom, sending me to school with baked cookies to share with my friends, insisting on walking me to school every day with a wagon full of babysitting kids trailing behind, showing up to all my school concerts and ceremonies, and having Pizza Wednesdays where I'd be allowed to bring a school friend home for lunch. She was the mom of moms, the envy of many of my friends I'm sure.

But heading out to Korea on my own made me quickly realize a lot of things, one of which was a whole other side to my mom, and so her role in my life at that point shifted from being that of my mother to that of a friend and confidant.

She had always had the gift of gab and this evolved into a gift of gabbing via emailing once I moved across the globe. We'd ramble on about work, chat about friends, talk about boys, and she' give me relationship advice. I'd vent to her about some culture-clash I'd be in and she'd paint a picture with words regarding all her home-cooked food I was missing out on. She used to sign her emails "From your Favorite Mom" for giggles and I'd always reply with "From your Favorite Daughter", but it never did feel like we were mother and daughter emailing each other.

Every once in awhile she'd shift back into mother-mode, get all concerned that I'd be homesick and would send me a parcel of Canadian goodies she knew I'd be craving -- Crest toothpaste, Shake N'Bake, whole wheat tortillas -- and Reese Peanut Butter Cups and NyQuil for my husband. She'd even send packages to my dog Mi Nam.

They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and that it does but I think it also made my eyes open up. Open up and see my mother not as just my tough-love mother but as a strong female to be my mentor, a compassionate companion to be my friend, and a loyal disciple to be an example to me. I know no matter what I could possibly say will ever do my mother justice but this is my tribute to my mother, my friend.

Taken away way too soon but definitely not gone and surely never to be forgotten!!!

Seven Months Today... Saturday, March 24

If ever there was ever a real heart-to-heart connection between Snickers mom and I it was felt today.

I ended up canceling my afternoon boxercise class to head out with Snickers to the funeral home for his grandmother -- his mother's mother. When I walked into the funeral home I was greeted by in-laws I had met before and many of whom today marked our first encounter. Everyone was sitting around the tables, snacking on food so we took a seat at a corner table and that's when Snickers' mother spotted us. She approached us in a black Korean hambok and I could tell by her eyes that she had been morning her mother's death. She greeted us with a smile though and I reached out to squeeze her arm.

I thought I'd feel over appologetic for the loss of her mother but I didn't. Her mother lead a long life -- 89 years -- and this fact distracted me from feeling sorry. I didn't feel sorry or any grief for her mother actually. She had lived a long full life, had children, and had watched her children have children. She even got to see some of her grandchildren have children.

I couldn't help but be distracted with thoughts of how I lost my own mother. Unlike Snickers' grandmother, who died naturally and lived a long life, my mother lost her life to cancer and had died way too early. I felt rather robbed today because of this.

Sometimes I feel my mother in my face, as strange as that sounds. I don't know how to really to explain it but to say I feel like it's her smiling back at those looking at me as oppose to me smiling. A couple of years ago I started to feel this but now I feel it more frequently. She's in the little smiles I pose on my face.

Today marked the seventh month anniversary of my mother passing away and I spent it at the funeral home for Snickers' grandmothers. I had arrived wearing my finest -- a pin-stripped pencil skirt, shiny heels, a beautiful blouse and my mom's smile.

Snickers and Pyen Chi tried to revive me back to life with some cuddles and grade-egg goodness;) I couldn't quite swallow it though because of my irritated throat but he definitely got A for effort!

Not One of Those Good-Turn-of-Events Days ... Friday, March 23

When I arrived and was told that my afternoon class had been canceled because of a trip, I instantly anticipated the look on Snickers' face when I show up unexpectantly early at home. It was a rainy morning so the plan was to stand outside throwing pebbles at his window. He'd look out, see me, smile and then come join me under my umbrella for a walk in the rain.

That was the plan.

What ended up happening was I caught a chill on my way home when my umbrella broke. I sat on the subway soaked and it only got worse from there because when I texted Snickers, simply asking him what he's up to, he texted me bad news. His grandmother on his mother's side died today. And to make matters worse, I've been totally putting off meeting her because of the stress I feel from that side of his family. So ya, definitely am kicking myself now.

Snickers ended up picking me up from the subway station and I spent the rest of the evening under the covers, sipping on my last hidden stash of NiteQuil, and going through tissue like it was nothing.

I can't say I get sick much but when I do it hits me like a ton of bricks.

All my late night training, early morning client meetings and boxercise classes, and then juggling another job I've taken on has definitely been wearing me thin and today it all caught up with me.

We didn't go out of town to attend to the funeral ceremony situation like I had anticipated. Snickers insisted we stay home so that I could rest up and so he could baby me back to health. The plan is to go tomorrow and, as if I didn't already learn a lesson today, I really don't want to go tomorrow. I know, I should go, but after attending my own mother's funeral I really don't want to have to attend another. I didn't feel pressure to do anything or be anyone I wasn't at my mother's -- perhaps I should have cried at her funeral but I didn't. But attending Snickers' grandmother's funeral, ya, definitely feeling the pressure building up for this already.

Balboa and Pyen Chi took their first ever walk together today and I took clips of it... so cute!

First Baby Steps... Thursday, March 22

In the early afternoon I took Pyen Chi out for a walk and, upon realizing just how sunny and toasty warm it was outside, I decided to take Balboa with us... and thankfully my camera too.

Besides his initial journey to his new home and his vet visits when he first joined us, Balboa hasn't really gone outside. He's never actually touched the outside ground, that is not until today!

Upon his four little feet touching Mother Nature's natural floor, he gave a little jump and instantly realized this was something new. Pyen Chi was quick to clue into this too so I had to watch her, making sure she didn't jump all over Balboa with excitement.

Reactions from people walking by the three of us were priceless. At first, there was the couple who didn't even see Balboa but freaked at the sight of Pyen Chi. Then there was the young girl who I'm pretty sure she mistook Balboa for some kind of street rat because she gave out a little scream and jumped back. The best though was the older guy who looked totally dazed and confused. I'm sure when we walked by he must have rubbed his eyes a couple of times because he stood there watching us for a good couple of minutes.

Things that made me smile extra big today...
1. Waking up to Pyen Chi leaning over me.
2. Recieving my kind of bouquet from my veggie man -- a head of broccoli.
3. A young Korean guy on the subway who clearly redefined style in his own terms.
4. Surprise late night BBQ party for two with Snickers.

Sporting Backup... Wednesday, March 21

Something that DIDN'T make me smile today though was seeing that guy who made that mom joke the other day... so I kicked him. I kicked him right in the shin, just like I did on Monday.

I told Snickers that I kicked a guy today and why I did so. He was ticked, not at me but at the guy. Leave it to Snickers to volunteer to go and punch the guy, oh gosh. I won't be taking him up on that offer but I know he'd do it if I were to allow it. That's one of the things I really admire about Snickers. It's not that he's willing to punch the lights out of someone, it's the fact that he is very protective of those in his life. He's especially protective of me and I like that. Heaven help the guy that even so much as touches a hair on my head.

Had a super productive, highly energized, overly energy-eating, exercise-packed day.

Energy to Spare?!... Tuesday, March 20

Today’s Schedule:

Morning personal training meeting with a client.
Props to one of my personal training clients who has reached her goal of fitting into her “skinny-me-jeans”!!! When I first met her seven months ago she presented to me a pair of jeans that she had labeled her “skinny-me-jeans”, a pair of jeans she used to wear back in her university days. Her university days are now long gone but her “skinny-me-jeans” have remained in her closet, taunting her. She even brought them to Korea. Well they taunt her no more because today she showed up at her personal training meeting sporting them, and let me tell you, I don’t know what I was happier to see, her massive ear-to-ear smile or the amazing curves she’s now kicking! Congrats lady!!!

Afternoon timed run for my half marathon training.
I’ve been averaging 5 minutes per kilometer so I’m aiming to my half marathon definitely under two hours. My first half marathon I did was back in winter, two winters ago, and I certainly wouldn’t do such a run in winter again nor will I ever run the Han River course – totally exposed course with nothing to stop the brutal chilly winter wind!!! I finished that half marathon in two hours and eight minutes which I should have been happy about given the circumstances – the brutal weather and the fact that just a couple of weeks prior to the run I got hit on my scooter by a taxi – but I wasn’t happy. I was hoping to devote more attention to this half marathon but it’s been so hard to and doing so would mean I’d definitely be overtraining. In addition to my own boxing training, I host 5-7 boxercise classes a week, have meetings and training with clients to schedule in, and now I’m helping some of the race participants with their training.

Early evening run with some race participants.
Tonight I met with two ladies who will be running the 10km. I took them out for a 6.5km run, focusing on interval training. It was nice to get out and go running with them because I’m so accustomed to just running alone. In the past I’ve gone running with Snickers but with his long legs and equally long stride, I feel more like a tiny poodle chasing after him, trying to catch up, so it’s not that we’re really running together. It’s more like me chasing him. He’s much better at speed and I’m much better at distance.

Evening boxing.
Trained with Black Skinny tonight. His wife just had a second baby, another boy, so he’s looking more tired than anything. Regardless of him being super tired, Junior Mint drilled him in the ring tonight like a madman. I stood ringside for his last couple of rounds and cheered him on. Then it was my turn and yikes, here I thought Junior Mint would be out of energy… nope!!! That guy is a machine!!!

Late evening weight training.
I was all ready to leave the boxing club when I noticed one of the girls fiddling around with the dumbbells. She clearly didn’t know what she was doing but A for effort, so I decided to help her out. Ended up staying almost an extra hour at the boxing club, teaching her how to weight train and then making up a simple full body routine for her to do.

Today I took that joke like a bullet, it hit my heart so I kicked him. Apparently that's my new found super power. I like to kick butt, I'm Kick Buttowski... hahaha.

Stuck in Suwon... Monday, March 19

If yesterday I was on a high from my boxercise classes than today I was definitely on a low in comparision, so this is me complaining.... rambling complaining!

Snickers wants me to quit running, saying that it's altering my "female look" too much. Which he basically meant was it's been trimming me down but in not necessarily the spots he thinks need trimming, like my chest. What does he know?! His past dating life consisted of but only a couple of girls -- Korean girls -- so in comparision I am definitely a voluptuous lady;)

Was questioned at the boxing club by some random Korean girl who felt the need to tell me she doesn't think muscular legs on a woman are attractive. I felt like telling her in the first place that what a woman thinks about me is so not of interest to me but that I'm flattered that she'd consider my legs so muscular. "Why do you want such strong legs?" she asked me. I wanted to joke and say "so that they're all the more stronger for kicking you" but I settled with just saying "... for running". She gave me a rather snobbish look and then turned away. Sweety, I've got chopsticks thicker than your legs!

And with comments like that, ya, sometimes I don't play well with others:(

With one of my sister-in-laws now being pregnant with her third child, I thought the "why don't you have a baby?" pressure would be avoided. No suck luck. Snickers has been getting on my case (and I know it's coming from you-know-who) to spend more time with his two twin 7-year-old nephews. They're even talking about sending me to Canada this Christmas with them. I think they think that if I spend more time with these little ones that I'll catch some kind of "baby fever". Little do they know, taking care of someone else's kid is like the most proactive form of birth control out there on the market in my world.

Recieved my first mom's joke today since my mom's death and when I noted to this particular foreign guy that my mom's dead, he let out a huge laugh, smirked at me and insisted I was pulling his leg, so I kicked him.

Made a mad dash for the last remaining seat on the subway car but so did an ajjuma (older Korean woman). We totally crashed into each other, stepped back and then at the same exact time we both tried to sit down. I joked and said "Let's do rock-scissors-paper", thinking she'd think that'd be funny and possibly a quick possible solution. Well, she definitely didn't think it was funny so, with a large huff and a puff, she pushed me aside and took the seat. I tell ya, my Dankook students were totally right. The Korean ajjuma IS the third gender! Don't get in the way of them or else!

Made a group of girls "cry" today as they tried to break the cycle and kick things up a notch by joining my boxercise class.

More Jab-Throwing Fierce Females... Sunday, March 18

Last night when I looked at who was signed up for today’s afternoon beginner boxercise class I literally screamed at the top of my lungs. It’s true. I screamed so loud that my neighbor next door – the Building Tool – knocked on my door to ask me if everything was alright.

So why the scream, good question, well I screamed because when I clicked on the profile of a new student who had signed up for the class, it read that she’s from my hometown in Canada. But you don’t understand, NO ONE is from my hometown. Well, ok, people are but you don’t travel to the farthest corner of the world and run into anyone from it; it’s just that small of a town.

In my first year I actually met someone that was from the neighboring town – Homegirl (explains the name) – and it was hilarious when we made the connection. But to note that someone here was also from the same exact town… too crazy cool.

So I was all stoked about hosting the beginners boxercise class today because it meant getting to meet her but I was also excited about this particular class because of the other students who signed up. Five brand new students, awesome! There’s always a certain excitement and interest I get when I first show a new student how to put on their handwraps. I remember my Canadian coach wrapping my hands the first time. It felt so empowering and I felt so in control, so powerful.

Class was a lot of fun and I really made them work up quite the sweat. I killed them with the ab routine afterward and they laid on the edge of the boxing ring in exhaustion.

It was great today training with them. I gave them a good intense workout and they in turn fed my energy and optimism about health, fitness and really reaching out to the foreign females of Cheonan.

I don’t feel so different consequently and by that I mean I definitely don’t feel like I’m the only health-conscious sports-minded gal here in Cheonan. I’m starting to really see and really meet some fabulous females here and it’s been very reassuring to me, as well as very encouraging.

Now weighing in just a little over 600grams -- a jump up from 475grams -- is Balboa. He's gaining a bit of weight but has also been gaining more and more confidence when it comes to testing Pyen Chi;)

Eating My Words... Saturday, March 17

I’ve always been one of those lovers of big dogs. An ankle biter dog the size of a rat just seemed cruel and rather insulting to the species, but low and behold I now am an owner of an ankle biter dog… and he’s smaller than a rat.

My oldest brother, B-Boy T-Roy, used to love Chihuahuas and I used to tease him about it, telling him that he should be embarrassed to make such a claim.

Ya, am definitely eating my words now.

Now that fact that Balboa is a miniature Chihuahua was totally not known by me until I took him to the vet a couple of weeks back, insisting that the vet run checks. “He’s just too small, something must be wrong!” I claimed.

It’s interesting to note just how tolerant Pyen Chi is of this little ankle biter and really the only time Pyen Chi poses a danger to Balboa is when either Snickers or I come home. They both rush to the door to great us but with Pyen Chi insisting on jumping up and down like a bronco at a rodeo, it’s easy for Balboa to get trampled on so we’re always quick to scoop him up. Knock on wood though, no trampling hasn’t happened yet.

Staying home is now definitely a favorite thing of me to do but regardless of where I go in Ggum Guum, Balboa is always insisting on shadowing me and then Pyen Chi comes over to check out what we're doing. I'm curious just how big Balboa will get but for now it's pretty cute walking around the house with Balboa riding in my sweater pockets.

No excuses! Just because you may have to eat on the go doesn't mean your clean eating habits can't come along. Here's two of my meals today -- meal #3 eaten on the go and meal #5 eaten at home.

Eating Like A Champ... Friday, March 16

Meal #1 – at home
Protein-packed pancake with 4 eggs (only 1 yolk), 3/4cup of oatmeal and half a banana.

Meal #2 – on the go
Nonfat plain yogurt with mocha cappacino protein power and half a banana.

Meal #3 – on the go
Chicken salad with baby spinach and mixed greens, almonds, raisins, mushrooms, and a spoonful of light dressing. Side sweet potato.

Meal #4 – on the go
A small baggy of almonds and my "Popeye Punch Spinach" drink (blended up spinach with blueberries).

Meal #5 – at home
Spaghetti with chicken (same chicken I had cooked for my salad) and a homemade tomato sauce.

Meal #6 – at home
4 egg omllete (only 1 yolk) with baby spinach and broccoli.

Well I did it, I took up drinking [enter giggles here].

Ok, so I didn't really take up drinking as in I'm now going to become some kind of alcholic or whatnot. I took up drinking as in I shared a glass of wine with Snickers tonight for dinner. There's something romantic and classy I find about wine. For me it's red wine from Chile.

Both Snickers and I don't drink so needless to say sharing a glass of wine occured not because we wanted to be extra "couply" -- I know that's not a word but it fits my point -- or because of lack of nice glasses. We basically shared a glass of wine because we both can't handle more than about half a glass of it to start off with. Yup, we're cheap dates... hahaha.

I had been out of the house for most of the day, long enough that I had to pack my bag with three meals to eat on the go. For dinner, I cooked us up some spaghetti and loaded it with chicken and a homemade tomato sauce I made the other day. I would have used whole wheat pasta and also loaded it up with veggies but tomorrow is our grocery day as the veggie bin in our fridge went empty today.

It was nice to enjoy a glass of wine after a long week but I don't know if I'll be doing this every Friday. Honestly, it kind of killed my night in terms of being able to do anything beyond just veg out at home. I had anticipated heading into boxing late this evening but Snickers' body and face was still all blotchy from the alchol and I was still in mellow-lazy mode from it.

I guess it's either wine or the boxing and if that's the case then, well, I take it that'll be my first and last glass of wine for awhile. I love my boxing way too much.

It's hard for me to feel sorry for people who lean on the excuse "But I don't have time to exercise or worry about my health". I'm constantly having to juggle my own training with training my personal training clients, leading my boxercise classes and taking on a new full time job. I'm also trying to squeeze in running too, now that I've got a half marathon coming up. My problem isn't so much the time, it's the energy. Well, that and keeping up with probably fueling my body so that I can be so physically active!!!

Health isn't just about exercising. It's about eating clean, getting enough sleep and being physically active. I don't think time is people's problem though. I think it's knowing where to start, finding the drive and motivation to continue, and wanting it bad enough.

And I think a lot of people think it's hard than it actually is.

Ramble-Babble... Thursday, March 15

Didn’t do much today.

Random thoughts that passed through my head today…

Balboa insists on peeing on my expensive bath rug and on my new bed sheet. Perhaps he’s a fan of the absorption and non-slash factor as opposed to the regular newspaper I’ve placed out for him.

Being at home is officially my favorite place in the world. I love Ggum Guum for the very fact that my best friend is here (Snickers) and so are two super cool, ultra interesting friends of mine (Balboa and Pyen Chi).

Pyen Chi’s full name is officially Pyen Chi the Pee Master, Beast of Fur but she also goes by the name of Pyen Chi Bere, and yes that’s “Bere”, not bear or bare. It’s “Bere” as in the first letters of my last name.

Balboa sometimes goes by Boa but when he play wrestles with Pyen Chi his ring name is Balboa Bere the-Dirty-Face Kim.

I got a White Day gift from Black Skinny tonight at training. He had been carrying it around in his gym bag the past couple of days, not knowing when he’d run into me next. It was a box of chocolates. The box sported soggy corners from being among his training clothes but I indulged in a few despite the added softness… hahaha.

Had a strange conversation at the boxing club with a man who insisted Canada isn’t very multicultural. His daughter is over there studying so he went to visit her this past year. “I didn’t see any Koreans!” he proclaimed. Turns out his daughter is staying on Prince Edward Island. Ya, I bet she didn’t see any Koreans. “Did she see a lot of potatoes?” I sarcastically asked. Who sends their kid to P.E.I. to study English?!!!

Finally blew my nose today but no, I’ve yet to return to the hospital to get the official “yes, your nose is healed and ready to blow” confirmation.

Am thinking about taking up drinking. Yes, you read correctly. I think putting myself through university by being the head bartender at a club turned me off the whole drinking scene. My parents don’t drink and I don’t even really like going to bars, even if it’s just to sip on juice while with friends. I don’t even like juice, or pop for that matter. I only drink water, milk and coffee. Anyways, you’re allowed to smoke in bars here in Korea – and apparently act stupid too and sleep there as I have seen -- so that's further strikes against that.

The last couple of times I was in a bar here in Korea I had some foreign guy yank his shirt off in front of me and then some another guy made some slapstick comments about me being with a Korean man. He obviously didn't know that my beautiful Korean man is as dangerously cute as he is dangerously skilled in the ring, having had a champion belt in knocking guys out.

I love it, sarcastically speaking that is, how so many guys seem to think it's funny to make comments about the male anatomy of Korean men. It seems to be an instant ego boaster for them but a radar flag to me, signaling that they're an idiot.

And then there was the time when I ended up punching some foreign guy. Ya, my three last visits to any kind of pub in Korea resulted in flat out stupidness, and oddly enough in all three cases it involve a drunk foreign guy.

So ya, back to my original comment, I’m thinking about taking up drinking. I work three days a week at a university so it’d be nice to come home after a long day of stiletto-wearing heels and pencil skirts that are uncomfortable to try to sit in I deserve a nice glass of wine to unwind, relax and chill out. Perhaps I’ll try this tomorrow.

Too busy for White Day?! Nice excuse but no. Pyen Chi got her daily dose of love, cuddles and all that good stuff as did I (from Balboa though, not Snickers).

Self-Love... Wednesday, March 14

At this past weekend’s Glam Girls Night Out, a White Day celebration, one of the dinner party activities we did was I passed around a series of questions I had typed up and printed off. One of the questions was “If you could do anything and it had no consequences, what would you do?” Most of the ladies thought about doing something physically challenging but tonight I added an extra answer to the pile.

If I could do anything and it had no consequences, I would kick Snickers in the head. Sounds bad, I know. Sounds even worse when you consider that I would want it to have consequences, consequences in the fact that though I wouldn’t want to actually hurt him I do wish it’d knock some sense into him.

I love Snickers, I do. “I love him like a much needed limb", a silly quote I randomly made up one day. So ya, I love him but sometimes he really needs to tune in more. Today was White Day and ya, he definitely didn’t tune into that.

I'm married to one those guys who says he "doesn't need a holiday to show he loves me because every day is special" with me. Oh please... listen up men. No matter how much of a cool cat you claim to be or how silky smooth you think you are, leaning on an age-old excuse to cover up that just flat out forgot or don't care about a holiday doesn't work. Treat your woman like the queen she is. And on that note, I bought myself my own White Day gift with his money (that I'm sure he'll find out soon I took).

Took in a live game tonight with my baby. The place was packed, fans were screaming, and a crowd of a little over 2000 people was super pumped for the action-packed game that played out.

We had scored sweet tickets... sweet as in we were court side.

Mind ya, it meant we had to sit in the opposition's section.

Bump, Jump and Spike... Tuesday, March 13

Caught a live men’s professional volleyball game – KAL vs. Hyundai (the Cheonan Sky Walkers). We showed up almost an hour early to the game, thinking that it’d be plenty of time to get a sweet parking spot and tickets, but low and behold the stadium was already buzzing with tons of people! I’m guessing that there were about 2000 people in attendance.

I knew Cheonan had it’s own men’s volleyball team and I had heard that they were quite good but I definitely didn’t think it’d be such a highly attended event. It was as if nothing but this was going on tonight in Cheonan, proof being in the fifteen minute wait just to drive out of the parking lot afterwards.

This was the first time either Snickers or I had attended a live volleyball game in Korea so we were pretty excited. We loaded up my purse with snackies – dried squid, popcorn, a bag of nuts and beef jerky, and a bottle water for me, juice for Snickers.

We ended up buying random tickets and found out a bit too late that we had purchased tickets to sit in Cheonan’s opponent’s cheering section… oops! So we cheered for the opposition but crossed our fingers for Cheonan. Next time we go though, we’ll definitely have to sit in Cheonan’s cheering section. They had the Cheonan mascot pumping up the crowd, cheerleaders throwing out random prizes and they had a cheering leader that yelled, screamed, danced and keep that section of the stadium on their toes and cheering on Cheonan.

Despite not making the wisest choice in tickets, we had a wicked time. We each picked a specific player to cheer on, I cheered for two players actually, one on each team. The Cheonan player I cheered for tried to throw me a give-away volleyball but his throw was off. And as for the other team’s member I cheered for, we exchanged several comments here and there throughout the game whenever he was on the sidelines.

Cheonan ended up losing the game but it was an action-packed game that was definitely worth the watch. Definitely going to come out to more of these live games!!!

With Big Foot gone, life has returned back to normal... "normal". Snickers with his permed hair and Balboa and Pyen Chi, the dynamic duo. Dang, Skippy. The longer and longer I live here in Korea the more and more fitting calling my homepage "Living on the Flipside" becomes... hahaha.

Only Little Feet Left... Monday, March 12

Big Foot is gone, sadly it’s true.

We drove him to Incheon Airport today, said our goodbyes, hugged and then he left. Destination Canada for him, destination Cheonan for us. On the way back to Cheonan, Snickers and I noted that the car seemed too quiet without him and we reminisced about the two weeks we had just spent with him. We already miss him so much but I’m sure his mom – my friend – will be happy when he unexpectedly shows up at home.

Upon arriving back at Ggum Guum, I hung up my purse and greeted Pyen Chi and Balboa. Snickers sat down on the mattress we had brought into the house for Big Foot to sleep in. He looked rather sad. I think it’ll take a bit of time to get use to having a quiet house again now that Big Foot is gone.

It was awesome having my friend stay with us here and I think it’s a shame more of my friends from Canada have never visited, if not to visit me but to see Asia. Many of my friends did the whole get-up-and-go backpacking in Europe before university, some after university, but I never was one for Europe. Travelling to overpriced countries that speak English never interested me. Asia is where it’s at. Asia is amazing. Sure many Asian countries do speak English but there’s a certain exoticness to Asian countries that interest me.

Living here in Korea, I’ve got so many beautiful countries at my doorstep and it really is a shame I’ve only traveled to a few of them – Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Indonesia. I’d love to slap on more stamps on my passport, particularly from Malaysia and Singapore. I’ve been contemplating spending my summer training, perhaps in the Philippines. I love, love, LOVE the Philippines. Snickers thinks it’d be a great idea but now I’ve got to put the idea into motion and research the possibilities. One of my friends, who lives in Seoul, travels to Thailand every vacation where she then basically lives at a Mauy Thai kickboxing club. She eats, sleeps, breaths and trains Mauy Thai for the 1-2 months she is there. Though I’m not particularly interested in kickboxing I’d love to do similar training but for boxing.

Gearing up for a day at the races and Flipside Fitness is bringing a crew of fierce females with them!!!.... want to join us?

A Day At the Races... Sunday, March 10

Ah running – the wonderful, wonderful world of running. It improves your health, helps prevents diseases like lowering your risk of breast cancer, boosts your confidence, relieves stress, eliminates depression, and then there’s of course the trimming down and toning up i...t does to your body!!!

On Sunday, April 22nd there’s a 5km, 10km and half marathon being hosted here in Cheonan at the Sangluk Resort and Flipside Fitness wants to make a day of it – a day at the races. Whether it’s the 5km, 10km or the half marathon you’re challenging yourself with let’s do it together. I'll be doing the half marathon along with one of my beautifully fierce boxercise gals so I'm stoked about that. It'll be her first half marathon and I've also got a male client I personally trained who will also be doing his first half marathon so I'm really proud of them taking on the challenge and am sure they're going to do awesome!!!

The general plan is head out to the races together, race and then enjoy a great refreshing amd relaxing lunch together – perhaps a picnic potluck lunch in the park!

Participant details:
5km – 25,000won, no set time limit & they give you a bag as a participant gift
10km – 30,000won, a 1.5hr time limit & they give you socks and a hiking stick as a participant gift
half marathon – 30,000won, a 3hr time limit & same gift as the 10km participants

I’ll fill you in with more details regarding pre and post race event details later but because the cut-off date for signing up for the three races is March 31st, I need to know soon who is participating in the event. If you’re not an avid runner or even a jogger but you’d like to participate then please do so. There’s plenty of participants that walk the 5km and 10km course. And if you don’t even want to be in one of the races but still want to come out then that’s awesome too. Us ladies participating can always use an extra crowd cheerleader, someone who’ll cheer us on and wait for us at the finish line.

If interested that's awesome. I'd love to have you join us. Join Flipside Fitness on Facebook page and then check off that you're coming to our "A Day At the Races" event.

Glam Girls Night Out -- A White Day Celebration

Nice... you can take the girl out of the boxing club but you can't take the boxing club out of the girl! All dressed to impress but still very much the fierce ladies who are hardcore about our training!

And speaking of fierce woman... WOW! There were fourteen of us ladies who came out for tonight's celebration and they all looked fiercely beautiful! Absolutely stunning.

Word of the night: beautiful.