Big News Today... Tuesday, March 23

Two very big pieces of terrible news dropped in my lap today and I struggled to digest them but then one big piece of fabulous news helped me somewhat recover, or at least ease the pain.

1.  Team Nigeria's expected arrival tomorrow has been postponed!!!

I know many people don't think this is actually going to happen because it just seems so far-fetched and too big of a thing for me to be able to pull off, but I'm going on the belief that it will happen because I've busted my butt to make it happen.  It's going to be pure ciaos and keep me running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the solid month they are here but it's going to be totally awesome.  Today I got word over the phone from them, the visa process is taking longer than expected and they will let me know when they know.  I was upset to hear that tomorrow I won't be picking them up at the airport but was relieved to know this is still going to go down.  Word has it they may be one or two weeks late.  I will get a confirmed date this upcoming Monday when they pick up their passports at the Korean Embassy in Nigeria.

2.  Wow is leaving us!!!

From the very get-go Wow has been such an incredibly supportive mentor for bit only our business but me as an athlete and Snickers as a husband.  We honestly wouldn't be who we are and where we are if it weren't for him.  He has been in our lives for a bit over two years and today I got word that he is leaving in two days.  Recently he has sold his imported car shop and started a second restaurant on the second floor of his first one, both of which his wife runs.  Now he is looking to to overseas and start a business with four business partners.  It's an opportunity that just popped up and he's jumping two feet into it.  This time in a handful of days, I will be starting my work day without him and ending it without him and that is going to suck.  There will be no more weekend dinner meetings together, no more Wow checking in on my training and no more Hulk family fun nights with him.  He won't be at the finish line when I cross after my first marathon, he won't be there to help plan Phase 2 of Hulk's and he won't be there for any of our future scheduled fights.

He will be returning in 6 months but considering for the past 2 years I have seen him pretty much every day for hours on end or numerous times during the day, it's going to be a long, long 6 months without him.  He is my family here and now I have but only a couple of days to say goodbye to him.  Wow leaves on a plane Friday morning.

3.  A much-admired Korean female champion is coming to visit me!!!
First of all, I'd like to give props to myself here for exercising my Korean written language skills to its full potential via an hour and forty-five minute long text message conversation -- hooray me!  This conversation was sparked shortly after midnight and was started by none other than the admired boxer I went to go watch fight on Saturday -- Kim Danbi.

I first met Danbi maybe 6 years ago, back when I first turned pro with my boxing.  She had stopped in at the pro license test bouts I was participating in and I remember being introduced to her and shaking her hand.  After that, I started to follow her boxing career because she was super sweet and my coach was friends with hers.  I've attended many of her fights and have always gone out of my way to stop by her change room before the fight and wish her luck.

What started off as a simple hi, evolved into quite the in depth conversation about why I came to Korea in the first place, which I liked better -- Canada or Korea, and KBC/KBA.  She then told me she was going to come visit me tomorrow; she was going to come to Hulk's here in Cheonan!!!