It was a big day for me today, a very big day for two reasons.
First of all, in the morning I ran in my sports bra. Ya, okay not exactly a big reason to make the day sound so important but it was a big deal to me. Often I feel very much like a circus freak because I don't fit Korea's version of what is beautiful and too often I am called a "strong man" because I sport muscle, apparently too much muscle for a woman as I am so often informed. But today, today I took the reins and pretty much said "screw off Korea" to anyone and everyone who has ever made me feel ugly and freakishly different in this country. It's interesting to note that in Canada I do feel very pretty and me being strong is what makes me feel so pretty in Canada. But this isn't Canada, this is Korea. And in Korea though I wouldn't exactly say I feel masculine because I'm kind of more muscular than many guys, I will say that I often do feel like a side show. This is kind of funny in the sense that many of the girls who train at System in Toronto are super buff and much more ripped than me but, like I said above, this isn't Canada.
Me getting back at anyone and everyone who has ever made me feel uncomfortable or ugly in my skin and muscles was to turn the table and make them feel uncomfortable by showing how comfortable I can be (and should be) in my body. Don't get me wrong, it took some self motivating to dig up the confidence to step outside and I felt like I was going to pee my pants because of the nerves but I did it. Today I wore tight bright leggings and an equally tight bright sports bra when I went for my morning run. The looks and reactions I got ranged from the good, the bad and the ugly but more so the confused and bad. Older women looked at me as if I were running naked, insecure girlfriends held their boyfriend's arm a little tighter when I ran by, two cars slowed down to stare at me and one even turned to follow me a bit. The best were the taxi drivers waiting at the taxi stand outside of the Cheonan Station. I'm sure I'm a familiar face to some of them because that's where I always start and finish my runs. Some of them leaned over the waiting fence area to give me a thumbs up while some high fived me. Thanks men... now get back to work.
The second reason as to why today was a big day for me was because I had someone coming in for a job interview. One of my tasks here with preparing to leave Hulk's and leave Korea is hiring a replacement for myself but in doing so I've found I'll have to hire replacements, as in more than one person
2 part timers to do the crossfit
1 part time coach help with the boxing
1 cleaning lady to come clean the club
My 11pm interview walked in the club something like 23 minutes early, very nice, and he was all super smiley, equally very nice. He had come for the coaching position. Both Snickers and I agreed that no one is going to love the club and be as committed to it as I am so I get to pick who we sign to join our crew. Part of picking the right person, Snickers felt, was hiring someone we already know because we want to be able to trust and depend on whomever we hire for the club. I'm a bit on the fence as to whether or not hiring friends is the right route given that it's gone sour for us in the past doing that but this is Snickers' year to run the club so I want him to be happy with whomever I pick. If there are problems he'll be the one to deal with it, not me.
The interview ended with this particular person, the one we were interviewing, telling me that in all the years he's known me I've never looked as happy as I did talking about Canada tonight and then he went on to wish me all the luck in the world with my sabbatical. "You've got the job, don't worry", I told him. "You had me when you said my butt looked perkier".... hahahaha.
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