What I did in February....and, um, the beginning of March...

I got the official prod from Mom and Dad about updating this thing. I'm a horrible blogger it turns out. Half the time I'm on the internet I don't even remember that this thing exists. Then I noticed that I end up apologizing at the beginning of nearly every entry, so I'm going to create change and not do that this time. Take my lack of input as a sign that I'm having a great time.

So, what I've done this month:

1. I've started playing tennis.
2. I'm becoming a gym junkie.
3. I went to Seoul (again).
4. I ran in my first Hash run.
5. I made even more new friends.
6. I got a fantabulous care package from home!
7. I went to my first soccer game in the World Cup Stadium.

Alright, so let's start from the beginning, shall we?

Since I've made you all aware of how awesome my work schedule is (as in I don't start working until 2 PM...that's 6 hours later than you made me start, Buck!), you all know that I have nothing but free free free time in the mornings. When my coworker, Liz came back, we decided to actually make good on those New Year's rezzies and started hitting the gym. In case you're wondering, a one month membership here is $40 and that includes workout clothes and towels if you want them. Go Korea!

Liz is also a ten or more year veteran of tennis and asked if I wanted to join her and some other people when they play twice a week. It turns out that my tennis skills are not the greatest, but luckily I play with people who know what they're doing and are willing to help me. So far, I'm loving it. My backhand is pretty entertaining too. Today was the first day that I didn't backhand the ball right out of the courts. Improvement!

Included in Liz's debut month back in Korea, we took a trip up to Seoul. This time, we stayed in a little suburb called Ilsan. Most of Seoul is as crowded as the rest of Korea, but this area is pretty new and it looked a lot like Calgary to me. The streets were wide and pretty clean, the mountains were right there, and the traffic was pretty light. Plus, there was a huge outdoor shopping mall that we went through, as well as a huge park with a lake in it. I know that it doesn't sound that impressive to all you crazy Canadians with tons of space, but here having a park with some breathing room is magnificent.

Now, for the fun stuff. Along with the new people that I've met in the last little while comes a story about a little thing called a Hash run. If you haven't heard about it, the run works something like this:

First, there's someone who's in charge of the whole thing. They mark out the course, know where the pit stops are, and can keep ahead of the group on a bike or in a car to make sure that the run goes smoothly. That person marks out a course that's winding and twisted and LONG and that includes a few wrong turns, dead ends, and random offshoots to keep the runners confused. A huge group of people does the run and the one rule is that they have to stick together. The runners start on the course and follow a series of dots. When they get to a crossroads, they have to figure out which way to go by looking for more dots. After a leg or two of the run, a system starts to develop where the faster runners check out one direction and everyone else just hangs out at the crossroad marker until it's decided which way is right. By that point, all of the slowpokes should be caught up and you keep running until you get to the end. Sounds pretty easy, hey? Wrong. Because there's one little thing that's really really important for a Hash: instead of pit stops, there's beer stops. And all of the beer has to be gone before the next leg of the race can start.

So imagine, if you will, a group of thirty white people running through the streets of busy Gwangju screaming random Korean words to each other. We had to shout "bali bali!" (hurry hurry!) if we found the right way to go after a crossroads, "aniyo!" (no!) if it was the wrong way, "chugiyo!" (I'm lost!) if we were behind the group and "yugiyo!" (here!) to help the stragglers find the right way. While we were all slammed on beer and running. It was a fantastic day and there's talk of another Hash run soon.

I got my first care package from home this month and it included (thank you thank you thank you!) Reese's and spearmint gum. Among the many differences between Korea and home, one of them is the sad state of the gum here. You chew it for maybe five minutes before all the flavor has disappeared from it. You'd think that gum would be a universal thing, but I guess not. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: thank you thank you thank you thank you thank you, Mom and Dad!

And, finally, I went to a soccer game at the World Cup Stadium here in Gwangju. Korea had the World Cup in 2000 and the stadium is amazing from the outside. It's these two huge, sweeping arches that come up from the ground and go away from each other (yes, my description skills are unparalleled) and it's really breathtaking to see. The game was between Gwangju and another city called Daejon and we won. 3-0 so you can imagine how the game was. It was cool to see though.

So, there you go, my friends: another random update from the other side of the Pacific. My next month includes a huge double birthday party tomorrow, watching my friends swim with sharks in Busan on the weekend (in the aquarium, don't worry: it's controlled...and I'll go when Chris comes to visit), another possible trip to Seoul and, did I mention? China in May!!!!!!!!! I'll keep you (better) posted.

Take care! Love and hugs! xoxoxoxooxoxoxoxo :o)
M