city workout mountain and more

About a fifteen minute walk from our house is this really neat forest park/workout facility. Leave it to the Koreans, with their crazy healthy bodies, their commitment to their appearance, being in shape, etc. to create and maintain a very elaborate system of outdoor gyms. This could be called a small mountain or a large hill, depending on how you compare it. It spans a lot of area with its steep hiking paths and thick forested ravines. Throughout the cris crossing trails and paths are little “turn-offs” leading to these gyms with pull up bars at many heights, inverted benches for sit-ups, exercise bicycles and free weights, some workout “machines” that look like they are from the 70’s, some strange machine’s that I have no idea what they do, and my favorite: hula hoops! Hula hoops of all sizes and weights, just hanging from pegs here and there, or a tree branch, or the one I happen to like best is at this kind of gazebo thing with Wisteria growing all around and over the top. The wonderful thing about this mountain/hill/gym is that it isn’t just one big area with all these options for working out, it’s dozens, scores probably, all tucked away in a dense part of the trees, or on top of hill with a cool view, or in a deep gully, all seemingly private and serene, all outside and all free! So not only can we do some mild hiking, get away from the din of the traffic and breathe some fresh air, but we can do pull ups and pec flies if we want!

Of course the lovely Belka is in heaven when we go up there, she got to chase some bunnies and get exhausted. It’s still fun to have her here at our place, despite the white dog hair that is now everywhere and her (natural) desire to have to pee at seven am, but we love her still.

 Summer school started today. After a seriously relaxing weekend exploring our neighborhood more and spending every day with Peeps, we begrudgingly set our alarms for the crack of dawn and started another chapter of our lives as teachers. Summer school. It is so easy, and actually fun! There are those days, or even weeks, when I wonder if I even like teaching, if I’m any good at it, these kinds of doubts, well, it’s gigs like this one that make me like what I do! I have a class of twelve students, at an advanced level, so basically all fluent in English (which I requested), and we have class from about nine 'til noon each day, with the curriculum already prepared for me and complete freedom in the classroom to conduct things how they fit for my students and for me. It’s great, and after meeting my kids today I think we will have a good three weeks! So it’s not bad to be doing a half day each day and not to mention Josh and I are at the same school for this, so it makes our early morning bus ride more enjoyable.

Tomorrow for dinner we are going to Josh’s coworker Kim Ni Young’s house for dinner, for some Korean home cooking, which will be fun, and it happens to be in the artsy Hongdae neighborhood that we love so much, so we’ll probably bum around for a bit before or after.

I hope that everyone is enjoying summer, and living each moment to the fullest! xo