If you are new to Suwon and looking for voulunteering, please email me!
As you can see, I have uploaded the post volunteering reports after weekly activities. However, what you see is only the tip of the iceberg. About 10 volunteers have become really close friends, work at the same place, share different hobbies, fun and dedicate themselves to the cause and this is not seen online.
Don't just leave should you look for some volunteering action in the city of Suwon. Get involved. Reach out.
Present Balance : 40,580 won
Newly Deposited : 14,780 won (60,000 won - 45,220 won)
Previous Balance :25,800 won
I don't have a scanner at home, so had to just take pictures of the bankbook and the receipt.
Anyhow, Week 6 fell on Christmas. So, we all wore something realted to Christmas to make it more Christmas-like. We bagged up the neck warmer and doled it out to the people. I hope they know how to wear it. Also, we threw in an extra item : Moonpie aka Choco-pie. After all, more than 30 people were received what we prepared that night. It went really really fast.
What followed after the volunteering was more enjoyable. Dinner, karaoke and most of all free hug. I am sure you've all seen the pictures here and there on Facebook, so I am not going to describe further.
Thank you very much everyone for showing up even on Christmas. It really means a lot to me, personally. See you this weekend, ladies and gentlemen. Good night-
Current Balance : 25,800 won (15,350 won + 10,440 won)
Newly Deposited : 15,360 won (60,000 won - 35,100 won[food] - 9,540 won[tangerine])
Previous Balance : 49,360 won (as of 12th Dec)
Reflective Vests : 16,920 won (13th Dec)
Neck Warmers : 22,000 won (13th Dec)
: 10,440 won (as of 13th Dec)
At the end of the night, it was 6 people; 4 more than I anticipated. Yester night, Derrick, Sarah L and Sarah C, Melea, and Tammy showed up. I was tad worried that it was going to be only Derrick and I, but the members keep surprising me. So much so that, I got my ass kicked at "Oh-Mok". We were, after bagging up the food, hanging out at the new office and someone suggested we play it. It turned out it was a lot of fun.
This week, we handed out about 22 bags. It was a bit less than I thought. The NGO person who led us said that people, due to the cold weather, spread out through the city so as to secure space to crash or stay warm. I thought they would stay inside the station since it is warmer than the outside. Apparently, I was wrong.
Next week is Christmas. Some members said that they would bring and don Christmas-related accessories and that we will hang out afterwards. It is going to be fun and meaningful weekend. Oh, also, the official uniforms and the Christmas gifts will be distributed on the next session. So, come and join us.
New Balance : 49,360 won
Newly Deposited : 12,000 won (60,000 won - 5,900won(tangerines) - 42,1000(food)
Previous Balance : 37,360 won
-Also, I have received "advances" from Rachael(20,000), Amanda(9,000) and Maeve(10,000) because they said they might not be able to show up next week or a week after. I did not deposit them just in case you show up. Even if you don't show up, the money will be spent the next time you make an appearance!
- On top of that, I would like to post something regarding our future plans. I am writing this so that every participant will be kept in the loop and also this regards the donation that you've made. I deal with taxes, so feel compelled to do so when it comes to others money.
a) We've created our official logo
: It is still in the making, but I need to tweak it a bit before using it officially. Sorry, if you were absent last night, but sooner or later you will be able to see it. The purpose of the coinage is to imbue ourselves a certain identity.
b) We are going to have our official uniform.
: After some heated(?) debating last night, we opted out for our uniform that we will don each week. It is a reflective vest. I know.. I know.. but with the limited budget, we needed something cheap. What's more, our logo will be branded on the uniform. And the number of the uniform would be 7 or 8.
c) We might expand our work.
: We talked about helping out this orphanage in Suwon. I previously contacted the well-establish orphanage and asked if we could help. The person in charge told me today that there are only 2 kids willing to learn English from you. Since the demand is somewhat lower than I anticipated I will devise something more and email it to her sometime tomorrow. I will meet her sometime next week to discuss the details. In this light, I need your suggestions e.g. things we can do for the kids.... playing games.. or cleaning.. anything would be all right. And I expect this project to start next year.
d) Chirstmas event
: We talked about what to do for homeless at the station. I spawned the idea to give them what Koreans call "neck warmer" a shard of cloth that you can wrap around your neck or head to stay up.. aka gator neck.... It is super cheap and will be bagged with food on Christmas. Also, some participants said they would bring Santa hats and reindeer's antelopes to make it more Christmas-tsy when disseminating food on the 25th.
e) New Office
: Yes, they opened a new office next to the station. Now it is even closer from the supermarket. No need to pass through that disgusting bus stop, steering clear of the crowd, smoke and spit! It is a one story building equipped with amenities such as a rec room, bunk beds, showers, and what not. We had a chance to sit on the floor at the rec room (Korean style, baby) and chitchatted a bit. So, it is going to be our new rendezvous point from next week.
e) PLUR
: Some members suggest that we join PLUR online and thus send out invites to more people. I looked at their facebook online and it was quite good. However, I still have some qualms about sending out nondiscriminatory invites to people. I think we should revisit the issue next week or a week after.
Yup. This is pretty much what you missed out from last night. Not too much to digest, right? hehe. Anyways, again, I would like to thank you all for your participation and passion. Ya'll have a great week and hope to see you next week. (The meeting place will be the same tho)
This past weekend was very much eventful. Ran a 10 k race, had a party for my visiting friend from Sweden whom I ran the race with by the way, and participated as usual in the volunteering activity. Let's star with the race, shall we?
I like running. I did not until I joined the military. With the American soldiers, at one of the toughest unit across the nation, we trained ourselves hard. The whole company (not as in "coroprate") ran every morning according to cadences. Sometimes, I got to sing a Korean cadence then the fellow G.I.s would sing along not to mention the fellow Korean soldiers.
Any how, the race was quite the challenge. It was only 10k (aka 6 miles), and yet I rare a full course.... but just laps..the same routines every now and then. So at first it was tricky for me to figure how far I was. Of course, there were signs. After the 3k (less than 2 mile), I began to develop where I was and to realize how I needed to pace myself, which I did eventually.
My record was 51:30. For some reason, I did not look at my watch while running. Had I done it, I would have made it under 50:00. But, there is always next time.
It was my first time to take part in this sort of race. There was a great turn out; Koreans, foreigners, G.I.s, students and seniors. It was such a great feeling. A sense of accomplish that I felt at the of the race is probably what motivates people to run..run and run. I felt fine. My legs weren't sore. Instantaneously, I thought I will run another in the not too distant future. I should, then, train properly. Next time, it is going to be under 50:00. It just made the list of 2012 New Year resolution.
After the race, with Lars that is visiting town and some others from the Ajou International Summer School Program back in 2007, we partied. Seven of us gathered, did bar hopping, laughed, drank and ate. I hope Lars felt welcome. The only reason I organized this party was because I just wanted to make my friend feel home.. I know Korea is not his home. He only stayed in Korea about 2 months and it was 4 years ago. And yet, there are still 6 of us who was in the same program and we were pretty 'tight' So, why not throw a party.. have a good time, give us something to remember by..
I know for a fact that after few years, everyone will be gone. Joe is going back home for good next March. Scott will too probably Teaching is not even his major. Natalia, after her graduation next Feb, need to find a job somewhere and who knows where it is going to be. And the same things goes for Eddy. It sound very sappy, naive and most of all cliche, but we might not be able to see other for the rest of our lives. So, we see and hang out with each other when we can. It is a though that counts, after all.
Even though I was extremely tired from running.. and staying late, I was very much content at the end of the night. Hopefully, Lars will go back home with only good memories and we meet down the road somewhere sometime.
Balance : 37,360 won
Previous Balance : 8,140 won
Newly Deposited : 29,220 won (110,000 won - 80,780won)
Everyone was excited in spite of the dreadful weather. I was tired from running a 10k yesterday and haning out with friends late last night. But I was excited as well.
Yesterday, 11 people came to the activity. ELEVEN! It is an enough number of people to come up with a soccer squad, just in case you are not a big fan of soccer. Kindly, two of the regular members brought their friends along and thus it doubled the number from 5 to 11.
Considering that the weather was cold, I thought there would be more people to give food to at the station than there was last week. We purchased 60 bags and doled out 50 of them. A very decent performance it was. Luckily, I was tipped off on the items that homeless might need; any food containing Vitamin C, or soup.. or anything hot. It would be no problematic to purchase multiple number of tangerines next time but something hot.. that's tad tricky.
Moreover, because more people showed up, we gathered more money and thus more change after the activity. With that money, I would like to purchase neck-warmers that homeless can wrap around their neck to stay warm. It costs only 1,000 won per peace, it is going to be our Christmas gift from us.
I guess I need couple of weeks to garner enough money to purchase not only reflective vest for the participants, but also the neck-warmers. Also, I have been drawing some mock-ups for our logo. Will present them to the participants and ask for opinions.. and they will be branded on our vest. D-6. Until the next session.
1. 3 Days
: In 3 days, my friend Lars from Finland is visiting Korea. We go back to the year 2007, to be more specific, Ajou International Summer School. I was an RA at the international dorm and Lars was one of the residents. Grant it, we weren't that close. But, I have about 5 people from the program living in Korea and when an alumni is coming to town, we gather to celebrate. Even weeks before, I created a private event page where the class of AISS 07' people in Korea have been spitballing over Lars' arrival and celebrating it. Accommodation, party venue and whatnot have been discussed and all settled. I hope he arrives safe. Looking forward to it!
2. 10k Marathon
: That's right. This Saturday, I am running a 10K marathon in Seoul with some friends of mine. This is my very first time to participate in a marathon. Due to the audit prepping this and the last month, I've failed to train properly. Thankfully, I trained back in summer, so finishing the race would be no problem. The issue is the record. Last time I practiced, it was around 50mins. But I ran in this park, did 7 laps. But this race is going to be different from running the same route 7 times. My friend Jo advised to enjoy the race. That I will do. I am excited. If this went well, I might try a half marathon, next spring.
3. 13 Days
: Having taken only one day of my personal days this year, I have saved up 16 personal days. And my company has a policy to compensate monetarily for the remaining up to 8 days of personal days. Therefore, I need to used the rest 8 days (including 3 weekends) I am not certain of how I am going to use them, but I am excited :)
4. 18 Days
: As of today, I have only 18 working days left at my current job, then I am going back. Amongst those 18 days, I have a 3 day long training. Then, it will be 15 days. Only 15.. I clearly remember how excruciating it was when I first started. Extremely painful. Waking up in the morning was like I was being put on a death row. This is so not because the people I work with did not treat me bad, but because it was even then hard for me to accept the fact that I needed to spend a whole 11 months here against my will. And yet, I stayed strong. My colleagues here helped me and understood me a lot.. so much so that I will never forget these people and forget what they have shown to me. And, now it is only 18 days. Time flies, literally.
Total balance : 8,140
Previous balance : 7,010
Newly deposited : 1,130 (70,000 - 68,870) *from the 27th Nov 2011 activity)
For the second week activity, we had a newcomer, Rachel. It is always good to see new people join the cause. Nevertheless, the performance was rather sluggish because there weren't many homeless at the station. Grant it, there were many passengers or people filtering in and out of the station.. which is why the homeless were somewhere else in order to avoid them. Out of 60 bags we prepared, only about the half was given out. In a way, it was warm so the homeless did not need to stay inside, but they could be outside, doing something. Last week was colder, ergo more homeless at the station.
Up in Seoul, the activity consisted of nothing but giving out food. But, here in Suwon, I think we can spice things up by doing something creative. It could be clothes drive, English teaching
.. or something else. I need a bit more of resources to pull it off. Might as well talk to the head of the NGO soon.
In the era where twitter and Facebook has become one of the most dominant methods to convey information and communicate with , it is natural to question whether newspaper is going to be able to survive the tide and continue to prevail as it has been. Personally, I believe that it is undeniable that the role that newspaper has been playing as the spearhead of Journalism will be taken by something else, e.g. and again twitter and Facebook. And it is going to change the dynamics of Journalism to a great degree.
This peace of blog is written after I watched "Page one inside the new york time" where they interviewed and filmed some staffers at New York Times while making an effort to advocate the conventional roles that newspapers have assumed.
When I lived in Manhattan about 3 years ago, I was on my way to downtown to participate in a volunteering activity. The rendezvous point was right next to New York Times building. The building, unlike many old ones in Manhattan was somewhat newly built. But according to the film, it now faces the biggest hardship that will put the company in danger. The paper has laid off people, run a pay per view online site to make ends meet. Nevertheless, the appearance of the technology-embedded mediums e.g. twitter and Facebook continues to emerge.
But, will twitter and Facebook be able to substitute New York Time or other newspapers? I hope not. Unlike newspaper that, before releasing news pieces, does fact-check, there is no monitoring or filtering in twitter and Facebook. It is not rare to see fake news running around on twitter such as deaths of celebrities. Moreover, the news conveyed through and shared by twitter and Facebook has its sources from major newspaper.
Of course, you can deliver certain information through twitter or Facebook, but it is usually the case that the information is only the tip of the iceberg. Don't you agree? Both has merits, but also has drawbacks. They are succinct. condensed. You need to squish your information into 140 characters. What is beyond the facts are likely to be omitted and thus spawn misinformation or misconception. And Facebook is no better.
I would say it is still too early to call Demise of Newspaper because there are particular roles that only newspapers can play. This, however, does not retard the speed at which newspaper becomes less valuable in the society. It needs to find a way to hybridize the conventional characteristics of paper and the new technologies. Paper on ipad,, galaxy tab.. yes, it is convenient. You can flip through pages. But is it just me that we are missing something when dealing with these state of the art gadgets? The crisp feeling... that you have after yanking the paper out of the plastic bag at the porch in the morning and reading it on the kitchen table.. and you thumb through it for fear of crumpling the paper accidentally. Twitter does not have that. Ipad can't provide it. Neither can Facebook.
Nonetheless, what we called "personal touch" is disappearing. People don't care about it anymore. And it is quite dreadful.
I would be lying if I said I was not nervous. Even hours before I headed out to Suwon Station, I was slightly worried that not many people would show up. Including myself, 5 people signed up. I told the NGO that I would bring about 7 people. What was worse was it suddenly got very cold from early morning and has been extremely windy. As much as I hate winter cold spell, it is just the perfect timing. On the day to launch the very first Help Your Suwon gathering, the cold spell dominates the region.
I headed out earlier than I needed to in order to navigate the area and to make sure there is a store where we can buy food. On the way to the station, the traffic jam was rampant because a soccer game just ended. Not helping.
After scouting the adjacent area, I headed to the rendezvous point and it was 5:50pm. No one was there. I knew that my friend Amanda was running late. So I just waited. Thankfully, the people that promised to show up appeared. After a little of chitchatting and breaking the ice session, we went to the store.
Buying food was somewhat difficult. For me, I was never in charge of handling money and thus it was my first time to estimate with a limited amount of money how much food I need to purchase. But I am Asian and thus good at math. Also, we managed to have some change (about 7,000 won). When it comes to money, it is always better to have some change and to have less than we need to or what we have. Years of experience of handling people's tax has taught me well.
Afterward, we went up to the office. It was a lot better than the one in Seoul Station. haha. Everyone lined up and bagged up the food. Toward the end of the process, the guy in charge showed up and I asked him to illustrate what the organization does for homeless. Such good people they are.
Finally, it was time to get down to the business. With our hands full of the bags of food, we headed back to the station, led by one worker from the organization. He was kind enough to talk to the homeless at the station and helped up to whom we should dole out the food. As I anticipated, many homeless people gathered around us and asked for food. We prepared about 50 bags, and it only took about 10 mins to consume them all. It was fast.
As I mentioned, it was a very cold day. But it must be colder to them. At the end of the day, we all go home and have a good night sleep. But they, every night, need to find to crash.. whether it is a subway station or vacated parking lot. At the end of the day, we'd rush to a convenient store and grab bags of chips or something to drink. But sometime they don't have anything to eat. At least back in summer, the homeless up at Seoul Station had many places to crash and did not need to worry about being frozen to death. And now it is winter. As much as the Christmas lightnings were shining the station, the coldness that the homeless feel and the coldness that pedestrians on the street cast on them would be sever than ever.
I don't exactly know where you are. I live in Suwon, South Korea currently. It is almost 5 pm and Friday.
Upon waking up, I realized that it was murkier than usual outside. Then, I recalled that it was supposed to rain this weekend. And yes, it was drizzling and I very much like the sound of the raindrops hitting upon the ac fan and trickle down the ground at 8 in the morning. I just hoped to keep myself under the blanket the whole day, but I had to come to work, of course.
It is a gloomy Friday and I can't like it anymore than I do right now. At this moment, there are no important concerns of mine and thus my mind is quite peaceful. My work is fine, my personal life is fine.. On a day like this, that is, serene, peaceful, gloomy, I would like to stay home and watch movies with my lights off. Being under the blanket and relishing my favorite chips would be so ideal and perfect.
When I was in college, I used to love rainy Saturday mornings. This is so because on Saturday mornings there are not usually many students running around on campus. In particular, if it rained, it is nearly impossible to see people on campus at even 9 in the morning. Being a diligent and studious student, I'd still wake up at 8am on any Saturday morning and head down to the library. And on the whole way over, you don't come across anyone, but just wind, sun, sometime rain and snow. It was so peaceful. What's more, once you get to the library, it is almost like you are in a deserted cave. No student would come to the library that early on a Saturday morning. And walking up to the fourth floor and approaching my favorite spot, still you don't come across anyone. Sitting down on a chair, looking out the window, you feel like you own the world.. not in a very possessive way.. but in a hmm very lonely and yet heart-full way.
I hope it rains tomorrow when I wake up. I would love to feel the feelings that I did when I was in college... Days like this, a little bit of solitude soothes and comforts you.
Finally, the audit is over. It went very well. The congressmen were cooperative and did not really grill the ceo or other heads of the museums or the gallery that this organization operates. Now I feel like I just managed to swallow a huge live snail with salt water.
So, now it is time for me to look around me and gather my thought to open the next chapter of this winter. There are things I need to do and I would like to henceforth list them up.
1) Launching Help Your Suwon.
: This project has been long overdue. The only thing I need to do is call this NGO and ask for help for this Sunday. Once they give me the green light, I will get a hold of those who have appeared to be interested in my idea to help homeless at Suwon Station every Sunday night. Frankly, I am tad worried in that there might not be as many people as I hope there would be. But, I believe in good cause. Hopefully, they will spread the word and thus generate more volunteers to the event. Believe it or not, this it going to be a big commitment both physically and monetarily.
2) Training for a 10k run
: With my friends, I registered for a 10k run in Seoul next month. The race is only 3 months ahead of us and I am not trained at all. And yet, it is just a 10k, 6 mile run, so there should not be no issues. Back in summer, I trained myself for a run, but it somehow fell through. Now, in the middle of dread winter, I will run. This event is also for good cause : supporting the kids in hunger. Now that the audit is over, I will run extra miles at the gym to prep myself for the race. No big deal-
3) Decide where to go this winter
: According to my plan, I will get a 2 week long vacation at the end of this year. I have been saving up my vacation days and want to use them all toward the end of the year. I have been thinking of going to Japan for a few days mainly because I have never been there. And yet, due to the nuke accidents, I am afraid. Surely, they would say it is safe and blah.. but it is still the nuke. If the plan fell through, I might go down to Gyeonggju just for sightseeing. Why? Well, it is full of culture and heritage. Yes, I have been there before but as a kid. But, now I think it'd be a bit different. With whom I am going? I don't know. With my family? alone? or a partner in crime?
4) Have a talk with my bosses
: With the current boss, I need to tell him that the second week of December will be my last working week. He will allow it since I have been nothing but excelling at work. Ballpark, I think I have about 21 working days left at this organization. I don't want my coworkers to have negative impression on me. Well, maybe it is too late, but I have been docile and cooperative. Grant it, I did not really show my true colors, but did my share fully and responsibly. No doubt about it.
: With my real boss, I need to ask him where he is going to assign me to upon my return to my job. The CEO proclaimed last week that he will reshuffle the organization. In this situation, I honestly don't know where they are going to put me. I hope I go back to my old job and work with my colleagues again. I surmise I can tell the people high up as to what I would like to do. Yes, I will do this sometime in December. I would like to believe that I am a great asset since I speak great English and they need me in many positions. But, will they be considerate enough to account for my talent? Earlier this year, when they decided to send me to this organization for a year, they did not ask for my opinions. It was a unilateral decision. And yet, I have learned a great deal and have become more objective as to what I need to do and to which direction my company heads upon my arrival. And yet, there is always a thin line between the ideas and the reality and how to narrow it is your ability and responsibility if you would like to be called a professional.
5) Others
I need to meet my friends here and there. In particular, some of my life long friends have been disconnected with me and I need to rekindle the friendship.
About 50 days left this year. It has been very hard and yet very meaningful. I would like to make the best out of it and it is not too late.
Last week was hellish. And its aftermath is still lingering now since I am sick. Given that the auditing aka the annual inspection by the local congressmen is around the corner (Nov 10), my team had to prepare a lot of paper to turn into to them. A lot.. about 1,000 pages. So, about seven of us has been meticulously and painstakingly working on the prepping the paper work. And it has gotten worse since we were approaching the doomsday.
Thursday-
I remember starting the day pretty fine. Nothing unusual or out of ordinary. However, the person in charge of the auditing went home early yesterday (Wednesday) In the meantime, some congressmen asked for some additional paperwork, which turned out needing a lot of labor. So, with the person gone, the team squandered Wednesday. She came back to work Thursday and finally realized how immense the paperwork requested by the lawmakers was and doled it out to the rest of us. And, this eventually kept everyone as late as 11pm at work. Ergo, I could not go to the gym.
Friday-
Tired as hell, I punched in. The paperwork prep continued without doubt. However, there was a twist to today.
Earlier, some idiotic lawmaker released an article on a local newspaper how inefficient the budget-usage has been in the organization. With a lawmaker in the congress, it won't be conducive to secure the amount of budget for next year, the people high up decided to draw up some stats and analysis and visit the lawmaker to talk him into some sense and persuade him to revise his views. So around 3pm, which was about 3 hours before the punch out, my boss asked me to drive up to the most Northern part of the region so that we can meet up the lawmaker. Being a docile worker, I said yes. I could have said no, but I always thought that his audit prep is the last thing I will commit myself to at this organization.. so I did not turn down his suggestion.
By the time we arrived, it was about 5:30. And my boss and his boss (2nd in Command) met up with the congressman and decided to eat. So, I ate alone, crashed at the car while listening to some radio show.. which was quite nice.. But the waiting got longer than I thought it would. I waited about 4 hours in the car. By the time, they were done eating, it was around 9pm. So much for workout tonight as well.
Of course, my boss was drunk as hell. According to him, the talk was fine and he had to consume a series of soju + beer bomb shots all along. Poor guy.
While coming back to Suwon, he talked A LOT about me. He may be trunk, but he was not senseless or anything. The whole time, he's been talking up to. He told me how capable I am and he would like me to stay at the organization longer.. and he'd put in a good word to the ceo of my company that I am going back to at the end of this year. The whole time, I just agreed.. and nodded at whatever he was saying in order not to go against him or piss him off. I felt somewhat bad for him.. He actually had a family gather that night so some of his relatives actually already gathered in Suwon and were having a great time without him. He told me NOT to come to work on the weekend. I dropped him off at where his relatives were and came back to the office where I saw the rest of the team still working. Geez... After like 15 mins, I punched out.. came home and passed out.
Saturday, knowing that I did not have to go to work, I still did. However, before that I went to the gym and made up for what I have been missing. Pacs,, back, shoulder, legs....for about a full 2 hand a half hours. It was exhausting and yet felt really good to be back at the gym after two day long absence.
After short lunch, I came to work. Two people (including the one in charge of the auditing prep) were there. I made it clear that I needed to punch out around 4. She gave me an easy assignment. I took care of it and without any hesitation I went home.
Maybe it was because I felt so much relieved after 3 day long toiling. I somewhat felt not good. I cooked some pork.. rice. I knew I was going to feel sick next morning. After watching some tv shows, I have saved, I went to bed.
Sunday
And of course, I felt ill. It was somewhat a combination of a sore throat, body aching, general fatigue and what not. Just lay in bed all day...had some hot soup, veggies, oranges, chewable vitamin tablets.. chips.. Sometime in the afternoon, I felt somewhat better, so barely got up and cleaned the apartment, did laundry. Phew.
Then, it backfired and I felt worse. So just laid in bed helplessly.
Monday
I hope I would get better, but not quite. I am still sick and fatigued. I think I need to skip the gym. On my way to lunch, I picked up 육개장 (beef broth). While eating it at home, I perspired like a pig. My body must be doing really bad.. considering I rarely sweat no matter how spicy the food I have.
And now it is almost 2pm. I hope I go home at 6pm. I will probablly not go to the gym, but pick up the same dish that I did at lunch and just sleep in. I so badly want to feel better.
3 more days until the end the auditing. Thursday night, it will be all over.
I thought it would be so hard to get up at 7 on a Saturday morning. It turned out it wasn't. For some reason, I was up as early as 6am.. failing to go back to sleep. Donning my gray suit, I went to the rendezvous point to meet up with a coworker of mine to head to Busan in order to participate a coworker of ours' wedding in Busan. And this it takes place in Busan, he rented a bus so that those living up North could take it and attend the meeting. How nice.
I met some of my old co workers of mine on the bus. It was very nice. I sat down with Mr. Kwon and talked about this and that. Mostly about how 'our' company could become a better, more solid and stronger corporation. Whenever I talked to him, I am grateful that he has been my mentor since day 1. He and I share a lot of things.. sense of humor, visions.. and what not. So the trip down to South was quite pleasant.
Busan was nice. And yes, it was quite warm. The wedding occured near the Haewondae beach.. there were so many buildings at the shore.. it almost felt like I was in Hong Kong. At the wedding, I met more coworkers of mine at my old job that I am going back to at the end of this year.
Amazingly, there were so many people at the wedding. They literally had to queue up to shake hands with the groom. The guy looked happy. About a month ago, I told him I wasn't going to come, but I did. I needed this to clear my head.. to get out of the city and get some fresh air and reunite with my colleagues.
Unlike the any other wedding that I have ever attended, this one was very special.
First, when I chipped in my little offering, they handed me an envelop with a 10,000 won in it. Apparently, down South, they hand out meal tickets to those coming from far and give some money to those from the local area. I guess it'd be cheaper that way. But I got both the meal ticket at the buffet and the 10,000 won. So, yay.
Secondly, the attendants did not leave. They stuck around until the wedding was over. It was so nice. Usually, people filter in and out the wedding and that's it. But, I barely saw anyone leaving in the middle of the wedding.
Next, the couple cried when exchanging vows. It was touching. They were holding hands so could not really wipe the tears, but just let it trickle down their faces. I bet they were both moved and happy.
Finally, the groom sang. It was a bit off-key. But he manned up and finished the serenade. Big ups for him.
The bus was supposed to leave at 10pm.. after the Busan World Firework Festival along the shore. But, one of the coworkers drove down and was about to head up.. so I asked him to give me a ride. And around 3pm, I hit the road again.
In the car, four of us talked a lot about our company. It was a great feeling. Being apart from my old job, this year, I had literally zero opportunity to discuss the present and the future of the company. There, we worried about it, drew a rosy picture about it and hoped that it will flourish and get stronger and bigger than ever. I was so glad to be a part of the entourage and to share the vision and the dreams that will enable the company to have more solid foundation and the willpower.
Nevertheless, it was a 5 hour long drive. And we got in a car accident. Well, it was more of a fender-bender. This trucker did not see us at the parking lot and clipped us tad. No one, but the car was damaged a little. Thank god.
By the time I was home, it was around 8:30pm. It took more than 12 hours to come back to where I started this morning. I was tired, but not enough to jump in a shower, cook up a bowl of ramen and watch soccer games. It was a very good day... except for I needed to go to work tomorrow.
Everyday except for Sundays I go to the gym and work out about 2 hours total. It is my leisure, habit and addiction. Yes, I am a gym rat and feel nervous if I skipped it. But, those who know me in person should be aware that I am no buff, but rather a skinny.. or lean. I would like to get a bit bigger, but it isn't easy.
Recently, I have shed about 9 pounds that is about 4 kilos. When my weight was at its highest, it was 184 lbs (84kg) but now I weigh around 176lbs (80kg). This year has been quite experimental because I've tried various methods to control my weight. After changing the gym to the current one, I met a new trainer and he's taught me a lot of things e.g. workout routines, regimen and so forth and it has been very helpful. Gradually, I've gained more power to control my weight by eating healthy and working out more efficiently.
The most important thing that I've gleaned is that eating snacks at night was the primary reason that I could not lose weight before. I love chips and after workout, I'd run to the the convenient store next to my house and grab a bag of chips. Not anymore. As time went by, I've lost fat around my waist and now can see some of my pacs. It is quite amazing. Now the pants that used to fit are kind of loose.. I've lost about 2 inches around my waist. Above all, that I don't snack at work or drink has always been conducive.
At the same time, my overall physique has been reduced to a certain proportion. My pants when worn are bit loose. and I DO NOT like it. So, now I've shed some fat, it is time for me to gain some pure muscles .. or intake some low GI food to carb up for. More pasta? More fruit? More whole meal bread? More tuna? More meat??
Now I somewhat understand the feeling that when fat people lose a great deal of weight and hold their pants in the picture with a big smile in their faces. Well, not exactly tantamount, but a bit similar. but a little bit more of muscles... ah.. am I getting addicted.. or getting paranoid..or obsessing??????????
Except for you (reading this) and very close friends of mine, no one knows about the mishap. And I am not a big fan of televising my personal accounts on FB like many people.
At least one thing that kept me going is my work. I am insanely busy at work so no time to squander by chatting online or checking on others facebook updates that have nothing to do with me. This will blow over for sure.
This weekend, I might need to work.. otherwise, I would go home and celebrate my folk's 28th anniversary and go down to Busan to participate my colleague's wedding. I don't know what is going to happen.
I am looking forward this December. I will treat myself by giving me a two week along vacation and going somewhere. I was thinking of Japan but since it was nuked.. I am having a second thought. My dad's going to retire at the end of the year so my family might take a trip to somewhere together. And most of all, I am going back to my job at the end of this year. My sabbath is going to end soon.
What did I do this past weekend? It was full of sports events. Nope, it did not involve any actual play, but watching baseball games, soccer games and F1 series was major part of it. I was either sitting on my sofa or lying in my bed munching some snacks the whole weekend. Pretty mundane, but I enjoyed being lazy this weekend. Sometimes, it is good to meet friends on the weekends, drink, eat and have a good time. But, more of than not, it is also time and energy consuming. And as a person who prefers to hang out with only a handful of people, I'd rather have an alone time when I feel it is necessary. Yes, the weather was beautiful and I had an itch for some outdoorsy activities, but not this weekend. Maybe some other time.
Hmm. what else? Oh, yes, I finally met my ex. The past couple of days, I have been drawing up a whole rationale as to why I would like to meet her and what to tell her. "Do I sound clingy and desperate? Do I sound like I mean it?" Many thoughts went through my head, but eventually, I managed to tell my ex what I wanted to say.
We met and, well, the first couple minutes was, of course, awkward. She wasn't really smiling and whatnot. But after we got our drinks (we met at a Starbucks), we started to catch up and talked about a little bit of this and that. Then, finally, the moment of truth has come.
I think I was calm and honest. I did not say what I did not mean to say. She intermittently interrupted me while I was speaking, but I managed to continue and finished my story. Then, she asked me a couple of questions as to my story. And I answered them. No big deal.
As I anticipated, she did not know to say. I did not expect anything in the first place. But, it was clear that she did not expect me to say anything I said. At any rate, we ended up deviating from the main topic and talked about each other a bit. And I realized that she got out of a relationship about a month and a half ago.
After two hours, we walked out of the building together and parted our ways. No hugging or anything similar, but just awkward good byes- Where is this going to lead us? I don't know. I laid out what I needed to say. If she is interested, well, that's great. If she isn't, well, I guess I can finally move on and have closure. Either way, I am very much glad and relieved. But somehow, I failed to go to bed easily as I usually do. It was probably because I took a nap about two hours earlier, but also because I kept thinking about the girl and the conversation.
I thought when I started this blog, I would write everyday no matter what happens. Fail. Without further ado, let me narrate my life of past couple of weeks.
1. Back to the office
After the whole sheik coming to town deal, now I am back at the office and it is boring as well. I have literally no work to do. Most of time, I surf on the web, talk to my friends online. It is very unproductive and fruitless. This is so because well, my boss has been hold off on the work I have been doing due to the budgetary issues. The project I have been working on costs around 30,000 dollars. However, since the prospect for next year's budget is dire, he would like to have it carried over to next year so that we can save some money. Therefore, I haven't really made any progress on the project.
Luckily, the boss persuaded the ceo into continuing the project. Ergo, as of yesterday, I've resumed my project. I am very much glad since I don't need to let on I am working while I wasn't.
2. Training
As soon as I made my come back from the field, I signed up for a training. I did so, because a) I wanted to dodge what we call "work trip" and b)stop being bored to death at my desk. Accordingly, I sifted through the yearly training schedule at this organization where my original workplace is located. It is close from home and I get to see my colleagues..
Then, I spotted a course called "How to enhance middle management competencies" tailored for those about to become a manager. Technically, this course would not be a good fit to me since I only have three year long experience. And yet, having seen and worked with different types of bosses and leaders, I thought I would register and learn something based on my own experience.
And I did.
The training itself, I'd say, very poorly organized. It was a three day long course, but everyday there was a different guest speaker. Thus, different teaching style, different content. There were about 20 people from the region with diverse background. I happened to pair up with these three guys in the manufacturing industry. They were all older than me and had more experience than I did, so I thought I would learn something from them.
The main content of the training was lecture, team-building and discussions. It was all right. The most important thing I've gleaned is how important it is to be a good listener. Frankly, when I first signed up, I thought I would learn some kills.. first hand experience. But I ended up learning something different.. something worthwhile; how to communicate with subordinates, how to coach, and how to solve problems. What lies under them is you need to be a good communicator; be sympathetic, listen well, kill the need to react instantaneously to the person you are talking to and so forth.
In order for me to apply my knowledge to the reality, I've talked to people around me and observed something. That is, they all die to speak someone about something. My trainer, my mother, my dad, my friends....everyone basically. Once I say "Hey, how are you doing? What's new?", they would say something back to me. Normally, this would be followed by an awkward pause. But, I learned that I need to give them "space" A leeway that allows them to feel comfortable and continue their speaking. And it worked. Through this, I managed to engage in a more meaningful conversation with them. Usually, I tend to lean away or just babble on about something, but I was patient and bide my time. This was a very interesting experience and I plan on doing this.
3. Reconnecting with my ex
Craigslist is the website I go to often to entertain myself. And that is where I met my ex about a year ago. And last week, I got reconnected with her, through Craigslist.
There was a very interesting thread on CL and upon reading it, I thought it was her. Well, of course, there were some clues in the writing that hinting towards the possibility. But I wasn't quite sure because, well, there were also discrepancies between the person who wrote it and the person I used to know before. Yes, I haven't spoken with her since the break up last year.
And I very cautiously contacted her under a random email in order not to reveal myself. Why? This is so because when breaking up, I told her not to contact me and that I would not so. And yet, I was somewhat reaching out to her. I broke my own principles.
And yet, she sorta figured it out due to my silliness. And we got reconnected.. or not quite yet. We swapped a couple of email so far and that was it. There was some new information about her though. Where is this going? Nowhere probably. Probably.
Today's schedule was supposed to be succinct. First, around 12:30pm at the hotel there is a farewell luncheon which will be followed by the sheik's visitation to Nam June Paik Art Center.
In the morning, I donned a suit and headed to the gym for a quick workout. Fortunately, in spite of the crazy schedule and working outside, I have managed to work out everyday mainly due to the fact that the gym is literally right next to the gym just like my home. I don't like skipping the gym. Yes, I am a gym rat.
The luncheon was very poorly organized. In the first place, the venue was the outside terrace where the sun was beating down upon everyone. And they all were perspiring like a pig. The place was well decorated with a small fountain and spacious. But you just don't put a gala or any kind of food-related event outside unless it is seamlessly prepared. But this one wasn't. The servers kept running inside and outside grabbing fans to stifle the heat, parasols to cover the sun beating down on the sheik and other vips. Even the UAE guys were complaining. I felt embarrassed a bit. That was probably the longest 2 hours past couple days.
After the luncheon, everyone was ready to go to the art center. In the same van, with the media crew, I headed out. Again, the motorcade ushered the sheik and his subordinates to the art center. And this is how it went. How awesome-
Then, the media crew wanted to go to the same traditional market that the Dutch consultant visited. The reporter bought a whole lot of some anime character toys for his three boys. Also, he and the cameraman purchased a couple of pieces of ceramics. They liked to haggle, but the owner was persistent. After an hour, we all came back to the hotel. It was around 7pm and I was exhausted. I called it a day, came home, jumped in a shower, had some food and watch my favorite tv show. That's more I like it. But, I was told that I needed to send to the sheik tomorrow morning at Incheon Airport. Sigh.. gotta get up 7 on a Sunday morning. Grrr
Sunday Sep 18th
Getting up 6:40 am on a Sunday morning is no fun. But I had to. So, I got up, jumped in my suit and headed to the hotel. The sheik and some of his minions were ready to leave for China. So, after a little bit of hustle and bustle we all headed to the Incheon Airport.
However, this time it was different. I was in the motorcade. And this was very surreal and awesome. Grant it, it was early Sunday morning, ergo no traffic to beat. Still wherever we go the police would give us the green lights so that we can just pass through. And the cars on the highway all steered clear of the motorcade. VERY VERY AWESOME.
But, it was very stupid of me not to bring my camera with me when I left home. SIGH...so no footage or pics...
Anyhow, the motorcade parked at the vip lot. And the sheik passed through directly to the gate. The airport took care of it. No security or whatsoever. And this was where I said goodbyes to the media crew. Afterwards, I came back to the hotel, hopped on my bicycle and came home. For the remaining of Sunday, I was off. One more day tomorrow. But it is supposed to be casual; sightseeing in Seoul then again to the airport to see off the performance team.
Monday Sep 19th
It has been almost 10 days since my last appearance at the office, so it was a bit awkward to see my colleagues and say hello. But I had no time to feel it any long because I needed to go to the hotel and get ready to head up to Seoul. The guys showed up and everyone was ready to leave. But this time, I drove a company SUV whilst the rest was in a bus..
Well, the plan was, there was a well-known calligrapher tagging alone the whole time. He went wherever the sheik did and did some calligraphy for the local. At the museum, at the university, locals would hand out their names in English, then the calligrapher would write them in Arabic in a nice piece of paper. It was nice.
Oh yes, the plan was, the calligrapher had an interview with this producer at KBS in the afternoon. So whilst the performance team and the calligrapher were touring in Seoul, I would be standing by near them. When it is around 1pm, I pick him up and take him to KBS, then bring him back to Seoul so that we can join the gang and continue the sightseeing
So I managed to drive up to Seoul, but there was no where to park the car. Well, there were many places, but they were all expensive. And this company would not reimburse the parking fare. This is why I miss my old job to which I am going back at the end of this year. So, I literally was hovering around Seoul. Then, it was around lunch time so I parked near a Lotteria, rushed to the place, placed a to-go food, grabbed it, went to pee (which I have been holding a while) and jumped back in the car. phew.. While driving in Seoul, I was eating. It was precarious.
Finally, I picked up the guy and drove to KBS. After jumping through some hoops, I met with the producer and her colleagues. I thought the offices at KBS would be all neat and nice. But they weren't. No cubicles.. no fancy computers and what not. I felt bad for them to some degree. Anyhow, I accompanied them and went into a radio booth for the recording. It was a very interesting experience.
Afterwards, the calligrapher was hungry and so we went to this sandwich place near KBS. He was kind enough to buy me some sandwiches. And we stared to have a very interesting conversation over many issues e.g. parenting, the us and Koreans.. It was possible because a) he is a very smart person and b) he was trained in Harvard before and thus speaks excellent English. I would never forget the conversation he and I had that day.
Finally, I took him back to Seoul for sightseeing. There again, he and I walked around different places and engaged in a conversation. In spite of the cultural difference, the age different (he was almost 50 with 2 kids), we became friends.
And it was time to go to Incheon Airport. It took a while for the gang to process their luggage. I don't know exactly what occurred. It was already past 8pm and I was so ready to go back to Suwon and get some rest. I have been driving all day.
Then, there was a window of 10 mins before they passed the security point. So, I asked the calligrapher to write my name in calligraphy. He was kind enough to do it and this is how my name is written and the footage where he was doing it:)
Now, it was time to say good bye. While they were queuing up, I shook everyone's hands and said good bye. It was a heck of a ride the past 5 days. I met great people and learned a lot. This is probably the best memory I will have during my time this year. Inshallah!!!
This is a summary of the visitation of the shiek of Sharjah, UAE from Sep 14th to Sep 19th. During this time, I had an opportunity to meet with interesting people, exchange ideas with them and open myself to another culture. It was truly an amazing experience. So, here it goes.
Wednesday, Sep 14th
After the 4 day Chuseok weekend, my body was not ready to go back to work. But what can you do? Nevertheless, I was a bit excited to go back to work because I wasn't going back to the office, but to the field. They put me in charge of taking care of some of the group from U.A.E visiting Suwon and other places in the region. And I am supposed to be charge until 19th. So yay.
I got up and went to the best hotel in the region, which is only 5 mins away from my place. Then, I met with other coworkers of mine from other departments. They told me that I am going to usher the art consultant to the shiek. It was actually the consultant and his wife. They were from Holland and very nice to talk with.
In the morning, in a van reserved for them, we went to the Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art so that the consultants would inspect the exhibition that display about 100 artworks recently delivered from UAE. The consultant was in charge of how the pieces were displayed in the best way in which people can appreciate them most. The inspection per se was quite all right. The consultant wasn't really giving the curator in charge a hard time.
After that, we came back to the hotel. Then, they asked me to take them to a traditional market. So I did. There, I showed them around and explained things. The wife bought an ajumma visor She loved it. Then, she bought a Hanbok shirt for herself. I took them to the Hanbok place whose owner I know very well. Of course, we haggled a bit and the wife was quite content with the price and the product.
By the time I came back to the hotel, it was around 6pm to punch out. Then, I went to the gym to get my muscles pumped up. It was a long day, but quite eventful and fun.
Thursday, Sep 15th
Knowing what is going to happen or who I am going to accompany with, I again went straight to the hotel. And last night, the sheik Sultan bin Mohamed Al=Qasimi and his subordinates arrived and so did the press group. Originally, I was supposed to have a lot of face time with the press, but since they were still jet-legged from the trip, they were taking a whole day off at the hotel. Instead, some of the coworkers asked me to accompany the UAE traditional performance group (16 guys).
First, we gathered in the lobby and headed to KBS to throw a performance. There was a wide open area next to the entrance to the building and that's where they were going to perform. It was about lunch time so everyone was excited to see a great turn-out. But there wasn't, unluckily.
Many people passed out on their way out to lunch, but not many actually bothered to stop and appreciate the gig. Nevertheless, the guys did their best and put on a very good show. It was my first time to see them do their thing. It was very impressive. In particular, I admired the fact that even without a lot of audience, they enjoyed themselves to a great extent.
Next, it was after lunch and thus they, well, everyone was hungry. And I suggested we go to "Dubai" restaurant in Itaewon to treat Hala food for the gang. We were welcomed by some Arabic speaking owners and clerks. The gang seemed to enjoy both their company and the food. The Koreans also tried their delicacy. I had curried two pieces of chicken breast coupled with onions and cabbage and it was delicious. After eating, everyone was tired and decided to go back to the hotel.
Finally, as the last schedule, the team was ready to put on another show downtown in Suwon. We picked this alley where there are many bars and restaurants. At some point, we were a bit concerned because the gang might not like the setting due to alcohol consumption and all that. So, I asked the head of the team and he said, "No problem. We did this in Europe and they loved it. They(Europeans) were drinking and dancing with us. No problem!" When the show kicked off, people stared at us like they have never seen anything like this before, which is probably true. Then, they did not really mind us and kept on drinking and eating while enjoying the show. Thankfully, some of the bystanders were brave enough to join the crew and relished the performance.
Utterly worn out, both the gang and the Korean were dying to go home and rest and we did around 10pm. It was such a long day-
Today is a big day for everyone. It can be divided into main events; the sheik being bestowed upon Honorary Doctorate of Politics in Hanyang University and the grand open of Sharjah Art Exhibition at Gyeonggi Museum of Modern Art. Especially the former will be joined by Governor of Gyeonggi, Mr. Kim Moon Soo and thus every was paying extra effort to the protocol.
First, I finally got to meet with the press. There was a reporter, a photographer, a cameraman and a government official to the sheik. First, we went to the Hanyang University to inspect the venue and figure out where and how to film the event before the sheik arrives. 2 out of 4 guys did not speak much of English, but again, we could explain things with some gesticulation and basic words. Those guys were pretty easy-going and fun to be around.
After waiting about 30 mins for the sheik, he finally arrived in a motorcade. And that was very much impressive. Since he is a ruler, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs dispatched a motorcade and 8 secret servicemen to him the whole time. And this is what it was like when he was nearing Hanyang University.
Then, he was greeted by the president of Hanyang University and later sat down with him and talked to him over many issues. After exchanging gifts and doing photo ops, we swiftly moved to the venue for the bestowing ceremony.
Although it was a late Friday afternoon, there were a great turnout. Then, we were ready to move to the museum for the big night.. the highlight of the sheik's visit to Korea; a meeting with the governor. In lieu of depicting what happened word by word. I give you the pictures and the video segment of the meeting. My fingers are quite tired at this point.
There was a gala ready for all the participants. I was ready to have some food, finally. But the crew said they needed to go back to the hotel to edit the footage they filmed.. so.. we just headed back to the hotel first. Well, at least, I got off work earlier than the others and so that I could go to the gym at the end of the day!
Usually, Chusoek does not suck, if anything, it should be full of good food, laughter, story-telling and sharing. But this Chuseok was different. And this is how it went.
First day (Saturday)
- I decided to hang out some friends of mine in Suwon instead of going home today. So, Hwanki, Joseph, Scott and I went to a soccer game in Suwon and were later joined by two co-workers of Jo's. They were delight.. well at first.
The game was fun. I sat next to Scott and explained some aspects of soccer to him to whole time. As an American, he must have been interested in it that much, but still he was kind enough to stay put and tried to enjoy it. Afterwards, we all went drinking and that's where the horrible Chuseok started to go awry.
Simply speaking, I drank too much. Usually, I don't drink. Even socially, I don't enjoy it. A beer or two is fine. But it would still give me an awful headache next morning. Let's say, that night I hugged the toilet at the bar and regurgitated what I had been eating and drinking pretty much. And after the bar, I managed to get in a cab and head home. It was just awful. Playing drinking games with the guys was fun and exciting but I did not think thru. Also, there was a drama in the group that I will not spell out what it was. At one point, someone told me that the comment I made was not good. Well, I did not give rat's ass since I did not know what was going down and I did not think I was entitled to hear any of that. Well, what is done and done and I don't have hold grudge or regret.
Next morning (Sunday) was, as you can imagine, was awful. It started with pounding in my head and nausea in the stomach. I barely slept. I wanted to sweat it out so went jogging, but it backfired. I ran only 1 mile and had to crawl back home. Then, I laid down a bit, then cleaned the house and donned my suit and went to my folk's house. The ride though usual was awful. As soon as I arrived, I asked my mother to cook up a ramen for me. It eventually soothed, believe it or not, my nausea. It was good to be home. Although my mother had prepared everything for bid day, I helped her a bit. However, I felt tension between my father and mother. Of course, they had a tiff and would not talk to each other. Sigh... Toward the later time of the day, I started to feel fine and gobbled up good food.
Monday morning, as usual, I got up 7, jumped in a shower and donned the suit. Getting ready to set up the table to carry out the ritual ceremony for my passed grandparents, I was a bit excited to see my relatives. That is, my uncle, my aunt and my cousin. Normally, they would come to my parents' around 8ish and help me and my father set up the table. But there were running late. I thought they were. But, my mother told me that they were not coming because of their religion. Apparently, my new aunt (they got married last year) is a big churchgoer and thus does not like to idea to idolize. According to Korean Christianity (except for Catholic) even bowing at your passed ancestors is an act of pagan and heresy. So, they had decided not to come. Thus, it was just my family. I was livid. Thankfully, around 9ish my cousin showed up. But he realized that it was too late. On purpose, I showed up a cold shoulder for being late. Then after about 2 hours, he took off. So, again it was just my family. We ate, slept, watched tv.. that's what we did the whole Monday. And my father and mother still did not bury the hatchet.
The last day (Tuesday) I got up and ate breakfast. I thought I would go back to Suwon around 3ish. So ideally, after having lunch with my folks would end the whole long weekend. But it did ot go as I planned. Around noon, my dad started to feel gassy and pain in the stomach. It turned out he was massively constipated for having eaten a lot of food and barely moved. So, I picked up some over the counter meds for him but it did not work. He just could not take a dump. And there went my mother's nagging. Sigh... eventually, my dad felt less pain and fell asleep with my mother still nagging at him. Then, I packed my things and left. I promised my mother that I will be home for her birthday (next week) and told my dad to drink some water and get some exercise in lieu of eating.
There, the long weekend was finally over. It was eventful and yet rather mundane as always. And now I am ready to welcome the sheik of Sharja, one of the largest cities in UAE. I will update on this more later this week.
The key to successful workout is to train hard, eat hard and rest hard. It is succinct like that.
Speaking of training, I do not believe I need to elaborate. About 90 mins to 120 mins would be ideal and this encompasses a warmup. Whatever routines you stick to, that is fine. Well, not really. You can always consult the trainer at your gym and get some professional help. You need someone who would spot you from time to time and motivate you. This does not require so-called workout buddies. I would rather find them unwarranted because it is highly likely that you not only get some assistant from them but also distract both yourself and them a lot. This will eventually and unnecessarily lengthen your workout time than it needs to be.
In terms of food, well. this is probably the trickiest part. To begin with, I believe that everyone has his or her own physical constitution. Depending on it, the body metabolism works uniquely and thus the result from eating certain food is individually different from one another. Regardless, eat hard. Good food, in particular. Highly protein-contained food such as chicken breast, tuna, fish, beef and so forth would be ideal, but you find whatever you can near you and consume it. Carb up for since it is the fuel with which you will mobilize at the gym. But just make sure consume less sugar and salt than you need. Also, avoid eating at night or drinking alcohol. Last but not least, do not be oversensitive about what you eat. If you feel like you ate last night, work out a bit more. Walk to work. Walk at lunch. Start up and down the steps at work. Sweat it off next day.
Finally, resting. Many people, even myself, feel like skipping workout one day would cost a considerable amount of muscle and makes you anxious and nervous. Not necessarily true. According to research, it takes at least 10 days for a body to lose muscles. So, unless you are under the setting (overseas.. hospitalization and whatnot) where you can't literally work out, you will be fine. Also, ensure to take at least a day off every week. Take a sabbath otherwise your body will end up malfunctioning because your body needs time to recuperate from all the hard work, stress and what not.
According to some workout books or exercise gurus, workout takes only 20 percent with food 50 percent and rest 30 percent of what is necessary to optimize your workout and get the best result. Hence, try to juggle them all whilst don't get stressed out too much. After all, your body can not mushroom indefinitely. There are always limits to how much your body can grow.
Last weekend was eventful. I attended my cousin's wedding with my parents and met relatives of mine. On the same day, I threw a party for my friend Scott who just arrived the country to teach and Sarah leaving for the U.S., her home town.
Thankfully, everyone that I invited gathered. I was a bit disappointed with the fact that some said they can't make it. But they all came.
Speaking of Sarah / Joe's sister, she said she was done with Korea for now. After spending a year, she seemed to be a bit frustrated with many things. I had opportunities to hear about her stories where she did not like her coworkers and had unpleasant experience with locals. I thought it was very unfortunate that she went through it.
And my friend Scott. We met back in 07 while he was a summer program student at Ajou University, my alma mater. Honestly speaking, we were not that close to each other, but he is from Iowa where I spent my 4 month stay back in 2004 as an exchange student at the University of Iowa. I really enjoyed it so thus I thought I would show the same or more extend of hospitality to those coming from the state to Korea. And Scott was one of them-
Ed, Joe, Sarah, Scott, Rick, Bong and Hwanki.. we all congregated, drank, ate and hung out together. It was very much nice to be able to do it with the cool breeze of fall on the rooftop overlooking Nam San tower.
I am looking forward to the next congregation. I proposed that we go to a ball game sometime. I will make it happen whether it is baseball or soccer.
Yesterday, I went to the local branch office of this volunteering organization in order to discuss my plans to start volunteering in Suwon.
Even though it was a Sunday, there was a person working on a graveyard shift. It took me about 30 minutes for me to get there by bike. Since it was so nice, the ride was also very much pleasant.
The location of the office was near Suwon Station. And I passed by the brothel accidentally. As I averting my eyes, I saw this guy that looked like a Southeast Asian, hiding himself around the corner on the street and peeking at the hookers there.
Also, I witness a car accident. As I was biking downhill, I saw a car making a left turn to the back alley and clip a this Korean guy accident. The guy fell and the driver jumped out of the car to make sure he is okay. The car was moving slowly, so there was no blood or anything. I wanted to stay there a bit longer to see the scene, but since it was already late at night, I moved on.
Finally, I spotted the building, parked the bicycle and walked up the step. It was 8 in the evening and yet there were homeless people talking a shower. They were taking a number so that they were given some space to sleep tonight. Yes, the guy I was supposed to meet was giving out numbers to those walking in to secure a spot to sleep on tonight.
As I told the guy at the organization why I was here, he looked a bit suspicious. But as I explained on, he ushered me in and offered me a cup of cold water. In simultaneity, more homeless people walked in and asked for their space to crash. The meeting was constantly interrupted.
As I said to the guy, I am not asking for monetary support. All I need is a bit of space where, on a regular basis, volunteers I will recruit gather and bag up food to dole out to homeless at Suwon station. After I made clear that I don't need money, he looked very much relieved and cooperative. Since he was already preoccupied with the homeless, I left my name and cell number and headed back to home.
I am expecting the green light from them in a day or two. But I am not quite sure how many people in or in the vicinity of Suwon would like to join the volunteering. So far, about 5 or 6 people have contacted me after reading the piece on Koreahearld. http://www.koreaherald.com/national/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20110823000885
Since next week is Chuseok and a week after, I need to work, I think the first meeting would be 25th September. Frankly, I am tad nervous, but at the same time I am looking forward this challenge.
The past seven days was nothing but a full of events and this is why I have been able to update my blog. And from now on, I would like to narrate some of the memorable occurances of mine. So, hear me out-
19th August
It was my birthday. 32th. So, I gave myself a little treat by taking a day off. I haven't taken a single yet since I would like to take a long vacation at the end of this year.
It was mine but 16th was my dad's 60th. Since I could not go home to celebrate it, my family decided to throw a consolidated party. Well, it was not a party perse in actuality. I arrived home around 6pm and we went downtown to go to a fancy restruant. The food and the service was, sadly, terrible but we had a good time. I felt like it has been forever sine I came home last time. I should visit my folks more often. They are not getting younger. Afterwards, we did the whole cake thing and just chilled out in the living room all together. It was very nice. I gave my dad some cash. Cash is always the best gift for parents, believe it or not :) I forgot making a card for which I feel guilty :(
20th August
The next day, I said goodbye to my folks and headed back home. Then, straight to the gym where I worked on my legs. Geez.. doing squats and leg press is always killing me and the most exhausthing leg of the routine. By the time I came home was around 6 and I hit the road again to go up to Apgujeong, Gangman to participate in the gathering amongst my military buddies. As a matter of fact, one of them is leaving for the U.S. to pursue Ph.D at the University of Washington - Seattle in two weeks. But, going up to Gangnam wasn't easy at all as much as I thought it would be. It rained and I did not have an umbrella so I had to just wait about 20 mins at some building which resulted in missing some friends :( So, it took me about 2 frigging hours to arrive. But it was worth it.
Everyone was the same as I saw them last time. We talked about life, kids, marriage, family and work. Somewhat I felt lagging behind since I am single. Well, I don't intend to marry yet. Not now. At any rate, I was good to hear them do excellent on many levels. One of them is going to work in Paris for three years as of October. I might go to Paris sometime. Who knows? My ex rommmate complained about having 8 minions under him and their not living up to his expectations. Wow 8 subordinates.. sounds awesomme. After two hours, he (my ex rommate) took me to the Gangnam station and bought me a green tea latte at a startbucks. We chatted a while and he took off to his lovely family while I stood in the queue for the bus back to Suwon. It was almost midnight when I came back.
21th August
Because of the gathering last night and because I indulged myself on some last night Soju and Samgyupsal, I felt beloated. Thus, I went running and doing some pullups. The Sun was beating down on it and the weather was fantastic. Coming back home, I ate a little and ended up taking a nap. Around 5pm, I was ready to go up to Seoul 'again' in order to participate in the weekly volunteering. Today was very special because it is the last time that my good friend Sarah, host of the event takes part in with her boyfriend Matt who is also leavinng the country for good. We did the usual thing together, buying, bagging and giving out food to the homeless. And I made some friends with new people so it was pretty good.
Anyway, as a token that Sarah and Matt will remember us by, I asked the participants to fill in a piece of paper with messages. Both the couple and the participatns loved the idea so I felt great. Well, after all, Sarah was all welling up when I was presenting the paper to her at the end of the event. We have been good friends since 08, have some commonalities e.g. the passion for the show the Office .. haha I know. But she was kind enough to bring back some memorabilia of the office when she visited her hometown Scranton years ago e.g. a t-shirt and stickers. And that was in return of my bringing back some Muslim-related items when I visited Malaysia back in 09.
After saying goodbye, it was 9pm. I cancelled my train ticket at 10:15pm and decided to hop on the bus to Suwon. And as soon as I neared the bus stop, I hopped on the bus and there was one seat left! I felt darn lucky.
22th August
As soon as I woke up, I felt something was wrong. I was very much tired. And my coworkers wanted to throw me a lil birthday party after work. I could not say no.. no matter how tired I was. So we all hung out until 9pm. I even skipped the gym.. it is such a RARITY for me to do such a thing of nature. Anyhow, the party was fine and I appreciate my coworkers. They did the cake thing and gave me a 50,000won worth gift certificate. How nice!
23th August
Aftering being a meeting 4 and a half hours to discuss next year's budget plans, I felt drained. A quick run to home for lunch was the only solace. It was about 1:30pm and the weather was fantastic. The streets were brimmed with boring and exciting looking housewives with or without babies in strollers. I miss those days when I drove around the region in the middle of day. I can't do it here thus can't not wait to go back to my company at the end of this year.
The gym was usual. It is always packed. I gained 2 lbs. I think this is because my nibbling at nuts that I brought home this past weekend. I feels awesome hitting the gym after recovering from the fatigue yesterday. My trainer advised "Your body needs rest. It always does." Ended up going to bed around 11:30pm. The bed ilterally absored me. It is always a good feeling.
