The Sheik of Sharjah coming to Town (Part II)

Friday, Sep 15th

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!

Abysmal Chuseok

Sigh.. where to begin..

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.

Training hard, eat hard and rest hard

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.

Hail to the new comers, Say goodbye to the leavers.

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.

Goodbye, Sarah.
Welcome back Scott.

Get ready to launch volunteering activities in Suwon

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.

Recapping Last Week

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.

Weekend

Where to begin. This past weekend was eventful.

To begin with, I decided to visit my folks' home in Gwangmyeong near Seoul and I did. It has been a while since I paid my last visit, I felt I should have earlier. It is mostly my parents that come to my place, not the other way around. So, yeah, although it takes ONLY an hour and a half, on Saturday, I hopped on the subway home.

As usual, my folks were home. My father was watching tv whilst mother was cooking. We talked about this and that a little, ate the food and watched tv. Nothing special. Well, this.. just having a conversation and catching up is special since we live separately and don't see each other that often.
Then, as usual, mother went to bed not even before 10 and my dad of course fell asleep watching tv in the living room. Subsequently, I went to my room, turned on the computer and later fell asleep. I had to sleep on the floor because my room does not have a bed. So, it was, although I am Korean, tad uncomfortable.

Next morning, we had breakfast together. Then, the same thing, father watched tv and mother read some paper in the master bedroom with me doing some computer and dozzing off on the floor due to the uncomfortable night. The, I wanted to buy my folks a new keyboard and a mouse. The ones that they have were old and not working properly. So, my dad and I went to the Emart near my house. He is very much introvert and I think I inherited that aspect from him to a certain degree. Still, we talked about this and that, bought the items that mother asked us to purchase e.g. fabric softner, detergent and salt.

After we came back, it was around 4pm. I deicded to stay one more night since the next day is a holiday. Also, I was going to the weekly volunteering at Seoul Station. By the time I will be done would be 9ish. So, it would be better for me to come back and stay since it takes only about 40 mins to Seoul Station.

So, the volunteering was also fun. Since it was a three day weekend, not many people showed up. Still, there were almost 15 volunteers. The number of the homeless seemed to increase since I guess there were less Koreans at the station. Next week is Sarah's last week. Sarah has been spearheading the event and a good friend of mine. She is leaving Korean for good in about 2 weeks. They are looking for her successor, but it seems like no one wants to step up and take charge. I would if it were in Suwon. It is sometime just too far.

Anyways, the next day, by the time I woke up, father was already gone to work even though it was a holiday.. so, I had breakfast with mother and got ready to go back down to Suwon. After saying good bye, I left the house and came back to my place. It was lunch time but I just grabbed some cereal, milk and an apple. Then, I went for running and some pushups and sitsup since the gym was closed.

Feeling pretty fatigued, I took a nap and it was 6 pm when I opened my eyes. I was out about 2 hours. Afterwards, I hit Homeplus, Kims Club and Lotter Mart near my house to do grocery, ended up buying ton of things like canned tuna, more milk, spagehtti sauce, bread, chips and bananas.

Phew--

Wednedsay is my dad's 60th birthday and friday is my 32nd. I am going back to my folks house again on Friday to celebrate it. I don't know what to get my dad. It is not just a birthday.. his 60th.... It is just going to be just three of us celebrating. I will probably buy a cake.. maybe give him some cash and a card? Or something special? I don't know. I don't like it he is getting older and older. This year he is retiring after 28 years with Kia Motors.