Next stop... Russia

I kid, I kid.

But seriously, in class today were were talking about major holidays with our classmates. Our Korean-Russian classmate was telling us that in Russia the major holiday is the new year. Basically, for 12 whopping days (Dec. 31~January 11) everyone takes off work and parties. And since it's Russia, I'm sure you can imagine the amount of vodka that is consumed. :)

And then I had to follow that with a description of Christmas that included getting together with family, eating, and exchanging presents for one day only. Lame. Maybe we should do it Russian-style and start extending Christmas over a week at least....

Boiling

Every now and then Mark and I run across things that seem kind of crazy, but we try to brush things off as cultural differences.

But today's incident was by far the most insane we've experienced yet.

Mark joined this crappy little gym by our apartment in an effort to save some cash. Normally gyms in Seoul cost about $75-100 per month, but this one was $30/month. So I'm sure you can guess the condition of this place...

Anyway, the other MAJOR downside to this gym is that there is no A/C. Right now Seoul's temps are in the 80s and super-humid - actually I have no idea how Mark can stand it.

Today, as Mark was running on the treadmill and (understandably) sweating profusely, the owner came over and yelled at him for sweating. I'm not talking a short warning, it was a long lecture yelled at him in Korean. While everyone in the gym stopped and stared. And he proceeded to point to sweat on the ground and to tried to wipe it up.

Mark ended up feeling so awkward about the whole thing that he quit his workout early and just came home. Totally one of those times that I can't learn Korean fast enough. I was so fired up, I just wanted to go straight to that "gym" and explain the concept of a working out to this idiot. You own a GYM, buddy. You should expect some sweat along the way. Grrr...

Guess he was wanting Mark to work out Korean style, which is basically lift one weight, take a 10 minute rest on the machinery (reading the paper at this point is optional), switch to another machine and lift something once, rest, and then walk on a treadmill more slowly than a normal person would walk down the street. Oh and if you're feeling exceptionally ambitious there's the vibrating machine that basically just shakes your body to "loosen the fat." I'm not kidding. This is probably the most popular machine at the gym.

So if you ever go to a Korean gym, now you know the proper way to work out. Oh, and make sure to keep your sweating to a minimum, lest you get scolded by an ajosshi.

That is one HUGE...

Now may be the time to start sending Mark some encouraging emails. His ego has officially taken a major beat-down these past few days. First, being told he looks like he's 40, then the incident at today's lunch....

Mark and I have separate language exchange partners that we practice Korean with. We were supposed to have a "double lunch date" today, but my partner was too tired and bailed. So I tagged along with Mark and his partner, Erin.

Just to give a little background, she's this cute little Korean girl who can speak English fairly well. She is also obsessed with learning English slang. (She actually watches American movies to try to pick up as much slang as she can.)

We started out talking about how Korean food is healthier than Western food. Mark mentioned that he's lost quite a bit of weight since he first arrived in Korea and that he used to be a lot heavier a couple years ago. Without missing a beat, Erin said in her broken English, "Oh, so you were a fat ass?" I nearly spit my water all over the table. Uh...

After that we had to explain to Erin that it's really never appropriate to call someone a "fat ass." Especially to their face.

That brought us to another MAJOR cultural difference between Korea and the US. Apparently, in Korea, the best way to tease friends is to tell them they're fat or that they've gained a lot of weight. Erin was shocked that it is a major no-no to tell anyone (much less friends) that they're looking fatter lately.

All in all, it was a very successful language exchange. We got to practice for our interview this week, and Erin learned two important lessons that may prevent her from getting beat up should she ever visit the United States or Canada. :)

::Image courtesy of cis.jhu.edu::