Who Says?

I was chatting with a friend earlier today at the gym, and couldn't quite describe to her the funk I  am in, in terms of my gym time. For the past two weeks or so, my workouts have been drab, and missing that certain surge of adrenaline. I can't really seem to figure out what it is, if I need to up my weights, change my diet, up my gym time. It has been driving me crazy, and I think it's been affecting other parts of my life right now (or vice versa).

It has been one year exactly since my last surgery, and in roughly one month time I will be leaving Korea and moving on. Isn't it crazy how much can change in a year? I think Asia was and has been the best choice for me for the last year, but I will not be sad to see it go! It has definitely been a struggle culturally and socially. But individually I have learned and grown so much (I know, gag me right?), I wouldn't trade this experience for the world.

I don't think I have ever been as comfortable or confident in the person I am since being in Korea. Korea has showed me the type of person I want to be, the person I am, and the person I have been. It has shown me limits in all kinds of respects, my limits and the limits of others.

This week I only work two days (thank the Lord), and have a five day weekend due to the Lunar New Year. Not only will I be sleeping approximately 22 hours a day, it will give me a break from teaching. I'm not so sure I want to be a teacher after this experience, and that's okay with me. In fact if anything, not liking teaching has showed me exactly what I do want to pursue. I think the challenges I have had getting back into shape, and having my body go through so much change, has re-sparked my interest in fitness. I have always been very interested and mildly obsessed with working out and nutrition. Having gone through so many struggles physically, I think I am more aware of the struggles of every type of person out there.

I think everyone can relate to how hard it can be to get healthy, stay healthy, and be in shape. It is a different journey for everyone, and I'd like to be apart of people's journey. Things happen in life. We travel and it sets our health off a bit. We poison our bodies with junk food, and think there is no way back. We run our bodies in the ground thinking the more we work out the better. We take pills, we have surgery, we do drastic things to change our bodies. If I can help just one person get back to a healthy life-style after whatever they have been through, then I want to be a part of that.

I hope in a few months, in a year from now, I will be re-reading this post and be where I want to be in terms of my goals. I want to travel a lot, I want to do personal training, I want to be in the best shape I can be in, and I want to help others do the same. I want to do it all. I want to take more photographs, I want to go to more art exhibits, I want to do everything on my resolutions list and more. I want to do anything I want, everything I want, all the time.

Who says I can't, right?

Sunday Funday = Soul Sessions

There's nothin' I like better than some Bill Withers on a Sunday afternoon, while it's snowing, and I'm drinking a cappuccino. Thank you Mr. Withers, for being born, and creating such amazing music.

Pics Update

I have finally put pictures under the "Pics" tab! So keep checking, as I will try to update this tab more often. Although I will still be putting pictures within my posts. 


Still having trouble uploading videos, but when I get back to America I will have my brother fix it for me. :)  

Baby It's Cold Outside

It's like -500 billion degrees outside today. Literally. I can't take this weather anymore! I am sitting here in my freezing apartment with a hat, gloves, a sweatshirt, and a blanket while I wait ever so patiently for my apartment to warm up. That will take approximately 4 hours.

When I'm walking to and from work, up hill both ways, I seem to be the only person fazed by the insanity of how cold it is. I think Koreans have a different kind of skin, that allows them to not sweat when it's 1000% humidity outside, or get cold when it feels like Antarctica. They just simply do not get cold. The women are still wearing mini-skirts for Pete’s sake! I don't think I'll ever get over the fashion here in Korea. The women are still sporting the good ol' fashion mini-skirt and some tights. They don't wear hats, they don't wear gloves, and they STILL wear high heels!

My co-worker told me that this weekend was supposed to be warmer than usual. Warmer? Warmer than cold as shit? Cold is cold. I don't care what the temperature says, it's COLD. It is actually kind of sad how the novelty of winter and cold weather wears off in a matter of 2.5 days. At first everyone is ecstatic that it's snowing, we get to wear scarves, we get to walk around with hot chocolate mugs in our hands. Then everyone realizes how much it sucks when you're risking your life walking to work on black ice, or freezing your tush off while waiting for the bus. 

The only thing that makes winter a little better here, is my South African friend. Who has seen snow once in her life before coming to Korea. She still gets ubber excited about snow, and tries to convince the rest of us how awesome it is. The response to her excitement is usually met with groans like "yea yea yea, you’ll get it over it come mid February". But I have to admit the other night it started snowing, and we decided to run around our neighborhood trying to catch snowflakes on our tongues. It was fun. It reminded me of how fun winter and snow can be. 

I think about all my friends on the East Coast, and how bad the weather and storms have been this winter. Especially since I'll be moving there next year, it makes me kind of cringe. When I lived in Boston before, I came straight from Honolulu to Boston on January 1st, and it was quite the change. But I loved it. Sometimes you gotta just roll with the punches, get your boots on and go make a snow angel, open your mouth wide and catch some snowflakes. 

....Because baby it's cold outside. 


And because I love Christmas, I love Glee, and I heart my gays...here's a treat. :)

Resolutions....

I have been lacking in the blog department, and I can't really figure out why. I think I get really bored of my blog, and in turn I'm sure my "followers" (a term I use loosely considering they're probably related to me) are bored as well. I'm not very computer or tech savvy, and I think this reflects in my blog. I don't really know much about the blogging world except for the blogs I follow, and then the creation of my own.

Don't get me wrong, I do really love my blog. I just wish it were more functional, and I had more followers. Maybe if my BROTHER would actually stop gallivanting around South America with baby mama's, and help me fix my blog it could be way cooler. It could. Who knows. I think the main thing is I need to post more, the more I write the more people will have to read right?

It's nearly the third week of January and I still haven't talked about  my New Year's resolutions. I think it's because I don't really do resolutions, I just make lists of things I want to do more of in the following year. So here goes, a list of resolutions per say, to make 2011 a kick ass year.

1. Get out of South Korea alive.

2. Read more. I know what you're thinking, how could I possible read more than I already do? Well it can, should, and will be done. Especially with my new Kindle, which I absolutely LOVE.

3. Take more photos. I really need to. I need to take crazy photos, all the time. I need to be that girl who is always taking photos. I need to print these photos out, frame them, post them, hang them up, make a collage of them. One day, when I grow up, I'll finally have an apartment of my own (stop laughing mom), and I'll want to put these photos everywhere.

4. See more old friends.

5. Make more new friends.

6. Send more post cards and cards. Everybody loves getting mail don't they?

7. Stop obsessing over my scars from my past, both physical and mental. Just let it be.

8. See more of the country I'm from. First stop, Grand Canyon.

9. Say "yes" more than "no".

10. Continue to be happy and thankful everyday that I am in charge of my own life and my own decisions. Realize how far I've come, and will continue to go. Thank those who have stood by me through everything, and forget those who have not.

11. See more live music and go to more concerts.

12. Post more frequently and get more followers.

That doesn't sound so hard now does it?! I hope everyone is having a wonderful New Year, and are continuing to better their lives with their own resolutions.

To 2011! The best year ever!

(Adding a song like I always do. Don't look into it too much, I just like it. Adele's rockin' it.)




Thanks Hales :)

And So This Is Christmas

(The Burggraf house from outside as the sun sets)

                                        

(It's like Christmas palooza in here!)

                                      

(It wouldn't be Christmas without a smoke alarm going off.)

(This is how we do it in the Burggraf house. We drink the wine first, then we use it to roll out cookie dough.)

(A Christmas tradition.)

(The shirt says it all.)

(The 'rents. Aren't we cute?) 

As you can see, there are no pictures of my brother. And that's because he's too cool for school. Enough said.

The Gym

Today is Sunday. It is usually a day I spend a good part of at the gym, making up for lost times that I didn't go on Friday or Saturday. I am sick today, for the millionth time in Korea, so my better judgement (and a South African guardian angel perhaps) convinced me to skip yet another day.

If you know me, you know my obsession with the gym. It's important to me. It's a way of life. It's something I won't compromise. Usually gyms are full of the same types of people, the same equipment, and the same kind of vibe. So one would think it would be the same kind of experience in a Korean gym than any other gym around the world right?

Wrong. Korean gyms are unlike any other gym experience, and it is something I will have in my memory forever (whether I like it or not).

Korean women are a rare breed at the gym. They do not lift weights. Unless you count those pink weights that weigh like 1.5 pounds, and I don't. Korean women also don't do cardio machines. However, Korean women are excellent at creating the image that they are doing cardio, when in fact they are actually doing nothing at all. If you're in the gym long enough, you'll see that the women are doing one of three things and one of three things only. 1) They are walking on the treadmill while talking on their cell phones. 2) They are sitting on the bicycle while talking on their cell phones. Or 3) they are sitting on a yoga mat while talking on their cell phones.

Korean men on the other hand are surprisingly in shape, and there is no age limit on this either. I've seen men in there twice my age with a 45 lb weight attached to a chain around their waist while they do chin ups.....and talking on their cell phones. There are two types of men that work out in Korea. The ones who actually work out and seem to know what they're doing, and the ones who stand there watching t.v. and barely touching a piece of equipment the entire time they're there.

Like any other building (whether it's public or private) in Korea, you're required to have a pair of indoor shoes and outdoor shoes. This really pisses me off. I don't want to have 5 million pairs of shoes for everywhere I go during the day. I don't mind having 5 million pairs of shoes in my closet at home for my own addiction and desire, but everywhere else is really annoying. I also really hate taking off my shoes. I never came from a family that takes their shoes off. In fact, my dad wears his shoes right up until the moment he changes into his pj's and goes to bed. We like our shoes, and we like them on our feet. So I like to pull the 'foreigner card' here, and I wear my gym shoes to the gym and when they try to explain that's not how it's done, I give them a very confused look and say I don't understand. Most of the time they brush me off like some stupid foreinger, and let me work out in piece.

The trainers at the gym seem to think they have the right to interrupt my work out and tell me what I'm doing wrong. Every so often they seem to take a break from their Starbucks coffee and pizza for lunch, long enough to linger around me entirely too long to see if I'm doing everything right. They're often telling me I am lifting too much weight for a woman, and that I should be on a cardio machine or taking the yoga class. I have literally had to put my hand out in front of me and yell "STOP!" to one of the elder trainers to get him to stop pestering.

And don't even get me started on the locker rooms. Between the ajumma's who stand there for an hour blow-drying their crotches, to the women in the shower head next to you asking you to soap up their backs...it's all entirely too close for comfort for me.

But like everything else in Korea, it is an experience I won't soon forget. The gym will get lumped in to every other wild thing I have witnessed during my year here in Korea. And who knows, maybe one day when I'm working out at my gym in America, I'll suddenly miss getting smacked on the ass in the locker room by an old lady, or getting harassed by a kimchi smelling trainer during my squats. Who knows.....