Yesterday I decided to try out the swimming pool since it is immediately adjacent to the school. I entered the building, paid my fee, changed and walked out onto the pool deck. I immediately felt a little silly because I brought my towel with me but there was nowhere to put it and all of the Korean swimmers had left their towels in the locker room. I then placed my towel nicely on the floor in a spot where I hoped it wouldn't get too, too wet and then scanned the lanes trying to determine where I could fit in. There were five lanes in the swimming pool and the two end lanes where extra wide. I was liking my odds of not having to share a lane until I realized that three of the lanes were being used for lessons. That left me the choice between one narrow lane with a really intense lap swimmer or an extra wide lane that just had one very, overweight Korean man floating in it. I decided on the extra wide lane and entered the water. Upon entering though I realized that half of the lane had a platform on the bottom of it and the platform made the lane to shallow to even swim freestyle. I then began to swim in the only swimmable part of the lane and prayed the Korean man would float over the platform as I approached. Luckily, he did move over every time I swam past him but he always moved right back in my way. He remained in my lane for a half an hour and only floated or sat on the bottom of the pool. It was very odd but I'm not sure if that's common in Korea- maybe that's why there is a platform. In the end I really enjoyed my swim and plan on frequenting the pool even if I do always have to share a lane with the floating Korean man.
Today, I ventured to one of the two free gyms in Hwacheon. One of the free gyms is across the street from my building but it is pretty dilapidated because no one maintains it. Also, one time when I was there I saw four different people spit on the floor even though the floors are never cleaned. One man even formed a spit pool next to his treadmill. Due to this experience I decided to test my luck at the hospital gym. I entered and was immediately surprised how clean the small room was. There was very little in terms of equipment- a few bikes and treadmills- but it was well-maintained. There was also a nice space to do crunches and stretch. I did find it funny though that within such a small space there were two massaging beds, two massaging chairs, four vibrating platforms and four vibrating bands. The vibrating platforms are a very common Korean 'work-out' machine where you just stand for an extended period of time on a machine that shakes slightly. The vibrating bands are also extremely common in Korean gyms and you basically step inside this band and it just vibrates causing all your stomach or leg flab to jiggle. I have not discovered the true health benefits of either of these machines yet and find them to be pretty humorous.
Anyways, I was pleased with the gym and ran on a treadmill before doing some crunches. After finishing my crunches I was about to get up to leave when a Korean ajumma came up to me talking emphatically in Korean. I wasn't sure what she was saying and thought I was getting yelled at for doing something wrong so I just tried to apologized. She kept gesturing to where I was doing crunches though and I quickly realized that she wanted me to help her do crunches. I then began showing her how to do crunches. Her friend then came over and told me that she saw me run and thought I had a great body. She then started pointing to various body parts while saying exercise, which I then realized meant that she wanted me to show her exercises for whatever muscle she gestured to. I quickly realized there was no getting out of this situation (ajummas are none for being very pushy and outspoken) so I gave in and spent the next twenty minutes walking the two older woman through various body weight exercises. It was surprisingly fun and many of the Korean gym-goers found it very amusing. I was also impressed by how well the three of us communicated despite the language barrier. They spoke no English and I speak very little Korean. The women occasionally over-estimated my Korean abilities and asked me things I could not even begin to understand but we eventually found a nice balance of hand gestures and basic Korean words. When I said I had to go home for dinner they were a little disappointed, especially since I told them I wouldn't be at the gym tomorrow since I am going to Seoul. I hope I can see my two ajummas again though. Exercising with the ajummas was the most fun I've had at a gym in a long time.
To better aide your understanding of what exactly an ajumma (아줌마) is feel free to read my basic description based mainly off of my own personal observations:
Ajummas are generally women over 35 who are married with children. They are known for having the same short, curly, perm haircut and are always wearing visors. Ajummas also frequently wear arm sleeves when wearing short sleeve shirts so that their arms do not see any sunlight. They are known for pushing people out of their way frequently and are not even really viewed as women anymore. They can have jobs cleaning the male restrooms and will enter the restroom while it's being used and no one cares. They also tend to be outspoken and ignore everyone around them when completing any task. The term is considered offensive when spoken to younger, unmarried women or women who are racking in the years but have yet to settle down.
No comments:
Post a Comment