Cultural differences-Korea Day 6

This morning after a breakfast of seaweed and rice (they have toast here too but I actually liked the seaweed) I decided to get a workout in at the hotel health club.

The workout wasn't the problem-the gym was actually pretty good and everyone was seriously into their exercising. It was when I tried to check out the sauna that everything became a cultural faux pas on my part.

My first mistake was entering into the sauna/steam room/whirlpool area in a bathrobe. It is definitely an American thing to make sure you're covered in all the right places but in Korea, in this circumstance, everyone was buck naked. So, I took off the robe. When in Seoul.

Second mistake. In Korea they have three different types of "whirlpools"-one is cold, one is very hot, and the other one is bubbly and warm. I opted for the bubbly and warm one and just jumped right in. WRONG. After observing some of my naked friends, they took buckets of water, splashed themselves with the water and didn't get in. I got a very nasty look-I think I contaminated their water.

Third mistake. Don't stare. There was an area where you could take a shower but it wasn't a stand up shower. There were a few stations equipped with a shower nozzle, mirror, and shelf. In order to shower you had to squat onto a plastic seat, facing the mirror and then hand hold the shower nozzle. Each station looked like some short version of a vanity that you would use to put make up on, except for you were naked and showering with someone right next to you. I guess I shouldn't be staring but I would definitely have to work up to something like that. What can I say, I'm American-I like wearing a robe and leaving something to the imagination.

Regardless of all my cultural mistakes, I was able to get in a good sauna and an accidental whirlpool. It felt great after my morning workout and before afternoon practice.

I have one more day in Korea and then it's off to Shanghai for the next world cup. It's about time since I think I've eaten my quota of kim chi.

Everything is in Korean

Long time no post. This post is going to be a bit interesting since all of the buttons and commands on the computer are all in Korean. I am in for a challenge-I just hope I press the "post" button instead of the "erase" button at the end.

I fenced in the first Olympic qualifier event this weekend in Seoul, Korea. I ended up 24th overall and the team took 9th. I am very proud of the USA team since we almost beat Hungary in overtime and Hungary ended up taking 2nd in the competition. Our team is a threat to everyone and we have beaten all the top level teams in one event or another.

As for the individual event I made some great strides personally and mentally. For one, I broke into the top-32 brackets which has been elusive since the first world cup in Austria in February. I drew a tough person in the second round and my Romanian opponent ended up taking third (she only ended up losing to the person that won the competition). We were tied going into the third round and two crucial mistakes made the difference between winning and losing for me.

The team is staying in Korea for the week to train until we leave for Shanghai, the site of our next world cup on this asian tour.

Apologies for not blogging a lot but it's difficult to get everything out on the interweb with limited access to the internet and limited time. During the down moments, when I am not practicing and competing, I like to spend time away from fencing. It helps to refresh me for the next steps if I take the time to do something else besides fencing, even if it is thinking about the clouds in the sky or the kim chi I am going to eat this week.

Have a great week everyone!