My third semester is running at a pace I can hardly keep up with... My shadow might catch up with me when I run around like a chicken without a head! In the morning I go to language school from 9 to 1 and three days of the week I'm taking courses in the afternoon. In the weekends I'm reading, doing assignments, studying Korean, swimming and going for a run around the neighborhood. Besides that I enrolled myself in butterfly swimming class and signed a swimming contract at Posco. I'm excited to learn how to swim butterfly! I'm excited about swimming, as it's an old hobby I am re-discovering nowadays. About the butterfly class, actually I have learned how to swim it a little before, but I'm not feeling too confident about it... I never saw myself swimming to know how it looks like. For butterfly stroke to be aesthetically pleasing you need to do it to way you should do it!... So, let's see how it goes! It's also always interesting to do sports classes with other Korean students. They are different. I don't know in how many ways, but they are intriging. Especially when they wear sport outfits and spandex speedo's.
My daily routine consists of... waking up at 6 then climb the hill to go to the swimming pool in Posco sports center. After swimming I take a shower in the pool and use the things they offer there (Sauna, towel, shampoo, moisturizers, earcleaners, swimsuit and hairdryers, and the drinkeable water... If you have a contract you should get the best out of it, right?! ;). It's funny and odd at the same to see how Korean girls take their time to stand naked in front of the mirror so unprudishly, without shame to do their makeup stuff... And this while they are usually so tight-laced outside the walls of the shower rooms! At 9 I'm all washed up and ready to go to my Korean class till 1. After finishing the Korean class I usually have lunch with some of my classmates. In the afternoon I run to the other courses I'm taking! Well, it seems like this semester will involve a lot of running!
Meanwhile I can add two people to my list of visitors: Peter and Leslie! Belgium REPRESENT!
I have written two articles for the AJA online magazine. One is about Dating Culture in South-Korea and another one about Ten Things You Sould Know About Belgium! If you are interested you can click on the link and have a look.
I went to a small filmfestival during Chuseok (Korean Moon or Harvest Festival, Korean Thanksgiving) and saw two movies worth watching, namely Super Virgin (숫호구) by Baek Seung-Kee and The Weight (무게) by Jeon Kyu-hwan.
Super Virgin is a satirizing comedy, with a wink to Cameron's movie Avatar. The leading role is a super nerd who is still a virgin at the age of 30. He then gets the chance of his life: to participate in a medical experiment and shift his soul from his own body into a super sexy male avatar.
The Weight is a film about a hunchback mortician and his transgender stepsister. Although sometimes very raw, violent and morbid it is an interesting and enjoyable film.
