Hello Everyone, Brett Here.One of our most pleasing finds here in Siji has been the discovery of an outdoor gym located on the mountain behind our apartment. Within 10 minutes of leaving home, I can be on the mountain and making my way towards this quaint little gym discretely nestled into the forest above the bank of a small creek.
As I am the only non-Korean that frequents this gym I get the usual intrigued faces looking at me. Fortunately, I have made friends with a very nice gentlemen in his late 6o's who speaks quite good English and has taken it upon himself to tutor me in Korean language, history, politics and culture.
There are a number of other retired gents who have now become familiar with me. We will generally exchange the standard hellos, annyongs and the like, but I think my acceptance among these men drastically increased when I produced a packet of Tim Tams and offered them around.
This gym, apart from being free, really appeals to my love of the outdoors. I enjoy the hike up the mountain and the fresh air while working out. The squirrels, chipmunks and woodpeckers also add a certain amount of charm.
5 comments:
Brett, what a fantastic opportunity for you to both get fit and indulge in lessons of history, language and culture. Korea, despite the spitting etc must be quite a trusting community, imagine leaving all that equipment out in the bush of australia!!!!! Even the kangaroos would pinch it!!!!! ould like to see some pics of your elderly friends, Graeme
Ahhhh yes, the good old tim tams, I believe Murray was going to smuggle a packet into Tokyo this week. He will no doubt return as the CEO of the company!!!!!! Graeme
As friendly as they are I don't thik that we are at the happy snap stage yet, but i will work on it... Hugh Jackman just took 300 packets of Tim Tams to the oprah show to promote the new movie "Australia".
This gym is awesome! You had pictures of a gym on a mountain before (maybe the same one) but it didn't look near this cool. I love that it is free!!!
I think you should come back to Canada and start one up, Brett.
Leanne
Ahhh, I love it once again! I couldn't even take the time to read the blog post, since as soon as I saw the title I knew what it was, and couldn't wait to see the pics!
Priceless, this is truly a Korean aspect of life I absolutely loved. I always found the nicest people on the mountains. And, by starting my work day at 3pm (if I didn't have "extras", how could I not find time in my day for an hr or 2 hike? I used to carry my son Jordan the entire time in a chest carrier, called a Baby Trekker! What a bonding experience.
I was once hiking with my parents who were over from Canada for a visit. They're in good shape, but of course we were passed by people much older than them. The best was at one of these outdoor gyms, when I watched a guy who had to be 70 do more than 15 or 20 chin ups, with perfect form. I hung my head...
PS - sorry for the long comment, I just get excited....in case you couldn't tell!
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