Saturday, January 15, 2011

Challenge #1: Run 14 miles

Well, winter vacation has begun!  I am going to blog each day about little details of Korean life - they are not earth shattering, but they are different than America.  I also have a list of challenges to accomplish during break so you will hear about those too!  The first challenge of winter vacation was to face the COLD wind and run 14 miles as part of my marathon training.  I am really thankful that I have an American running buddy to chat with while I run.  I am not sure if we ran exactly 14 miles, but we ran for a lllloooooonnnnggggg time.   Unfortunately for me, my body decided that it needed to use the restroom around mile 8.  So we stopped in Tour Les Jours (a bakery place) and asked them if we could use the restroom.  BAD DECISION!  Have you ever seen a really gross bathroom?  Well think of that except no Western toilet.
The Squatty Potty
I have tried really hard to embrace Korean culture, but I despise squat toilets.  I use them and I try to tell myself that it is better than what most of the rest of the world has to use.  Thankfully we have a western style toilet in our bathroom in our apartment.
Funny story: One time I was in a public restroom and being the American that I am, I tried to look at the bottom of the stall doors to see if I could see feet so I knew which stalls were occupied.  Squat toilets stall doors go all the way to the ground, so all the Koreans that were washing their hands were staring at me and laughing.  So do not look at the bottom of the stall door as you will only see the ground.
Anywho, I did run 14 miles and accomplished my goal for today!

2 comments:

  1. Yay for running!! I'm hoping to go out for 10 today... but will probably be on the treadmill. It's like 10*F. It was probably that cold when you went but I have no one to accompany me. And I can watch TV so hopefully it will be good.

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  2. Oh, and I'm excited you have a break. We have today off for MLK. :-D

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