Saturday, January 23, 2010
As it turns out, I had been walking underneath a Korean gym twice a day for the last six months on my way to the subway and back. I finally spotted it one night from a taxi on the other side of the road while scanning the tall buildings for 헬 스 (hail-suh -> health) and 피트니스 (pi-tuh-ni-suh -> fitness). I ran in and got a phone number, and had one of my Korean coworkers call the next day. It was perfect, $100 for three months, open 6am-midnight, and a minute or so walk from my house, depending on the traffic light.
I only have my university's gym to compare to, and sadly for my beloved school, they are about the equal in size. The first difference: KPop pumping non-stop out of an old but efficient sound system. As I climb the stairs to the fifth floor I can hear it get louder and louder. Second: there are some funny machines from the 70s that are still popular here! They are both for cellulite and blood circulation I believe.
- The belt massage machine: This is a big belt that you put around your body: could be your waist, back, legs, whatever. Then you turn on the machine and through the belt it vibrates your body. It looks hilarious because it makes everything jiggle. I haven't been brave enough to try. Here is a youtube video of someone using a similar machine. The machine at my gym however looks much older, like...it was bought in the 70s!
- The rotating bead seat: (Sorry had to make up my own names!) This is a seat you sit on, but the seat is made out of large wooden beads that rotate, which I think must give some sort of kneading massage, to "melt" away that cellulite located on your bum! This one doesn't seem as popular as the belt massage machine.
- Bruise-producing hula hoop: This is no ordinary hula hoop! It is quite intimidating, almost as wide as I am tall, thicker than my hand grip, heavy, and with large knobs ("acupuncture points" on the inside. Read this advertisement to see how they are presented. They are extremely popular here, and I am pretty sure a high percentage of Korean women in Seoul own one of these. Certainly every gym has one!
The machines in my gym seem quite old and run down. It seems that the computers on half of the treadmills don't work well anymore, and the handful of bikes are quite old as well. But the weight machines are in very good shape, and there is good selection of free weights. Everyone is extremely nice to me, and every once and a while someone tries to talk to me, even though my small vocabulary limits conversation greatly. In the morning there are usually half a dozen people or less, and usually all women in their thirties and forties. In the beginning I thought I had lucked out and it was a women-only gym! It seems the majority of guys prefer going after work.
Besides the entertainment of watching the cellulite machines being used regularly, there is also the backwards walking on the treadmills. One of my coworkers watched astonished as a guy at her gym CRAWLED on his treadmill...we never got the full scoop on the purpose of that exercise! When you don't understand the language, there are always many mysteries...
Labels: Gym, Kkatchisan, KPop
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