I'm not too sure why this is part 1 because I don't have anything set for part 2 yet. You don't need to know me all that well to figure out that I've never been the yoga type. I've tried it several times in the states and couldn't quite jump on the wagon. Things have changed since then. I'm in a new country, trying new things and figured I'd give it one more shot. On top of that, the studio is literally across from my work so it's kind of hard to come up with an excuse on why not to go and it's incredibly cheap. One month of unlimited classes is 60,000w which is about $50. The class is a combination of all styles of yoga including Bikram with emphasis on BIKRAM. It's no where near as hot in there as other Bikram classes that I've taken but it's already so damn humid here and the slightest shift in temperature makes it that much hotter. For the most part there's a good balance of Korean students and foreigners. Most of the class is given in Korean but every once in a while he'll speak in English if he notices that we have no idea what he's talking about. This is when it gets entertaining. After being around Korean students all day at work, I've learned how to filter out the Korean accent when they're speaking English and can understand pretty well what they're saying. Our yoga teacher on the other hand is another story. Some times he'll say literal translations that just don't make sense and other times his accent gets so choppy that it sounds like he's saying something else. Some of my favorite phrases from him are....
"Shape up your ass!" - when he's really saying "Shape up your abs."
"Focus on your breasts." - when he's really saying "Focus on your breaths."
"Touch your big toes together like they are friends." - Becca and I just busted out laughing when we heard him say that.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" - if at any point you decide to take a break during the class you'll probably hear this one thrown at you.
To top it off, the music he plays really brings the class together including Ace of Base, Avril Lavigne and Michael Jackson. I can't think of a more yoga-appropriate soundtrack.
On a side note, I had a dream last night that I could do the crow pose. I tried it out in class today but it didn't go as planned. One of these days I'll get it.
namaste
