FOR ONCE!! And I worry, as I always do, that by saying anything I will jinx myself, but last week and this week my upper body workout showed some improvements. Last week I remember feeling a little stronger, doing a little more. Today was a holiday, and I stayed home, never left the apartment, and didn't even eat brunch for once! Cooked up all my veggies and very trimmed pork... bacony-things (pork is the main meat here in Korea), and looked at my unopened bottle of Absolut Korea. It was a total last-minute buy when I stopped for some grapefruit juice at the convenience store across the street, and they had it. The flavors are almond, coffee, and chili. And I have to say, I love it. Tried it first with (too much) lemon juice and pepper, then just tried it plain, and I like it that way best.
Oh! but anyway, this afternoon I thought, just be lazy, don't workout, only 4 days/week is enough (except Friday's wine and yoga pants night so no, not 4 days), and then went ahead and did the tortuous tabata workout. I held 2 sets of the halfway down push-up for all 20 secs, did a better job of bringing my chest to the floor first in burpees, and then did tricep crab thingies (sorry, I know, not helpful), whereas I usually didn't bother dipping.
Didn't even make it to the doctor because when I set the alarm Saturday I'd set it for weekdays instead of Saturday, and got up too late to get to the clinic. So another week (still have 3 weeks' of pills), but hoping that the small improvements will continue. Yay!
Monday, August 15, 2016
Saturday, August 13, 2016
It's funny because I've actually encountered more of that weird English you hear about in Asia in the 3 weeks I've been at my new school, versus the 5 months I was at ILS, and ILS adhered a lot more to Korean customs than my new school. Aside from my having gotten over my culture shock, Jungchul is a lot more accessible culturally than ILS. By that I mean the other teachers and staff are nice and respectful to everyone, Korean or otherwise, have a sense of humor. Last minute planning still happens, but FAR less often, and isn't just so ingrained to how things are done that it's less stressful for everyone all around. The other little difference is that at ILS we removed our shoes and wore slippers at work, whereas here we just walk around in our shoes. Of course, it appears ILS was just an overall shitty place to work, while Jungchul is definitely not.
But the kids at ILS rarely, if ever,wore t-shirts with English on them (or much writing at all), though when they did it was fine. The books we used were actually school books from the US, so those likewise spared me the fun, albeit harmful* fun for those trying to learn English.
At the new school, we use many books that were written in Korea. In fact, 1/2 of my middle school classes use books that explain language concepts, instructions, etc in Korean, which worried me about teaching since I don't speak Korean (turns out we just play the CDs so they can get their instruction in Korean, then listen to English examples and exercises).
And so, there are definitely some mistakes to be found. Some are very small, like the middle school class today who listened to 2 Americans talking about where to go for pizza, and in the script, it talked about thick and thin bread, instead of crust. I will add that the kids found that particular exercise way too easy, so I blew their minds by explaining something that apparently they didn't get, and didn't know they didn't get: that the girl liked goat cheese on her pizza. The kids were truly shocked, not just that other animals produce milk that people consume, but that they'd make cheese out of it. I then had 8 middle schoolers howling with laughter as I attempted to draw a camel that looked more like a puzzle piece, a sheep, and then worked on their request for me to draw a dog which kept just being a horse. Teacher draw time is a hit for all ages.
And then there are the conversation books that are designed to give kids small conversation practice, like introducing yourself, meeting your friend's mom, going to the store... or asking someone what they think about what you're wearing, which reflects no word usage a native speaker would ever use, albeit due to cultural difference (in Asia, it's perfectly appropriate to tell someone not wearing makeup that they look pale or ugly... telling someone you're ugly can be commonly used particularly if the person doesn't know other words. It's also considered fine to comment on how nice or bad a woman's hair or skin is, for example, pretty much only if you're white & not tan, which means daily, frequent comments on how nice and light your skin/hair is/are. Naturally they'll tell you if you're fat, ask what's wrong with your skin, etc.).This conversation is on agreeing and disagreeing, as well as the phrase, "you're right:"
A. Is this right for me?
B. Well, I don't think so.
A Is it to small?
B. That's right.
A. Maybe I'm too fat.
B. You're right.
And it wasn't until this school that I finally have seen a kid oblivious to the fact that his baseball hat says FUCK in big, capital letters.
There are 2 reasons I can see for this:
1.) The boy who wears it, though he's in a class where they listen to conversations about cancelling reservations, boss and employee conversations, etc, clearly hears Charlie Brown's teacher when I talk, he looks at me so blankly whenever I say anything or ask a question.
2.) It's written in a Gothic font. If I connect my lowercase L to an E, my students freak out and can't figure out what word I've written. So, this particular font, which takes a bit of effort on my part to get, is way out of their league. But my GOD that first week that hat was right in front of me, in the front row, it was nearly impossible not to stare at it and wonder what the hell everyone was thinking.
For more on this, you should google "Asian kids wearing bad English." There was a whole page on kindergartners wearing shirts that say things like... well, why don't I just give you a few examples of the gems you'll find, which are not actually limited to kids way too young to get it:
But the kids at ILS rarely, if ever,wore t-shirts with English on them (or much writing at all), though when they did it was fine. The books we used were actually school books from the US, so those likewise spared me the fun, albeit harmful* fun for those trying to learn English.
At the new school, we use many books that were written in Korea. In fact, 1/2 of my middle school classes use books that explain language concepts, instructions, etc in Korean, which worried me about teaching since I don't speak Korean (turns out we just play the CDs so they can get their instruction in Korean, then listen to English examples and exercises).
And so, there are definitely some mistakes to be found. Some are very small, like the middle school class today who listened to 2 Americans talking about where to go for pizza, and in the script, it talked about thick and thin bread, instead of crust. I will add that the kids found that particular exercise way too easy, so I blew their minds by explaining something that apparently they didn't get, and didn't know they didn't get: that the girl liked goat cheese on her pizza. The kids were truly shocked, not just that other animals produce milk that people consume, but that they'd make cheese out of it. I then had 8 middle schoolers howling with laughter as I attempted to draw a camel that looked more like a puzzle piece, a sheep, and then worked on their request for me to draw a dog which kept just being a horse. Teacher draw time is a hit for all ages.
And then there are the conversation books that are designed to give kids small conversation practice, like introducing yourself, meeting your friend's mom, going to the store... or asking someone what they think about what you're wearing, which reflects no word usage a native speaker would ever use, albeit due to cultural difference (in Asia, it's perfectly appropriate to tell someone not wearing makeup that they look pale or ugly... telling someone you're ugly can be commonly used particularly if the person doesn't know other words. It's also considered fine to comment on how nice or bad a woman's hair or skin is, for example, pretty much only if you're white & not tan, which means daily, frequent comments on how nice and light your skin/hair is/are. Naturally they'll tell you if you're fat, ask what's wrong with your skin, etc.).This conversation is on agreeing and disagreeing, as well as the phrase, "you're right:"
A. Is this right for me?
B. Well, I don't think so.
A Is it to small?
B. That's right.
A. Maybe I'm too fat.
B. You're right.
And it wasn't until this school that I finally have seen a kid oblivious to the fact that his baseball hat says FUCK in big, capital letters.
There are 2 reasons I can see for this:
1.) The boy who wears it, though he's in a class where they listen to conversations about cancelling reservations, boss and employee conversations, etc, clearly hears Charlie Brown's teacher when I talk, he looks at me so blankly whenever I say anything or ask a question.
2.) It's written in a Gothic font. If I connect my lowercase L to an E, my students freak out and can't figure out what word I've written. So, this particular font, which takes a bit of effort on my part to get, is way out of their league. But my GOD that first week that hat was right in front of me, in the front row, it was nearly impossible not to stare at it and wonder what the hell everyone was thinking.
For more on this, you should google "Asian kids wearing bad English." There was a whole page on kindergartners wearing shirts that say things like... well, why don't I just give you a few examples of the gems you'll find, which are not actually limited to kids way too young to get it:
Monday, August 8, 2016
DAMN IT.
My workouts for the past 2 months or so have basically sucked. Workouts I used to be challenged by, or super challenged by but capable of doing, are practically killing me. And no matter how often I do them, there's no improvement, no strength gains, everything's as hard as if I just started working out.
I haven't been able to do a straight-leg push-up in all this time, and bringing my chest to the floor with my knees on the floor is now the perfect challenge, which I do to exhaustion, within 30 seconds each set.
I've been eating rice at dinner, both because the dishes aren't close to filling enough (protein, particularly in the form of meat, is too expensive to the owner, so used very sparingly), and because I know from previous programs that I need carbs to get through my workouts, but it hasn't ultimately been helping
Today was a 10 minute HIIT workout, with a guy who usually does stuff that's too easy for me: when I was in Chicago, I'd have to do 2 of them in a row, increasing the work time and decreasing the rest time, just to feel it. Today 1 workout (though I still increased the work time) was at the perfect level. That was followed by a 12 minute upper body tabata workout, 20 seconds work, 10 secs rest, 4 rounds of 3 sets of exercises. Whereas I used to be able to hold 1/2way down in a push-up for 60-90 seconds, I can just make it to the 20 second mark for 2 rounds, today being the first time I could hold out for that long without dropping my knees.
It is true that the last time I went in to get my levels checked, I was supposed to call back to see if the increased dosage of thyroid meds was sufficient. I forgot for at least a month, and when I finally remembered, naturally, the English speaking doctor can only be reached through a Korean-only speaking staff, and they didn't seem to understand when I asked for Dr. Park. So there IS a chance I still need another bump in my meds. Plus the anxiety gradually wore off. (But then, I also got away from that hellish job.)
But the other, and at this point I'm going to go with more likely cause, is that I'm losing muscle building ability and energy due to this awesome part of hypothyroidism, where your thyroid levels are where they're supposed to be, but you're dealing with any of the myriad, really pretty shitty, side effects of it. Some people lose hair, some have brain fog, some people feel sedated, some people have headaches and soreness, some have stomach problems... the list goes on and on. People reported improvements in their conditions from the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol. Prior to my leaving for Chile, I was going to try APP, a diet that is really as bad as the symptoms you can feel. I decided since I didn't feel like shit as others did, I would take on the elimination diet once I too started having issues, but NOT before.
And it occurred to me today as I frustratingly struggled through knee push-ups for the 6th week in a row and needed a minute break between each set change, that this may be my version of feeling-shitty-because-why-not. It may be time to eliminate wheat, see how that works, then dairy, because those are the 2 biggest issues for people with autoimmune, then go from there. It occurred to me as well to cut out the rice and grains again, but fruit alone isn't remotely enough carbs (or at least, I haven't found them to provide them).
So, I have the unmitigated pleasure of trying this elimination shit here in Korea. You would naturally think this would be easy, since dairy isn't part of the diet usually, and wheat isn't that common either. Well, it WASN'T, but deep fried everything is as popular here as ever. So there's that.
Anyway, it all comes down to hating I have to do without this stuff. Especially when brunch is still a thing I do here... and we're going to the Original Pancake House on Sunday. But hey, if it's going to make push-ups more possible, it's almost worth it. Almost.
I haven't been able to do a straight-leg push-up in all this time, and bringing my chest to the floor with my knees on the floor is now the perfect challenge, which I do to exhaustion, within 30 seconds each set.
I've been eating rice at dinner, both because the dishes aren't close to filling enough (protein, particularly in the form of meat, is too expensive to the owner, so used very sparingly), and because I know from previous programs that I need carbs to get through my workouts, but it hasn't ultimately been helping
Today was a 10 minute HIIT workout, with a guy who usually does stuff that's too easy for me: when I was in Chicago, I'd have to do 2 of them in a row, increasing the work time and decreasing the rest time, just to feel it. Today 1 workout (though I still increased the work time) was at the perfect level. That was followed by a 12 minute upper body tabata workout, 20 seconds work, 10 secs rest, 4 rounds of 3 sets of exercises. Whereas I used to be able to hold 1/2way down in a push-up for 60-90 seconds, I can just make it to the 20 second mark for 2 rounds, today being the first time I could hold out for that long without dropping my knees.
It is true that the last time I went in to get my levels checked, I was supposed to call back to see if the increased dosage of thyroid meds was sufficient. I forgot for at least a month, and when I finally remembered, naturally, the English speaking doctor can only be reached through a Korean-only speaking staff, and they didn't seem to understand when I asked for Dr. Park. So there IS a chance I still need another bump in my meds. Plus the anxiety gradually wore off. (But then, I also got away from that hellish job.)
But the other, and at this point I'm going to go with more likely cause, is that I'm losing muscle building ability and energy due to this awesome part of hypothyroidism, where your thyroid levels are where they're supposed to be, but you're dealing with any of the myriad, really pretty shitty, side effects of it. Some people lose hair, some have brain fog, some people feel sedated, some people have headaches and soreness, some have stomach problems... the list goes on and on. People reported improvements in their conditions from the Autoimmune Paleo Protocol. Prior to my leaving for Chile, I was going to try APP, a diet that is really as bad as the symptoms you can feel. I decided since I didn't feel like shit as others did, I would take on the elimination diet once I too started having issues, but NOT before.
And it occurred to me today as I frustratingly struggled through knee push-ups for the 6th week in a row and needed a minute break between each set change, that this may be my version of feeling-shitty-because-why-not. It may be time to eliminate wheat, see how that works, then dairy, because those are the 2 biggest issues for people with autoimmune, then go from there. It occurred to me as well to cut out the rice and grains again, but fruit alone isn't remotely enough carbs (or at least, I haven't found them to provide them).
So, I have the unmitigated pleasure of trying this elimination shit here in Korea. You would naturally think this would be easy, since dairy isn't part of the diet usually, and wheat isn't that common either. Well, it WASN'T, but deep fried everything is as popular here as ever. So there's that.
Anyway, it all comes down to hating I have to do without this stuff. Especially when brunch is still a thing I do here... and we're going to the Original Pancake House on Sunday. But hey, if it's going to make push-ups more possible, it's almost worth it. Almost.
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