I just discovered something somewhat retarded about the Seoul YMCA in Jongo, Seoul, which is that you can’t swim there without a monthly pass. I explained to the man (in what was, judging from his response, mostly comprehensible Korean) that I was in Seoul only for the weekend, and just wanted to practice, and was willing to pay the W5000 ($6 Canadian) to get access to the pool for one shot, but he said I couldn’t, that there was no way to go to the pool without a YMCA membership card (and my Iksan card is no good in Seoul …

Okay, so, we’ve graduated to learning the scissor kick, and frog kick (which is which and so forth are less than clear to me at this point). Our teacher is bent on having us understand the leg motion necessary. So imagine this: we’re all kneeling on floaterboards by the edge of the kiddie pool, knees slightly apart, and feet turned to the side. This really really hurts, especially for me… I have such inflexible ankles that I’ve actually had to do tendon-stretching exercises in the past to render walking less painful. And then teacher comes up and reminds us that …

I just got back from a weekend in Seoul. We played at a club called Bbang (Bread) and our lead singer Myoung Jae’s mother came up from Sydney, Australia to see us! The highlight of the evening was seeing her and two of her sisters (I think they were her sisters or relatives?) singing along and waving their arms in the air to our one traditional tune, the Bet Norae (Boat Song). It was fun to see a crowd having fun with us. My friends Dong Han and Sun Hwa came out to see us, which was really nice.

That’s how I feel right now. I have started swimming again, which is a blessing to my mind. I’ve been wearing some new clothes, which fit my new size. The weight seems to be peeling off again, now. My teaching is back on the “improving” slope, which makes for occasionally uncomfortable mistakes but usually is pretty good. I’m emailing people. I don’yt have a big fat project around my neck anymore, as most of the updating is finished on my website, except for integrating ESL materials. I met with John Wendel and talked shop about writerly craft, looking at his …