Hapkido!

I just got home from my first Hapkido class and I'm so excited. My head is kind of spinning. It was pretty awesome overall but it was also a lot. The instructor does not speak any English and at the speed he was talking any word in Korean I may have picked up was completely lost. At the beginning of the class we do stretches and some really basic exercises (jumping jacks, sit-ups and the like). I pretty much knew that as soon as people saw how flexible I am they would expect me to be good at everything. And I'm not. In fact, other than the flexibility things (I'm the only one in the class with a split and straddle--which made everyone stare at me and make comments that I couldn't understand although they were obviously good things) I suck at everything else. My balance is horrible and my strength... let's not even go there. But if I actually do go 5 times a week I think that i will improve quickly. Then for the partnering stuff he put me with the one girl in the class that has a pretty good (at least basic conversational) level of English but she weighs at least 20 lbs more than me. So when it came time for her to drop me she could put me down gingerly which, since I actually know how to balance my weight and make myself lighter, I also helped. But when I had to drop her I actually...dropped her. I felt so bad but I can't hold up 130-140 lbs with my arms. It's not happening just yet. And since, of course, I'm the only weiguk (foreigner) in the class everyone pretty much stares at me when I try to do stuff. It makes me feel very self-conscious. I also feel like we also did so much stuff that I can't remember all of it. But I have class again tomorrow night so it should be a little bit better. Now I am sitting here sweaty, and pretty stinky and I need to make some dinner and go to sleep.
The rest of my day was pretty decent. Thursday is my lightest class day with only 6 classes (right now) though I'll have 7 after February 19th, so I was done by 5. My Thursday class is pretty good, but I was soo sad. Katie, the new teacher, got all my best students from my Intensive C class in her class. When I saw that I told her "You are so lucky. They are awesome kids." And after her class with them she walks up to me and says, "Oh my God. They're great. I get to hang out with them twice a week." I started laughing. But I'm soooo jealous. And I was talking to Gina, who one of the smartest kids I've ever met, and I asked her, "Is Katie teacher nice?" and she says, "Yes (reluctantly), but I want Susy teacher." I was so incredibly flattered. I want my kids back :-(.
After work I met up with my new friend Yunji (the daughter of the lady who owns the hair shop where I dyed my hair, who I am now meeting with every Tuesday to just chat--for her to practice English and for me to practice Korean). We went to the movies (for the first time since I've been in Korea) and we saw "Cloverfield." I had not heard of it but it was really good. Then we took the bus and hung out at Paris Baguette until it was time for Hapkido class.

Overall a pretty cool day.