Can Prettys take Taekwondo?

So yesterday my co-worker/friend Hannah and I got to talking about Taekwondo, because there is a studio one floor above our school. And we discovered we both had an interest in starting it...Me with my lifelong dream of Karate that my mother dashed, and her having earned a blue belt when she was 13 but having forgotten it all.

So today after work we went upstairs to talk to the sensei/songsangnim about starting classes. We had to wait about 5 minutes for him. In the meantime about ten ~12 year old boys played soccer with lightweight inflatable balls. They came close to nailing us in the face a few times, but we survived. They also were very curious about why I was there. Hannah told them I want to learn Taekwondo and they were all really surprised and excited by this. A few laughed.

Then the sensei came and Hannah told him we were interested in joining, so we went back to his office and talked for a few minutes about it. Of course I don't speak any Korean, so I didn't know what they were saying most of the time. He kept looking at me as he talked though as if I could understand him, which was nice, so I could feel like part of the conversation. Hannah had to translate for me. He has a class from 7:30-8:30 of middle school students, and that is his latest class. But he said if we want, we can come after that and he will give us a private lesson for an hour. So, that is what we are going to do. We'll go for a week for free to see if we want to continue, then we will pay the following Monday if we decide to stay.
It's only 100 a month, and the uniform is only 20. This is way cheaper than the Karate dojo I wanted to join in Minneapolis, which was $300 a month for 2-3 days a week and $80 for the uniform. So this is much less than half that cost plus it's 5 days a week. We start kicking ass on Monday! We're really excited!
Plus, Hannah said she thought that the instructor will maybe be a good person to teach me Korean. heh.

Then we went out to dinner nearby. It was a traditional style of decor so we sat on cushions on the floor at a very low table, and I struggled with but managed to succeed at eating with chopsticks. We had korean barbecue pork, and bean soup, and the Korean side dishes...lettuce, bean sprouts, kimchi, radishes, rice, etc. It was really good! yay meat! We were there for a little over 2 hours, so we had a good time.

Tomorrow we might go out with the director and 2 seans for drinks after work. Also Saturday Damien will take me around to see a bit more of the area. And now that my phone works I can explore without fear of getting lost! yay!

Pictures will come this weekend. I hope.