Shakin' Ladies!

Evenings in Asia are very social times. Doors open, people sit outside talking with neighbors, others are taking evening strolls. Basically everyone gets outside to enjoy the cooler summer evenings. On this campus one of the major social events is to go to the school track and either walk or .....um....shake! At least that is what I think these ladies are doing. Every night from 7:30 - 8:30pm the older generation ladies gather on the track for an hour of VERY vigorous aerobics. Actually it is lots of prancing around, shaking your bootie and dancing! Last summer I went almost every evening and joined about 25 other "older" women. We laughed, huffed and puffed our way through the hour of activity. They couldn't speak English and I couldn't speak Korean....but we got along just fine and I had a great deal of fun.

So....the first thing I did when I arrived this summer was to head down to the track at 7:30pm. As I got close, I couldn't believe my eyes. The small group of women had swelled to well over 100 older ladies doing their "thing". I joined them and again huffed and puffed my way through the hour. Last night I counted almost 200 women there. In fact we were such a large group--that we blocked the complete track and the walkers couldn't get by. They called security and the poor and very young security "kid" had to climb onto the stage area where our exercise leader was and ask that the women make way for others. I almost died laughing when the old "Ajummas" (Korean old ladies ) hissed and booed and shamed him away. He shrugged and just walked away. Note that age is privilege in Korea. The oldest sits, eats and talks first. So....I do get some special treatment here because of my....ahem.....age! Gray hair rules! I get on and off the dorm elevators first. Tonight at dinner no one ate until I took the first bite. When my students come or leave class they bow more deeply to me than to others because of my age. Nice, huh?

So...back to the shakin' ladies. Several nights ago I stood on the platform and took a short video. I used my small Canon camera and pulled the pieces together in iMovie. I have tried for two days to upload it...but blogger doesn't like it. YouTube uploads are banned from my dorm complex and when I tried in the classroom --it aborted. So...I give up and will post only a few photos........