A First Time for Everything

So, I got fed up with just sitting in my house doing nothing, so I decided to go out for a run today. After running for about a mile to a mile and a half, I was approached by 2 Korean men. They invited me to play soccer with them and their soccer team, to which I instantly accepted. Were I in any other country, I wouldn't have gotten into their car to drive there, but Korea is just that safe. The thought did cross my mind though... "I would never do this in America." And I would be lying if I said I wasn't coming up with a plan just in case. 

Luckily, they really did just want to play soccer. They had me introduce myself to the group in Korean, which was met by "ooooooo"s and "aaaaaaaah"s after every sentence. (You'd think they'd never seen a foreigner speaking Korean before.) All I said was, "Hi, my name's Joe. I'm from Chicago. I'm 23. Last year I taught English here in Korea, but this year I'm currently learning Korean at Yonsei University. They thought I was fluent, which they quickly discovered was incorrect. 

I had a first though. After about 15 minutes of playing, I suddenly had the urge to throw up. I've never exercised to the point of throwing up though... It totally took me off guard. And the fact that I had to communicate everything in Korean made it even a bit more comical. Were I not spewing acidic liquid out of my mouth into the storm drain, I would've been laughing. I think it was just a combination of being incredibly out of shape; my diet consisting of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, bananas, and ramen; and being a bit dehydrated. All I could say to the "leader" of our team was:

"Uhhhhh. Hey, I need to rest now."

"Oh really? Why?"

"Umm.... I throw up"  [insert gag] (I'm allowed some bad grammar under the circumstances.)

[Turning to the ref] "Hey, he suddenly got the urge to throw up. Stop the game a sec."

[Everybody stares and laughs at me]

OK, maybe that last one didn't happen. They were really kind about it though. They gave me my out. The Korean guys that picked me up told everyone else that I had already been running for quite a while before I came to play. It was also pretty hot outside today; 32 Celsius which is probably in the upper 80s to lower 90s. A little embarrassing, but I made a few Korean friends from it, plus they want me to come back every week, so I chalk it up as a win. I even taught them the English word "throw up." I've just gotta remember to start running everyday now. I still can't believe that happened... They thought I was a heavy drinker, which I quickly tried to disspell. If I were them, I probably wouldn't believe me though.

I ended up going back on the field, which probably wasn't the smartest idea, but hey, I'm still young, right? I played for another hour or so until I realized that I really was dehydrated on account of starting to see dots. So after the game, they wanted to play another, but I stylishly excused myself, went back home, and will never get out of my bed again.

In other news, nothing is new. Drinking water slowly; trying to recover. Class is class. Work is work. Study is study. Sleep is zzzzzzzzzzzz