On Friday, Yun Ho and Song Wan both competed in the K-One Max fight in Gochang, South Korea. I was able to go to support them because our school had the day off. I was really excited that I was able to go because the whole gym has been looking forward to this fight for forever! I didn't know that Song Wan was competing as well until they started checking his blood pressure. I think both of the guys were dieting for this match. Yun Ho dieted for 12 days and lost 8 kg for this fight. I was shocked because he's already really skinny! When we got to Gochang, the guys went into a room to register. I decided to wait outside because they had to weigh in, and even though they are comfortable enough for me to be in the same room, I'm not comfortable. After weighing in, we were able to go for lunch. The guys didn't eat all day because of weigh in. We ate eel for lunch because it is the Korean power food. It looked absolutely disgusting, but it was really pretty good. After lunch, we walked around Gochang for a bit. They were having some sort of festival so we checked it out. We were trying to figure out what we were going to do all day because the fight didn't start until 6pm. The guys asked me if I wanted to go to a sauna room. I told them that they could go, but I would read a book outside. Then, they asked me if I wanted to go to a PC room. However, the way they said PC it sounded like they were saying fish. So I thought that they were talking about the place where they have the fish take off the callouses on your feet. I was like sure I don't care. I was a little surprised when we ended up in a PC room...hahaha. Here I thought that I was going to get a Korean pedicure and instead I spent the day on the internet. Oh well! Hahaha. After a couple hours though, I was seriously bored and tired of sitting so I told the guys I was going to walk around the city for a bit. One of the guys didn't like me going out on my own so he walked with me. It was a little awkward because his English isn't that good, and my Korean absolutely sucks! In a group, it doesn't really matter because I know someone else will do the talking, but one on one sometimes I feel like I have to choose simple phrases to use to make people feel more comfortable. It was ok though. We grabbed some coffee and looked in a few shops before meeting up again with the other guys. When we met up with the guys, it was time to go back to the gym for their medical check up. The paramedics checked their blood pressure to make sure they were in a good condition to fight. Yun Ho's blood pressure was super high so they kept checking it. We were the only ones left in the gym when they finally gave him the ok to fight. After the medical check up, Kwanjangnim, the coaches and I went for dinner while the guys were warming up for their fight. I asked one of the coaches to order for me because I wasn't familiar with the food, and they wanted me to choose quickly. Kwanjangnim thought I was being slow about choosing what food I wanted and told the other coaches. When I gave him a dirty look, he was surprised that I understood what was going on. Hahaha. Then, they started talking about how they went noreabonging the night before. So to confuse him even further, I asked him a question in Korean about the story they were telling. It was hilarious! However, I think I might have gotten myself in a bit of trouble because now Kwanjangnim thinks I understand more Korean than I actually do...so now he doesn't speak to me in English. Hahaha. After dinner, we went back to the gym because the fights were starting. This tournament actually had a good many women fighters. The coaches kept telling me that next year I was going to compete in the tourney. I told them they were going to have to train me more than they do in kickboxing in order for me to compete. From our gym, Song Wan competed first. He did really well, but as usual his opponent was bigger and stronger than he was. Kwanjangnim had to throw in the towel the first round. I hate seeing Song Wan lose because he is such an amazing kid. He improves so much between fights, but I think he gets put up against harder opponents each fight. Yun Ho's fight went better than Song Wan's. It was the hardest fight I've seen him fight. He had to go all three rounds with his opponent. At the end of the third round, they were tied so he had to go a fourth round. His opponent did a few illegal moves and was docked for it. However, one of those illegal moves left Yun Ho hurt badly. He finished the fight and won. But he was hurt too badly to compete in his final match. It really sucked to see him in so much pain. I couldn't do anything about it. Everything I tried to do he pushed me away (I think he didn't want me to baby him). It was so hard for me to just sit and watch him hurting.
We got back to Daejeon about midnight; so I called Douchi to see what she was up to. She was out with Elicus and the guys from the soccer team. So I met up with them for another epic evening! Hahaha. It was a lot of fun! Even if we didn't end up at the noreabong. Hahaha. The guys are hilarious, and they make every night out amazing! We only stayed out until 4am before we headed back to Douchi's. My keys got locked in the gym so I had to spend the night with Douchi.
On Saturday, I had to call Shiiki to see what time Kwanjangnim was going to be at the gym so I could get back into my house. The gym was supposed to be closed because of the fight and some renovations, but Kwanjangnim was going to be there for a bit. I was finally able to get my keys and go back to my place to clean for a bit before the girls arrived for the Daejeon Rock Festival. Some of Douchi's friends stayed at my apartment for the festival. They were really sweet girls, and we had so much fun with them. The festival turned out to be more foreigners than fun. So Douchi, Michi and I decided to go back to Hannam. The girls decided to stay for a bit. They called us later because the police shut the festival down because of noise complaints. It was really weird. They met up with us at Musa's in Hannam, and we definitely showed them a good time. I talked to some Korean guys they thought were hot, and I introduced them. It was fun! Musa was playing some really good music so we had to get up and dance which got the whole bar joining in the fun. It was hilarious! The girls were just excited that Musa served french fries, cheese sticks, and tater tots! Hahaha. Afterwards, we got a group of guys from Musa's to go noreabonging with us. However, the girls were not used to staying out as late as we normally do, so we went home pretty early at 3:00. By the time we got everything figured out and got home, it was 4am. One of the girls decided that she would prefer to be closer to the train station in the morning so she wanted to stay in a hotel. So, I had to help her find a taxi at 4am. The entire time we were looking for a taxi, she kept complaining about how the other girls were trying to tell her what to do. She certainly was not very appreciative of our hospitality. Oh well, the other girls were really sweet, and I would love for them to come back any weekend.
All in all, it was a good weekend. Next weekend, I'm supposed to go to Seoul for a concert with Douchi. It should be fun! Stay tuned!
