G20, Pilates and a box of Wine

The dust has settled. The airspace is now clear. Those dignitaries who stayed at the hotel next door obviously preferred to jaunt in their helicopters to the summit venue than use the electronic buses to cross over the Han River. I wouldn't mind it so much it they didn't fly over my house at 6:30 in the morning. But all's well that ends well. For instance, Hyundai and Kia cars will be seen rolling down the roads of South Korea along with their European counterparts very soon. Hello BMWs and Minis! Diversity makes a great tapestry, so they say. Not for the Fords and Cadillacs yet, anyway. (SK and EU shook hands on an Foreign Trade Agreement (FTA) but not SK and USA) At least Obama was in the hood albeit shortly. That day we felt the ripples of his coming in our street, I checked if Stan knew the man, so I asked, "Stan, who is the most important American?", decisively he replied, "Baba!" (his father). How about Obama? I clarified, "Oh he's American too", said my (almost) 4 year old diplomat. That got it straightened out. 

Joseph Pilates. I think he is an important man in the world of fitness. I didn't dare verify with my son, but I do think the Pilates method of body conditioning is smart. I say this because when doing Pilates one engages the mind (a lot) to make the body work. Such was Joseph P.'s philosophy "training the mind and body to work together toward the goal of physical fitness", otherwise called "The Art of Contrology". A system he developed in Germany in the 1900s tested by WW1 internees. That claim would be hard to beat! Today may not be 1918, but the Pilates method remains to be the secret of athletes, models, dancers, and mothers who want to lose their stubborn post postpartum wobbly bellies. It is not easy in the beginning, but as dear old Joseph would say "Physical fitness can neither be achieved by wishful thinking nor outright purchase". I wish he was wrong! But two months into it, and struggling to be faithful, my pockets of doubt are starting to fade. I am starting to see results; I am beginning to stand straighter, my movements more controlled, and I am just happier to feel more energetic each day. The best part about it is, the soreness that I usually associate with working out is not there. At the end of the day, all I get is a good night's sleep.

Especially with a soothing nightcap, like Burgundy. Last Tuesday was an Ajumma (아줌마; meaning "mother" in Korean) Night for my girlfriends and I. It was not exactly your usual  Mother Butler Guild type of meeting nor was it quite the Tupperware party kind of gathering but like all those, it was what you'd expect of a slumber party/girl's night out/exclusively-estrogen-only sort of an event. We didn't really go out to a bar or restaurant or a noraebang (노래방; singing room) like we've done in the past year, instead we stayed in one of the homes (the Man of the house being out of the country). We had a box of finger-lickin' good fried chicken, boxes of pizza, immense blocks of chocolates and large bags of chips. To lubricate all of these, we had a 7L box of red wine. That night, no one was keeping track of calories. I did bring up Joseph Pilates at one point and we all got on the floor and attempted to do The Hundred, but that was as fleeting as the FTA discussions at the G20 Summit could get. We did represent some of the world: Azerbaijan, Philippines, Serbia, South Korea, Thailand and the United States. And if it were only up to us, we would have declared the end of war between women and food. Salud!



"When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?" -Sydney J. Harris