Swimming

I started a swimming class today. I'm quite proud of myself for getting signed up and everything. A week ago I went to the Ulsan University gym and said, "I want to (then I bet over at the waist and begain to free-style)." I knew they would either know I was insane or wanting to swim. I pointed to the 9:00-9:50 classes schedule. They pointed to what I assumed were the multiple levels of classes at that time, so I pointed to the sky and said, "Me." I'm lucky they didn't think I was under the delusion that I am a god who likes to swim.

Today, I went to the pool for my first class. I changed into my suit and went to the pool deck. No one was in the pool so I just stood there in my speedo feeling like the awkward, white giant that I was. Suddenly, a man came out of room and started screaming. Everyone came to attention, and the man took us through five minutes of the oddest strectches I have ever done. During the streching, I noticed that all of the empolyees in the pool's office had their faces pressed against the window to look at me. I looked around and saw that a lot of my fellow strechers were also staring at me. I always feel a little self-conscious when I wear my speedo and these people were definatley not helping that problem.

After the stretching, everyone got into the pool and I waited until someone asked me in what class was I enrolled.
A man approached me and said, "What class are you in?"
"I'm in the fast class," I said.
"I teach the fast class. Do you speak Korean?"
"No."
He then screamed, "I don't speak English. What am I going to do?"
I was a bit baffled because I was under the impression that we had been speaking English.

The class was hard. I began in the third position (this is supposed to be the third fastest swimmer) and thoughout practice I steadily moved backwards to the last position. I am so out of shape. The teacher is intense, too. Whenever a swimmer was going too slow, or using bad technique, he would slap their head. Hard too. The swimmers (all women except for me and another guy) seemed to enjoy it. The teacher never slapped me though. He would scream at a girl, then turn to me and kindly say, "The butterfly stroke has two kicks for every pull, Raymond." To which I would reply, "I feel like I'm going to die."

I felt great all day. My muscles were tired, but in a good way. I could smell a little chlorine on my skin thoughout the day. It was just like high school, minus the homework and plus a girlfriend.