I gave up the swimming and it wasn't even the nudity that did it. I actually stuck with it for an entire month but then it started snowing regularly and its just too cold. Especially with wet hair and a 20 minute walk home.
So I just "work out" at home and hopefully will resume the swimming in warmer weather. But I do still attend Hapkido regularly and just got my blue belt (I got my yellow before that and then skipped green and got my blue this week). Now I have my doubts about my ability to get my black belt due to my terrible coordination and it requires gymnastic like flipping that I just really can't envision myself doing. But my Hapkido Master seems to believe in me and if nothing else he did finally manage to teach me at 24 what I couldn't do at the age 10: a cartwheel. I gotta say, I know its just a cartwheel, but I was really proud of myself for doing that.
I really just want to be able to kick someone's ass when I'm done. If I can do that I'll be happy with it. Hapkido does teach some pretty good defensive skills so its good information to have.
Moving on...
Along with my endless hours of watching TV I've taken up cooking. It's strange I know as I've never really been inclined to cook.
Well there was the brief episode of being a cook at a Korean Restaurant in Austin but that didn't really work out. Mainly because I was left-handed and white, but those are details. Even in Togo when I had lots of time I wasn't that inclined to cook. Of course doing dishes was a pain in the butt, you had to worry about your gas running out, and it was just too hot.
Here I have a fridge, running water, a freezer, a microwave, etc. So there really isn't any excuse. Its also kinda hard to eat out in my town if you're a single person. Koreans are much more group oriented and they don't eat alone or drink alone or really go anywhere alone so unless I have someone to go with I eat at home (there is also a lack of picture menus).
Also while Korean food can be tasty it can be repetitive and I like to change it up a bit. I've also come to the realization that without my two friends amoebas and giardia I can't actually eat whatever I want and not put on weight. Its amazing the kind of pounds one can pack on when not having the shits all the time.
So I've started being creative in my cooking and trying new things. While most things are available here I can't always find western stuff or it might be there but since I can't read Korean I can't always tell.
But one thing they are missing is cheese. While you can find it in largers towns in Western stores its either mozzarella or those processed "cheese" slices that are total crap and only those who don't know any better would eat. So I was looking up ravioli recipes and stumbled upon the fact I could make my own ricotta cheese. (Imagine angels singing and lights flashing as my eyes were opening). I could make my own cheese! Why had I never thought of this before? And thats when my quest began to experiment and try new things. So here are pictures from this experiment:
Pretty much you heat milk to almost boiling and then you add some lemon juice and wait for it to clump up, strain, and season a little with salt.
