getting down to business

As it turned out, I failed to register for my building's gym on Saturday, but I did sign up yesterday. My building's gym is damn expensive: the cost for a three-month membership is over W540,000, or nearly $500, US. I did end up benefiting from discounts, though: first, the lady at the sign-up desk said that I'd be getting a free fourth month for the aforementioned cost, which is the same deal I'd gotten when I signed up a year or so ago before canceling my membership a few days later out of budgetary concerns. (This year, I'm much better off financially, which is why I can do expensive things like motel my way across South Korea and sign up for pricey gym memberships.*) Second, when I told the lady that I had signed up previously and was now essentially re-signing up, she said I could get a six-month membership for the way-reduced price of W666,000—the devil's number. Taking this as a sign, I said yes to the six-month membership, which will take me to the beginning of December. I'm still not quite sure how this second discount works, but I'll take it. My monthly membership fee is now down from over W180,000 a month to just W111,000, which is about $98, US. That's still more expensive than most US-based gym memberships, but I'll take what I can get if it means having a decent place to exercise.

I've also done my first-ever bit of ordering on GMarket. I got two items: a decent protective cover for my Samsung Galaxy S4, and a 20-kg weight vest that's going to be a bitch to carry upstairs once the package arrives in my building's lobby. Once the weight vest arrives, I'll be able to start Everesting in earnest: I'll set up a timetable and work toward my goal, bit by bit, over the course of a couple months.

My gym membership becomes active this coming Wednesday. When I negotiated with the signup-desk lady, we agreed that starting the membership today might be awkward, given that today is a "red day" on the Korean public calendar, thus skewing the gym's operating hours. We settled on activating my membership on Wednesday, so at 6AM tomorrow, I'll find myself in the gym along with the other 6AM crazies. (Aside: no matter how early you choose to wake up in Korea, there will always be a Korean who's gotten up earlier than you. I've been on the creekside bike path at some ungodly hours, and I've never been fully alone.)

It's all coming together. I've got a gym now, and I'll have a weight vest in a few days. I'm doing some minor walking in the meantime, but the serious training won't begin until everything is in place. I'm morbidly curious to find out how the weight vest is going to affect my building-staircase climb. At a guess, I'm going to end up seriously sweaty and winded.

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*There's a much cheaper gym in the building where I work, but since we were suddenly told, a week or so ago, that our department would be moving up the street, there's little point in signing up for that gym.