The 13th of December marked a full year in the Republic of Korea for The Tefl-on Don, and as some of you may already know I have decided to extend my stay for another 2 months. So, I plan to be back in beaming Bedford sometime in March.
Last weekend we went to Cheong Wa Dae, also known as The
Blue House. Cheong Wa Dae is the office and residence of the Korean head of state.
We booked the tour three months in advance and I was truly looking forward to
it, to be inside such a significant building where the country is run would be
inspiring. In reality you don’t go inside the building, you hardly even get
close to it. Considering it is called the Cheong Wa Dae Tour it is very
disappointing and misleading, it should be called the Cheong Wa Dae Garden
Tour. Had I known this I would have been less interested, especially as it was
-5°C in the middle of December.
The sub-zero freezing tour went like this… “This is a
170-year-old tree”. Don’t care. “This is where the former presidential office
once stood”. Not concerned. “This is where foreign dignitaries stay when on
official duty in Korea”. I don’t have any flying fucks to give. It was far too
cold for sightseeing.
The following day we went to watch ROAD FC, or Korean UFC to
you and I. Now, this was interesting. Violence, ring girls, and sipping Poju
(Powerade and Soju) made for an excellent Sunday evening, and all the better as
we got free tickets (thanks Susie!).
This was my first experience of UFC. I rather enjoy boxing,
but this sport is different. It is so much more violent and seems to lack
concern for the fighters’ safety in my opinion. In boxing it seems that the
referee is willing to intervene quicker, preventing any unnecessary blows to
the head. Throughout the many fights we saw on Sunday evening the fighters were
allowed to knock a fighter to the floor (some seemed unconscious) and they are
allowed to continue punching them on the head until the ref stops the fight. I didn’t
like this aspect.
Fighters would enter the stage to their own choice of music,
most played high tempo rap or rock songs to build anticipation. But my
favourite fighter came out to Westlife’s version of You Raise Me Up. It was
hardly intimidating but he won.
The best part of the evening was the women. As if there wasn’t
enough testosterone in the bodies of every emasculated man in the audience, the
women caused quite a stir.
And speaking of women, allow me to introduce you to Song Ga-Yeon.
She is a ROAD FC fighter.
With her involved I would enjoy being her punching bag. The
beating that I’d taken would definitely be worth the semi-naked contact in an
enclosed ring.
Until next time...
