On our day out and about we walked throught the old markets where they sold Celadon pottery and abalone inlay boxes and then onto the Olympic park where older Koreans donned face masks and visors while taking their constitutionals around the Park.

We wondered why so many people wore face masks.

The next morning while running on the treadmill the TV was showing a panic-inspiring news clip of people getting eye problems, lung problems, putting air conditioners in the windows and shutting the doors etc.

I googled pollution and found out Seoul has 10 million people living there and it has some of the worst pollution of any developing city. People drive diesel cars there with endless traffic jams on three lane highways. Public transportation doesn’t seem to be too accessible.

In the airport home they warned of avian flu and annouced to be careful for sudden fever or flu symptoms.

Well, Shabs and I arrived in Korea after a grueling fourteen hour plane ride sitting next to humoungous smelly New Yorkers who kept leaning into my seat. We were carted off to a hotel, another hour and a half of travelling, exhausted.

The next day we were picked up by Kimberly, our Korean connection, and drove through terrible traffic to Thera Pilates studio where we reviewed Reformer and Mat repertoire. We were very impressed with the heated floors!

Then the exciting part: we found the spa in the hotel! Yay for the Koreans! They have a fantastic Japanese style bath with a huge hot jacuzzi tub, an even hotter still tub, and a cold plunge. It’s alot like Kabuki spa in San Francisco. So Shabs and I have a daily routine of waking up (normally at the crack of dawn– major jet lag!) have a capuccino in the coffee shop and then down to the gym where I have started to do MBT walks on the treadmill and Shabs sprints next to me, then a fabulous bathing experience, and then of course the breakfast buffet which combines western food (eggs, bacon, etc) and Korean fare (kim chee, mussels, porridge, chili paste radishes, rice with fish eggs etc.) We’re amazed how much kim chee the Koreans eat (and beef!). The restaurants seem to serve just bbq beef and various kim chee type condiments.

Yesterday was our big day– the Theraband Academy lecture. Basically they set up a huge gymnasium in our hotel with 200 mats, magic circles, rollers, and gertie balls all in perfect rows and a huge stage with banners donning large photos of me behind.

There were two huge projection screens on either side of the stage and live video of Shabs and I so people could see in the back of the space.

I did an eight hour lecture, first 2.5 hours of Pilates Mat Fundamentals, 2.5 hours of roller and Theraband, and 2.5 hours of Ball. They had two of my books that were translated into Korean (the Props Book, and the Ball Book).

The cutest part of the whole day was when I led a bouncing sequence on the balls and 200 Koreans were bouncing and clapping in complete unison– it was quite exuberant!

On the brake, the participants ran up to the stage and starting grabbing my books and DVD’s that I had brought to sell– it was a mad house.

After the lecture I spent forty five minutes doing photo ops. Everyone wanted a picture with Ellie Herman. I felt like a mini- star. The participants were so lovely and appreciative.

I have learned that Koreans are extremely committed to education and take their learning very seriously. It’s very satisfying to teach in such an environment.

Kimberly and I discussed setting up future teacher trainings in Seoul. We’re thinking of starting with a core curriculum hopefully this summer.

Today Shabs and I will finally get out of the hotel and see some of Seoul. We hope to get to some of the more traditional sites and see the markets, etc. Then it’s back for another fourteen hour plane ride (oy!) and back to Brooklyn…