Skating at Rondeau again...

I've just got back from Rondeau Provincial park, which is three hour drive from Toronto. There is a beautiful 15km long trail. I got there yesterday at around 4 pm.
I didn't skate, though. I woke up at 9 am next day as usual and started skating 30 mins later while Eric was already skating on the trail. I started with Candy but she turned around after a while. After that I did four laps of solo skating totally. Pace was fairly fast, say 30kph when I skated solo. It was hard but I tried to keep a steady pace. After solo skating, I skated pretty much with others skaters. Sometimes easier, sometimes hard. I did totally 9 laps, 120km. It is kind of too much skating in one day. However, it was quite fun and enjoyable. When I skated alone, I looked at the scenery and took a deep breath to get some fresh air. It was good.
Somehow I'm not so tired right now, maybe tomorrow will be. Sometimes I feel like I'm here to skate and train which is not the reason I'm here for.
Anyway, I will take a rest tomorrow. I will get sleep as much as I want and get up; do some chores and go to library to read some book. It was a long day, today.

Falling in a row...

I went down again tonight's practice at CTK. After falling I was so frustrated and upset myself. I threw my helmet (it's okay; it's broken from last Thursday's falling).
I should not have done it. This time it's nothing compared to last time. It should be fine. I am going to Rondeau Provincial park again to skate with other 4 skaters. I will skate as harder and much as possible, so that I can be in a good shape again. There will be two races next weekend. I've got to prepare for that.

Hopefully, My confidence of skating is not shaken from falling in a row.

I've been reading books in Reference library recently. I've finished like 4 books in 4 days. Technically, I finished one book and I found other three books boring, so I went through and read some interesting chapters. After TOEFL test, I haven't decided yet what to do. I got my TOEFL score today. It's way lower than the score I need, but I can do something with that score. I will try it again sooner If I have to, otherwise I will do it before I go back to Korea. I think my life is getting boring. I should do something to forget that.

I'm getting faster and a little mishap...

Recently I've been feeling good at skating. I've fixed some technical problems and been eating well. I guess that is why. However, sometimes, I forget that skating is a risky sport. Today, I went down so hard but luckily I didn't break any bones except my helmet and got some scrapes and burn on my bum. It's burning, so hot. I hope it doesn't bother too much so that I can keep skating next week.
It's so worth buying a good helmet. It saved life again. kk
Gotta go to bed, have to rest...

What a day~ (June.9th.2007)

Last Saturday was one of the eventful days since I came back to Toronto. It started with skating in Hamilton. There was a TBN(Toronto Bicycling Network)monthly marathon. I was tired a bit, so I decided to take it easy and doing half marathon or something. Intentionally, I didn't start with fastest guys and skated solo. It was quite a good feeling, According to Jacky, it was 28-29 kph and I stayed that speed for 12km, which is the length of the trail. After finishing one lap alone, I was waiting for the first pack and joined them as they finished the second lap. I saw Sarah got bloody knees and elbows and heard she went down and Ed rolled over her. Recently, I have been seen a number of crashes but luckily I wasn't always there and managed to avoid those crashes. Get back to the story, There were Peter, Robert, Sarah, Morgan and me in the pack, I wasn't sure how fast it was but felt so comfortable until Peter broke away at the very end of the trail. It was so fun and I really enjoyed it.


< right after skating, photo by Peter Doucet >

After skating, we went to the restaurant nearby and had lunch with a wonderful scenery.


< At the restaurant after skating >

I didn't have enough time to enjoy my lunch, though because I got a call from Nenry and heard that he wanted me to help him buy chairs for the party that evening. Thus, I hurried to finish lunch and was heading back to Toronto. On the way, I got a call again from Taizo and he told me that Nenry was too busy to buy food and cook, so he wanted Taizo and I buy chairs together. However, Taizo wasn't sure when he can meet me and I was told he can meet me at 4 to 5. Things were getting complicated because I was supposed to meet Nozomi and buy things together and head to Nenry's place. So, I simply decided to buy 4 chairs by myself before Taizo call me. I went to Canadian tire and bought 4 stools and headed to Spadina and Dundas where Nozomi and I was supposed to buy beer nearby and fruits at Kensington market, however, when I saw her, she had already fruits with her. It was disappointing a bit, because I expected that we were going to Kensington market where I have not been to before. So,instead of going to Kensington market, I explained her why I had four stools with me and bought some beer at LCBO and took the streetcar and headed to Nenry's place. It was early, so when we got there, Nenry was still cooking and didn't want us to see him cooking, but we were tired and we just stayed there, however, he kicked us off and got us to buy something. Taizo arrived shortly after and we chatted until the rest of company comes. The party started at around 7 pm.


< Right before we eat >

Food was awesome and seemed that Nenry spent lots of money for that, even there was the lobster on the table. Anyway, we had so much fun and I drank a lot of beer ( two cans and three bottles of beer). Taizo and Nenry were so funny, so I couldn't help stop laughing with them. The party ended at 11:30 pm. It was unusual that I drank a lot but I liked friends there and comfortable atmosphere, so it made me drink a lot. It was okay, though. I didn't get any hangover next morning, honestly, a little bit but I managed to wake up early and skated on MGT(Martin Goodman Trail) next morning.

What a day, huh?

What's up with me?

Over the last few days many things happened to me.

I wrote my first TOEFL test last Saturday. It was harder than I had expected.
I went to the wrong place but luckily was able to be in time to write the test. I found the test hard because it was difficult to concentrate on the test due to the circumstances which I am not comfortable with. I guess that is one of aspects of TOEFL test and I've got to prepare for that for the next time. I will try it again three months later or so.

I moved in a new place near Yonge&Sheppard; it is still uptown. I used to live in the house near Yonge&Finch. There were many people (10-11 people) in the same house. Sometimes I found it difficult to use common areas like a bathroom or kitchen. The funny thing was we didn't talk each other so often at home but we knew what was going on with others because we could hear them through the walls when they talked to someone over the phone. Isn't that funny? kk. Anyway, Now I live with just one roommate named 'Dale' and his dog 'Sandy'. I think he is a reasonable guy, and I haven't found anything uncomfortable with living with him so far. However, I should be careful till we know each other well. Last night, we talked about our country; what are differences between Canada and Korea. It was fun and good to know him through the conversation.

I finished my TOEFL class the day before the test. I met Tim, my teacher, and one classmate, Oriena from Colombia. I had so much fun studying with them. Oriena is going back to her country this month. I wish she enjoys the rest of time in Toronto and safe trip back to Colombia. My teacher Tim likes Korean food a lot. We went to Korean restaurant a couple of times and he likes everything even Kimchi. He is planning to run his own school sooner. I hope there is something I can help him.
Anyway, now I should figure out what I can do next. If I get a good TOEFL score, I will apply for university but my test didn't go well. I'll see what I can get. Another thing I'm thinking about is working. I'll put my resume on job websites like 'monster.ca'. Maybe I can work and learn English at the same time. Since all I want is being a fluent English speaker, so that I have confidence of English and teach English in Korea or do something to serve my country. I've never though about my country before I came to Toronto but since I've been here in Toronto learning English; I've been exposing to many international issues because English is international language, so if you know English, you can get to know a lot of international issues. It makes me think about my country. I will keep thinking what I can do for myself and my country.

There is one thing left. I've just got an email from Korean agency about tax refund.
I will get my tax refund today. I'm so happy about it, kk.