Well, I finally did it.

After weeks of thinking and saying that I should start exercising again, I got up at 6 this morning and went for a 50-minute brisk walk with my dad in Olympic Park.

I can tell you now from experience that at 6:30 am in Seoul in February, it is very dark. Like, night-dark. Like, streetlamps are on, and car headlights are on, and someone with bad night vision (comme moi) feels uncomfortably at a loss.

I can also tell you that it is easier than you think to get up from warm, toasty, ondol-heated bed (heating system under the floor) and go out into the crispy darkness.

It was also very nice to see the mountains at the edge of the city become silhouettes against a pinkening sky.

There were ajummas (older women) coming back from early morning exercise, couples walking or running briskly, and even a judo team from the University of Physical Education running sprints up a steep hill.

Very nice.
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Recent models of cars sold in Korea feature flexible rearview mirrors that the driver can fold back to lie flat against the side windows. A necessary precaution when the streets are narrow and the people drive as willy-nilly as they do here.