It is actually pretty amazing to be in a room full of Olympians! While they are here, they learn English and about sports and exercise science in the United States. Each week the NEST participants attended a seminar through exercise science and one through sport management. One week, Lizzy (another PhD student in Sport Mgmt with me) and I did a presentation on the pressures of college athletics in the United States. I focused on academic pressures and Lizzy talked about pressures on the field/court since she played college volleyball. My international sport history class also got involved last fall. We were paired up with one of the South Koreans in order to learn a little more about their culture and for them to learn about ours.
Yeji was a professional swimmer for 4 years in South Korea. One Friday, we went to a local Korean restaurant and I tried Korean food for the first time. I was surprised to find most of it very yummy. However, I did learn that the entree I ordered should be ordered with the "hot stone bowl" next time. The dish was wonderful, but cold. The meat, veggies, everything was cold. If you get it in the hot stone bowl it is hot.
