Am feeling beat. Perform my hedonistic rituals at will here in Korea. The 
belly bloats into a spare tire like form. Too much cheap beer everywhere. 
Need to get it together, I think. Some days, I find it difficult to walk up 
to the third floor of my apartment. In a state of rare motivation, the next 
day I walk to one of the many local gyms which dot the Korean landscape. In 
numbers, they are almost in proportion to the cyberias and neon crosses. 
What an obsession minded people. Enter a random club dedicated to health and 
the betterment of physical appearance. The paradox lies in that it squashed 
between two drinking establishments.

  Fifty thousand for the first month, forty for every other month following. 
I don't even own a pair of sneakers, so I walk to the local K-mart, but the 
Korean downsized version, where sneakers can be had for under the equivalent 
of ten dollars. Go back and run, sweat, and feel good about myself. Exercise 
is nice.

  It was at this particular health club that I noticed something unusual. 
One day, I'm sweating like a race horse after two minutes on the treadmill, 
when another fellow member steps up beside me. Shoeless, he starts to run. 
Strange: shoeless running. Maybe lighter and more comfortable, as nature 
intended. Five minutes and I'm on the point of fainting. My vision is 
blurred and I'm ready to pass out. I sit on a couch panting, to rest. I am 
behind the man running without shoes. His bare feet are black. It is then I 
notice another unusual phenomena. Many of the weightlifters are wearing 
sandals. I own sandals, and I could run barefoot. Why did I buy shoes, 
however cheap and ugly they are and were. Strange. This could never happen 
where I'm from. Proper attire required, which means shoes. In the unlikely 
event that someone were to try and wear sandals while exercising, staff 
members would be on them quicker than hyenas or vultures to a rotting 
carcass.

  Why? The answer is quite simple. Lawsuits. The current legal system breeds 
a system where companies must act as daycares for their customers. In my 
opinion, this logic is entirely lacking in Korea. The barefoot man running 
is a bear of a man. And he can run. Everytime, he's on the damn machine for 
an hour. I'm half his age, but can only manage five to ten minutes, 
depending on my mood. The point is, I can't imagine him filing for lawsuit 
if he were to hurt himself while running barefoot. Neither the 
weightlifters. Sandals are allowed because the establishment respects the 
wishes of its customers. It seems to be about personal responsibility. 
View 1: If I drop a weight and crush my toe, I shouldn't have been wearing 
sandals. It's my fault. View 2: If I drop a weight and crush my toe, you 
shouldn't have allowed me to wear sandals. It's your fault. (Case in point: 
Woman is scalded by scalding McDonald's coffee while driving away from a 
drive-thru window holding said scalding coffee between legs. Hurray for the 
people against the evil multi-national. This perpetuates babysitters and 
babies)

  If one looks around, it is quite easy to see examples of personal freedoms 
in Korea. Helmetless motorcycle riders, of which I've seen a few foreigners. 
Smoking in any damn place you wish. (As I'm a smoker, this rule I love. In 
Canada, it's the complete opposite. Which is better?) In Korea, people are 
number one. It's your life to choose how to live. How else do you explain 
cheap cigarettes and alcohol, in abundance everywhere at any hour of the day 
and night. A form of state sanctioned suicide and stress relief. All these
freedoms cause a lot of problems, but the choices exists. In Canada, ie the 
West, people are relegated below the abstract concepts of law. Alcohol laws, 
high cigarette taxes, etc. The inhumane, not for people, rule. The Republic 
takes control and we are babes unto its power.

  This is not to say that Korea is better than the West, or vice versa. They 
are  different. Maybe it has to do with first world-third world. Korea is 
not a first world country, it is polluted, small, crowded, but there are 
certain freedoms here that are nonexistent in the West. I prefer to have 
choices to make, however damning they may be.

Note: Not a thoroughly thought out treatise on the subject. As I read over 
it, I spot the holes miles away. Sorry I couldn't be asked to refine it and 
put a semblance of logical  armor on it. I could easily refute it myself, 
but I hope that what I wished to convey is sort of, in a indefinate and 
watery way, CLEAR!