First things first, a volleyball update. So, Wednesday October 7 the volleyball routine began like any other. Change into uniform at 1:50pm. Load into a random teachers car at 2pm and then warm up beginning promptly at 2:30pm. Well, all occurred in that order...except we were at a random school warming up and there .JPG)
was no other team there. So I just assumed we were practicing for another big game. Well, there I go assuming again and in walks our competition around 3pm. We cleared the court so they could have their time to warm up. I just stared as they were practicing their spikes. I looked at Johnson and seriously asked if we were playing them. They were in a league of their own. You could not classify those "Meet the Parents, nose breaking" kind of spikes as recreational. These guys were not messing around and my fun index dropped to fear. I was not ready for this. Well, to make a short game recap even shorter, we got killed and I'm lucky to have walked away with only a raspberry on my knee. A minor battle wound to what could have been...
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was no other team there. So I just assumed we were practicing for another big game. Well, there I go assuming again and in walks our competition around 3pm. We cleared the court so they could have their time to warm up. I just stared as they were practicing their spikes. I looked at Johnson and seriously asked if we were playing them. They were in a league of their own. You could not classify those "Meet the Parents, nose breaking" kind of spikes as recreational. These guys were not messing around and my fun index dropped to fear. I was not ready for this. Well, to make a short game recap even shorter, we got killed and I'm lucky to have walked away with only a raspberry on my knee. A minor battle wound to what could have been...Since we lost we didn't go out as a team for more octopus, Soju Bombs, and Karaoke. And since we lost I assumed we were finished with the tournament, or what I understood as a 'qualifying' game for the all day Saturday event.
Saturday. Andrew's 
volleyball team hadn't lost a game and therefore qualified for the tournament. So from noon until 9:30pm, I sat in a gym and watched teachers play volleyball. Needless to say I was less than thrilled. Parts of the day were entertaining...others I w
as struggling to stay awake. We arrived at noon so we assumed Andrew's team was playing at 1pm or so. Not exactly. He didn't even play his first game until 3:45pm. We think maybe they were scoping out their competition...not really sure. Like I said, volleyball in Korea is taken extremely seriously. Winning is everything and having fun depends on only if you are victorious.
volleyball team hadn't lost a game and therefore qualified for the tournament. So from noon until 9:30pm, I sat in a gym and watched teachers play volleyball. Needless to say I was less than thrilled. Parts of the day were entertaining...others I w
as struggling to stay awake. We arrived at noon so we assumed Andrew's team was playing at 1pm or so. Not exactly. He didn't even play his first game until 3:45pm. We think maybe they were scoping out their competition...not really sure. Like I said, volleyball in Korea is taken extremely seriously. Winning is everything and having fun depends on only if you are victorious.Well, they los
t their first game. Andrew and I didn't know if that meant they were finished or playing again...a double elimination kind of thing...no one told us anything because they didn't speak English. So we sat around because they sat around. Turns out, it was double elimination and Andrew's team ended up winning the entire tournament! Andrew even had a clutch play in the semi-final game to send his team into the championship. (A feat he continues to brag about every chance he gets). They played the team th
at beat them the first game in the championship. It was actually a very exciting game. And after 9 hours...I was standing on my feet beating water bottles together with the other fans. I'm not really sure if I was excited that the game was so close in score or that it was so close to being over. Either way, his team walked away with a trophy, a certificate and an MVP. His principal even game us 30,000 won (about $25) to eat dinner on!Wednesday October 14th, I was given my first traditional Korean painting lesson by a 5th grade teacher, Mrs. Pan. 
She drew four lines on a piece on very thin paper and said this is very basic movement that I needed to master. Four lines. Really, how hard could it be? I assumed it would take me like two times to get it right and then I could move on to more 'difficult' things like the flowers she was painting. Well, there I went assuming again. Those four 'basic' lines, I hav
e worked on three different days now. I have probably painted those same lines over 50 times and it still looks embarrassingly awful. There is such an elegant technique that has to be done in order to get the lines just right. The paintbrush is very big and awkward...I still don't think I hold it quite right. The ink is very watery and the paper is really, really thin so the ink bleeds easily. It's been a very interesting experience and it is awesome to watch how gracefully she paints. I now take lessons from her every Wednesday and Friday after school and I am really enjoying the learning experience as well as her company. She is so sweet!
She drew four lines on a piece on very thin paper and said this is very basic movement that I needed to master. Four lines. Really, how hard could it be? I assumed it would take me like two times to get it right and then I could move on to more 'difficult' things like the flowers she was painting. Well, there I went assuming again. Those four 'basic' lines, I hav
e worked on three different days now. I have probably painted those same lines over 50 times and it still looks embarrassingly awful. There is such an elegant technique that has to be done in order to get the lines just right. The paintbrush is very big and awkward...I still don't think I hold it quite right. The ink is very watery and the paper is really, really thin so the ink bleeds easily. It's been a very interesting experience and it is awesome to watch how gracefully she paints. I now take lessons from her every Wednesday and Friday after school and I am really enjoying the learning experience as well as her company. She is so sweet!O geeze...Monday October 19th. I had to teach my after school kids alone because Johnson had a meeting from 4p
m to 6:30pm. I was a little nervous because I now had no interpreter, but I began class like normal. 15 minutes into class, I was writing the new vocab words on the board when I heard two chairs screech across the floor. I turned around to see Kyle and Jack (their English names) standing and facing each other whispering something I obviously didn't understand. Let me paint a picture, Kyle is not your average 6th grader. He has an inch on me and about 30 pounds. Jack is an average 5th grader and very scrawny compared to Kyle. They both just had an extreme look of rage in their eyes and I knew something was about to happen. So I got in between them and told them to relax and sit down. More Korean words were exchanged and I assumed awf
ul things had been said because while I was trying to get them to sit, Kyle reached across and grabbed Jacks throat. I yelled at Kyle and grabbed his arm to let go. Kyle did not let up and wasn't listening to me. So the first thing that came to my mind was to Karate chop his arm to let go of poor Jacks throat. Well, I did it and he let go. Jack sat down, tears in his eyes and a red neck. I grabbed Kyles stuff and put it in the back of the room and told him to sit.
m to 6:30pm. I was a little nervous because I now had no interpreter, but I began class like normal. 15 minutes into class, I was writing the new vocab words on the board when I heard two chairs screech across the floor. I turned around to see Kyle and Jack (their English names) standing and facing each other whispering something I obviously didn't understand. Let me paint a picture, Kyle is not your average 6th grader. He has an inch on me and about 30 pounds. Jack is an average 5th grader and very scrawny compared to Kyle. They both just had an extreme look of rage in their eyes and I knew something was about to happen. So I got in between them and told them to relax and sit down. More Korean words were exchanged and I assumed awf
ul things had been said because while I was trying to get them to sit, Kyle reached across and grabbed Jacks throat. I yelled at Kyle and grabbed his arm to let go. Kyle did not let up and wasn't listening to me. So the first thing that came to my mind was to Karate chop his arm to let go of poor Jacks throat. Well, I did it and he let go. Jack sat down, tears in his eyes and a red neck. I grabbed Kyles stuff and put it in the back of the room and told him to sit.I walked back to the front of the class and just looked at the clock like you have got to be kidding...it's only been 15 min. I was so shaken up by the whole thing I totally lost my train of thought. I wanted to lecture Kyle so bad but it would do no use because he wouldn't know what I was saying anyways. There were no teachers around because they were in a meeting and I just couldn't believe what had just taken place. A kid was almost choked to death in my class and I karate chopped a students arm. Physical abuse is often used among Korean teachers towards students but I am just not comfortable with it at all...but I felt like I had no choice. With the hate in Kyle's eyes, I was afraid he was going to hit me...it was awful.
On a happier note, October 20th was an all school picnic day! I was so excited to go and couldn't wait to see what they did. Well, I assumed we would go to park and play organized field games, eat lunch and return to school. Wrong again. We walked with all the kids about 20 minutes from the school to a trail by the river. All the kids put their backpacks in neat little lines and we continued walking for about 20 more minutes. The kids messed around on some exercise 
equipment for about 10 minutes and then we walked back to where they dropped off their backpacks. They began to engage in snack time (which I was not informed would take place so I was less than prepared). Several students noticed the starvation look on my face and began giving me snacks! It was great!After snack time, Tessah (another English Teacher) and I went to play games with students. They just flocked to us and were so excited that we came, it was really cute. Well, this put the pressure on us to com
e up with some games on the spot. It was a kind of 'bring your own equipment' sort of picnic. I remembered a hand clapping game, Down By the Bank, and Tessah knew it too so we taught it to a group of girls. It went over really well...until they got bored. So the next game we played was the 'Tap, Tap, Clap, Clap, Snap, Snap Numbers game' we play at Grandma Stremme's every Christmas. They REALLY liked that game and I was happy because I was struggling think of any more. Tessah and I were saved by lunch time. All the students brought their lunche
s and the teachers had Chinese food delivered. This was real Chinese food, none of that American stuff, and it was actually really delicious. We ate for about 10 minutes before we were attacked by a group of student wanting to play more 'American games.' We racked our brain for some more games. We got so desperate that we taught them the Macaraina...haha. The kids did a nice job of finding stuff to do without equipment. After the American game time...they all went searching for bugs. They were catching dragon flies, baby lizards, caterpillars, huge grasshopper things they chased me around with and several other critters I did not participate in catching. All in all, it was so much fun to hang out with the kids outside of a school setting.
s and the teachers had Chinese food delivered. This was real Chinese food, none of that American stuff, and it was actually really delicious. We ate for about 10 minutes before we were attacked by a group of student wanting to play more 'American games.' We racked our brain for some more games. We got so desperate that we taught them the Macaraina...haha. The kids did a nice job of finding stuff to do without equipment. After the American game time...they all went searching for bugs. They were catching dragon flies, baby lizards, caterpillars, huge grasshopper things they chased me around with and several other critters I did not participate in catching. All in all, it was so much fun to hang out with the kids outside of a school setting.Moral of this blog entry...QUIT ASSUMING!
Hi Sarah!
ReplyDeleteI love all your posts, and I thank you so much for taking the time to keep us informed. Your adventures make me laugh, sigh, and marvel at all you and Andrew are learning and enjoying. Your karate chopping reminded me of a couple of situations when I was doing my student teaching. The difference being that my kids understood what I was saying! Anyway, I love hearing how you're doing, and I just wanted to say thank you.
Give my wonderful nephew a hug and kiss from me.
Love,
Libby