Ben's Korean Adventures, Edition 26

Hello everyone! 

It seems like it's been only a short time since I last wrote to you all, but I think that a fair bit of time has actually elapsed.  So let's commence with the updates!  August came and went without much more to say about it.  Then came September, with its frisbee games and fair weather.  As usual, I missed being around Indiana for the fair time, but otherwise, things went pretty well over here.  And next came October.  Wonderful October!

As some of you probably saw, I did take a trip to Japan during the beginning October.  I specifically went to Nagasaki to spend time with some students whom I had met during the Spring/early Summer Ultimate tournament in Fukuoka.  After that tourney, we had simply kept in touch with the understanding that maybe I could make a trip to see them or they could make a trip over here.  And then I found out about a long weekend at the beginning of October and decided to seize the opportunity and just go.  

The friends I visited are University students there, and it was so much fun to live in the younger university style for a little bit.  Oh, the days that I used to be a student!  haha.  We spent the time only in Nagasaki, which was a good experience.  Prior to my trip, I knew that it this city gained more notoriety because of the U.S. during WWII, but otherwise I knew nothing about it, so it was interesting to discover more about the history of that place and the important role it played in Japanese relations with foreign countries.  Also the city itself was gorgeous.  

One night we went up on a nearby mountain to look out over the city, and it was just great.  One of the guys claimed that spot to be one of the best night views in the world, and I would believe it after having been there.  During the trip we visited a few museums, played some ultimate frisbee, ate so much good food and ... went to a zoo!  The zoo was definitely one of the highlights for my trip because this was one of the first times that I walked away from the zoo having had a good time and having not spent most of my time just thinking about how depressing it would be for an animal there.  Granted, I still had a few moments like that, but for the most part, it was totally different.  

We got to interact with a bunch of animals that normally I wouldn't get to go anywhere near.  I fed/touched a flamingo, a kangaroo, a capybara, a patagonian mara and a few other random animals.  It was really neat.  And the zoo itself was built on the side of a mountain, such that we there were a bunch of open-air pens and lots of naturally gorgeous sites for these animal homes.  All in all, it was fantastic to see, and it restored a little of my faith in humans to care for wild animals in a more urban setting.  

Since that trip to Nagasaki, I've only spent time in Gwangju or traveling around for frisbee.  Just this past weekend we had the finals tournament for this season, and unfortunately my team was knocked out in our first game, but it was a very close game.  We lost in the last point to a team that we could have beaten (although obviously we didn't).  Losing early had its advantage, though, such that we were able to rest for the remainder of the day, and I, at least, spent the time enjoying the company of friends whom I've only gotten to see a few times this whole year.  Additionally, I was able to begin the resting and healing process for my body.  I'm glad and grateful for the physical shape that I've built up/maintained over this year's frisbee seasons and tournaments, but my body needs a break -- especially my knees and lower legs.  It'll be good just to spend more time around home ... being lazy and catching up on some dramas and books.

Dramas!  I almost forgot.  I watched my first Korean drama within the past few months.  Now, many of you probably know nothing about this thing (and frankly, I don't know much myself), but Korean dramas often get readily noticed by some ... because they're partially fantastic and partially ridiculous ... and rather entertaining in the process.  I watched through one show called "The Master's Sun" about a woman who could see ghosts who eventually meets a guy who can, upon making physical contact, make the ghosts disappear.  It was a fun watch, and it lasted for 16-18 episodes.  So if you're in need of something amusing with a Korean flavor, check it out.  I'm sure you'll be able to find a subbed version online somewhere.  

And now, I think this brings me to my biggest news ... that was finalized only a couple days ago.  I've decided to stay at my school for yet another year.  So all of you who want to come see me here, you've been given more time in which to make the journey.  I know that this'll be a bit annoying for some (since I've already been gone for about 2 and a half years), but right now, I think this is the best thing for me.  And if you want to know more about it ... just ask ... or skype with me.  As always, I'd love to hear more about how your life is going and what's new these days.  

Alright.  It's time to get back to work!  Have a great day, and keep it real~

Lots of love,

bg

ps- as usual, you can find videos from my trips and frisbee at my youtube channel (http://www.youtube.com/user/bengraves321) or see some photos at my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/benjaminrollie).

Ben's Korean Adventures, Edition 25

Hello everyone!  

I hope that you are well and enjoying your summer.  Mine is cruising along too quickly, yet it's still bringing me a fair bit of enjoyment.  Before I get into the usual updates and ramblings, here's an exciting thing: today is my 10,000th day of life!  Woo hoo!  haha.  I don't remember why I looked into it a while ago, but one day I sat down and tried to find when his day would come, and today's the day.  10,000 is a pretty big number, and it makes me stop and reflect a bit -- what have I done with my 10,000 that really makes them all worthwhile?  I think that there are a few things I'd list out, but I'll save those details for another day and another message.  

Since the beginning of June I have spent a weekend in Japan, run my first race, helped some high school boys hone their frisbee skills and even gone paragliding for the first time.  It's been a pretty full and active last couple of months.  My trip to Japan was, as you could guess/already know, motivated by frisbee.  I went there with a group of Koreans and foreigners to play in an Ultimate tournament in Fukuoka.  I didn't realize until we were about to leave that this tournament, unlike one I had participated in a little before then, wasn't actually an international tournament; on the contrary, it was a Japanese tournament to which we'd been given an invitation because of some good relations between a few players from each country.  We brought two teams to join the other 12-16 Japanese teams playing.  

This tournament lasted over two days with each day being a separate event.  The first day we had a hat tournament, during which all the players were completely randomly assigned to randomized teams.  This day ended up not being so great for me.  For some reason, I played more poorly right at the beginning than I'd almost ever played before, so by out later games, I think that other teammates were (reasonably enough) much more hesitant to include me in plays.  I dropped two discs in the end zone, and I completely missed another disc … that was flying right at me … and it then hit me right in the mouth.  I essentially did things during the first two games that I'd never done before in games, and it was pretty disappointing.  So these things coupled with some weird (to me) aspects of Japanese-style Ultimate caused that first day to not be quite as grands -- at least as far as frisbee was concerned.  

That night I went out with one of the other players who speaks Japanese, and the two of us went around to some local food stalls/restaurants to eat some authentic Japanese food, and it was fantastic.  The food and atmosphere were both great, and they make me excited for the next time I visit Japan … which will happen in October!  Woo hoo again!  On that first day I connected with one guy from my team more than with the other players, and I decided to go visit him in Nagasaki during one of my long weekends this fall.  I hope/think it will be a sweet time.  So then came the second day of frisbee, and on this day I played with the Korean team I had originally intended to play with.  My memories fail me a bit, but I think that during those games, I played with a wholly new set of people with whom I'd never played before, which provided both its own pros and cons.  I was able to do a few things that I wouldn't have done with my regular season team, yet at the same time we didn't click as well as that team had (by the end of our season).  The second day was fun, even though I left Japan with no wins, 2 ties and a bunch of losses.  

Around this trip (for most of June and all of July), I've been constantly saying goodbye to friends who have finished their time in Korea and are moving on to something new.  Prior to this mass flight only a couple of other people (who left back before Spring) had played as large of a role in my Korean life as all these newly-departed/ing folks have.  I don't have much more to say on this topic other than this: I don't really feel sad about these friends leaving, but I definitely feel pretty depressed by their absence.  And this is ok.  Over the past year, I built so much of my life around these people and my relationships with them that I have lost a lot, but even now -- without them around -- cool things can happen if I'm open and willing to embrace more newness.  

A few weeks ago, I went to a race in Seoul -- Color Me Rad.  For anyone not familiar with this specific race, it's the one during which people can throw a colored powder on racers, such that by the end, each person has captured a little bit of the rainbow on his/her clothes and body.  The colored powder is dyed corn starch, so it's nontoxic, but it still doesn't taste so great.  haha.  I went to this event with two of my coworkers, and we all had a blast.  This was the first time I've ever signed up for a race (because it's technically a 5K), but it ended up not being much of a race after we started.  People tended to spend more time walking and chatting than running or jogging.  The three of us tried to jog for most of it, although we also slowed down for the color stations and at other arbitrary times.  All in all, it was a great experience, and I encourage others to seek out any Color race in their area.

This past week I had a vacation from work, so I went away two weekends ago to a small city on the other side of the country (it took 6.5 hours to bus there … and about 5.5 hours to bus back … whew) to hang out with newer friends and a group of school boys who have an interest in frisbee.  An Ultimate player from this city, Youngwol, set up this week as a time for people to come and show her students what Ultimate can be like.  She's been single-handedly working with these boys to develop their skills, and she's been doing a great job, but there's only so much a single can teach about a team sport … when the students have never really seen the game in full action.  Thus a group of us came to help remedy that situation.  And it was a blast.  Because of the nature of my work, I hardly spend time around older teens -- kids who are developed enough to really grasp concepts and offer their own insights, so this weekend was especially good for me.  By the end of weekend, I had connected pretty well with the students, such that by the time everyone else had to leave (because they needed to be home by Sunday night … and my bus home left Monday morning), I ended up going to dinner with just the students.  My friend who's been working there is yet another whose contract will very soon finish, and although she hopes to find another teaching spot in the country, she doesn't yet know if she'll still be around.  I'm hoping to maintain contact with these guys and either visit them or host them here, so that we can continue to build skills and work on the future of Ultimate in Korea.    

And just this last weekend I was able to try another new thing -- paragliding!  I went with 2 other foreign friends and 5 new Korean friends to a smaller city about an hour away.  All in all, it was a pretty fun experience (you can find pictures on Facebook … and videos on youtube), but it was definitely one of those that had way more lead up time that "in action" time.  We arrived at the mountain around 11 am on Saturday, and because of the weather, our last jumper didn't glide off the mountain until a bit after 5 pm.  Whew.  It was a long day.  But it was really cool.  We each fly down with an instructor/coach sitting right behind us, and I was expected much of a free falling feeling as we came down, but it ended up being amazingly smooth from the top down to the ground.  I would definitely do it again, and I recommend anyone else to try it as well.  Maybe it's a little scary to just jump off a mountain top … but it ended up being a sweet ride down.  

Now, during last week (bookended by my two weekend trips), simply spent the week relaxing, reading books, playing games with friends, watching some TV shows, studying a little Korean and sleeping.  It was pretty much exactly what I needed.  I had been intending to go away for the middle/end of the week, but things changed so I didn't end up going … all for the better.  I don't realize, really, until after I have a forced slowdown (like last week) how much I tend to just live on stress.  I fill up my schedule to the brim (and a little more) and don't look back because I do like being busy … but it takes its toll after a while.  I hadn't realized just how busy I'd been keeping myself until I had whole days with no solid plans ahead of me.  It was amazing.  I'm hoping that I can hold onto this impression and keep myself from getting too busy yet again.  I need to slow down a bit more and remember to value and guard my downtime … even if I'm the sort who doesn't intrinsically want to give that time value.  

During this past week, I did read 2 books; one was ok … but the other was great.  Gary Schmidt, an English professor at Calvin, has written a number of great books, and I just finished Okay for Now (which is a companion book to The Wednesday Wars).  Schmidt has a fantastic gift for being able to blend heartache and hope into a beautiful, compelling narrative, and that's certainly how that book was for me.  If you've not read anything by Schmidt yet, I encourage you to find it on Amazon (or any other local store) and get it.  I think that you'll not regret having done so.  

Ok.  Time to get back to school things.  I wish you all well, and I hope that you're finding ample time to sit back, relax and enjoy the things that you love doing.  As always, I would love to hear from you, so please hit me up with a message about your life and what's new there.  

pfn,

bg

Ben's Korean Adventures, Edition 24

Hello again, my wonderful readers!

I hope that you have been well and that summer is setting in well in your lives.  It definitely feels like summer over here, and I'm really loving the weather, although I keep thinking that I hope it doesn't get too hot too quickly.  

Now, since I've never been too great at holding back exciting news, here goes: my frisbee team won the championship game this past Sunday!  Woo hoo!  And, to boot, I was the honor of being the male playoff MVP.  Another Woo hoo!  Of these two things, I had really hoped that the first would happen, and the second definitely caught me a little off guard, but it was a sweet moment nonetheless.  My team all played really well, and it was definitely a privilege to play with such stellar people this year.  The only bittersweet aspect is that soon many of these fine individuals will be departing Korea all too soon.  This weekend marks the beginning of the end as there will be a big Going Away party for a couple of the folks already.  Departures and separation will definitely be a continuing theme this summer.  

Even though this frisbee season has technically come to a close, it doesn't mark the end of playing anytime soon.  Already there are 3 or 4 game weekends lined up through the middle of July, including a weekend trip to Fukuoka, Japan the last weekend of June.  As you can imagine, I am especially excited for this impending adventure.  Granted, it will be a quick weekend packed with frisbee and bookended by too much time traveling, but otherwise it should be a grand time.  And now's the time as well when the fall season's teams are being established.  I'm still a bit on the fence as to whether or not I'll play again in the fall because this season's done a number on my body (specifically my legs and knees), and it does take up a lot of time when it's in gear.  At the same time, though, hanging out with the frisbee folks and building those relationships has been a definite highlight of my life so far, and considering the progress i've already made in developing these friendships (and even my own frisbee skills), it would be a big waste to cut things off already.  Oh, decisions.  hah.

What else is there.  In the past 2 months we've had a couple school field trips.  We went to the local zoo, which was just as much fun and as depressing as it ever is.  Seeing how the kids can approach and slightly interact with these amazing animals cements my belief that the idea of zoos is great.  Seeing how the animals live, though, in their rough, small pens or cages equally cements my belief that treating any living thing like this is terrible.  And then just last week we went to a local park/open field where the kids got to just run around and play outside for an hour or so.  This kind of trip is great because it reminds me that these children do get some free time to enjoy life; we don't' have too many opportunities like this during the usual schooldays, so it felt fantastic to get out and just play.  

Last month I did also get to go away for a day trip with a few coworkers to one of the southern coastal cities.  We went there to see a temple on a small mountain and just get away for a bit.  This also felt fantastic.  Not necessarily because of frisbee alone (although most recently it's been a primary cause), but also because of the full schedule I keep, I haven't made as much time as I want to for traveling around this country.  There are so many parts that I've not even come close to seeing.  I'm certain I've said this before, but I'll say it again: I think Korea's a very beautiful country, and each time I get to go sightseeing, I'm reminded of how much I'd like to see even more.  I'm hoping that come July, I'll be able to get out a little more for some of that sightseeing, since the weekends of this month have already been committed to other things by this time.  I really hope to hike some big mountains before the end of summer/beginning of the rainy season, but we'll see how that goes.  

Here's my final story, and then I'll close.  A little while back I took a jacket to the dry cleaner's to have it cleaned because it had been far too long since the last time that happened (maybe never that's happened while I've owned it).  The jacket came from Old Navy, I think, and it's a tan corduroy material.  As I dropped it off on a Wednesday, the owner looked at the coat and said something to me in Korean about how the sleeves were a different color (a lighter shade of tan) than the rest of the jacket.  I'd never really noticed this before, and so I responded saying that it was ok because I thought that maybe the owner guessed I might be concerned about the color difference when I got it back, and he didn't want any blame for making a mistake.  This is one of those times when I wish I'd had the vocabulary to explain, "No, this is just the style of the jacket, and it's ok."  On Saturday I returned to reclaim my clean jacket and low and behold, the jacket was wonderfully clean … and also wonderfully one color from one sleeve tip to the other.  haha.  Moral of the story: I still need to learn more Korean.  

And now I have a final note for all of you: I was just thinking about this last night between writing the beginning of this message and finishing it off now.  Since I've been here and for the duration of my stay in Korea, friends and family have gotten married or will get married, have graduated or will graduate, have birthed new lives or will bring new one into the world, and I'm missing all these things.  Sorry I can't be around for these momentous events.  I do daily wish that Korea were closer to home, but unfortunately that's just not the case.  And since it isn't/will never be, I hope that you'll extend me a little extra grace and continue to keep me informed about your lives and how things develop and change.  Even though I'm leagues away, I still wish to celebrate and commiserate with you in both your joys and struggles.  

I love you a lot, and I wish you loads and loads of happiness.  

pfn,
bg

ps- again I'll include the link to my Youtube page: (http://www.youtube.com/user/bengraves321).  Since the last email, I've reorganized and added new things on that page, such that it has quite a few videos there.  Please browse around and see a bit of my life -- at school, on the field and in other times around those.  By the next time I write, hopefully I will have straightened out more photos, so that I can share links for those as well.

pps- and as always, here's the link to the blog that has this and all previous messages (http://bginkorea.blogspot.kr/).  

Ben's Korean Adventures, Edition 23

Hello all,

I am still alive! I know that it's been about 7 months since my last
message, but sometimes that's just how it goes, I guess. These days
I'm keeping as active and engaged as always, and I'm mostly healthy,
so I have no real complaints. Since the last time you all heard from
me so much, yet so little has happened and changed. I'll give you a
few highlights and just the usual words here and there that I might
usually type out.

Perhaps the biggest and most exciting development (I'll start with
this one first) is this: I'm engaged! hahaha. Psyche. April Fool's
;). Nope, actually, I joined an Ultimate Frisbee team this year. For
those of you who've never heard of this sport you should probably take
some time to learn about it. Here's a very quick overview: two teams
face off on a field about the same size as used in soccer. Each team
consists of 7 players, and after an initial long throw from one team
to the other (like a kickoff), the receiving team (now on offense)
must make short and long passes with the frisbee until they reach
their end zone and score. If they ever drop the frisbee or if the
other team intercepts the disc at any time, there's an immediate
turnover, and that other team can try to score in the opposite end
zone. In this way, it's a very fast-paced, intense game.

I joined the team right before the beginning of the year, so I've been
practicing and playing and going to some small tournaments and/or
training clinics since the beginning of January, and it's been so
rewarding, yet so tiring to get back into a sport again. Now, I am
still so young, but somehow some parts of my body (my knees
specifically) don't seem to remember that. Haha. They have been
pretty achy and whiney for the past month or so, although most
recently, I've found some new ways to stretch them, thus they're
beginning to feel a bit better and fall into the groove of being
active again.

My team has played 5 games so far (the most recent 3 just this past
Sunday), and we're currently 3-2 in our wins and losses. I've heard
that we've hopefully gone through most of the hardest teams by now, so
I'm hopeful that we'll keep progressing and building steam. My team
consists of 10 guys and 5 gals who bring a lot to the table. Only a
few of us are brand new to the game, but we all have a ways to go
before we mesh perfectly. We can do it! Fighting! (a little Korean
plug for you there). This frisbee season will extend through the end
of May, so I've got a lot of games yet to play, and I'm looking
forward to traveling around a little bit more and building up some
more relationships with the cool people that I've met so far.

By this point now I'm also a little over a month into my new school
year. This year I have fewer students over all (I went from about 60
to about 45), and I think that my experience over the past year and a
half is really beginning to pay off -- especially with the
kindergarten students. As with any job, experience often builds
confidence and precipitates better results. This year I think I'm
starting with some weaker students than I had last year, but I'm
pretty confident that these kids will be able reach the same endpoint
and/or exceed my former students. It's going to take a lot of time
and effort to make this come true, but I'm really hopeful that I can
make it a reality. Again. Fighting!

Outside of school (during the week), I've been trying to spend some
more time with my Korean friends and coworkers. Having gotten
involved with the frisbee crew (even before I actually joined their
team), I began (last fall) to spend most (if not nearly all) of my
weekends with them, which when you're hanging out primarily with
native English speakers and playing games or sports or just enjoying
one another's company a lot, things like studying Korean and learning
more about Korean culture tend to fall by the wayside. At this point
I'm trying to be a little more intentional about both those things
because even though I'm still spending most of my weekends with these
cool people, almost all of them will be leaving Korea by June or July
of this year. Other than a few of my close coworkers, this has been
the first time that I found a large group of foreigners that I really
like. Not only do I like them, but I do feel pretty connected
with/close to them all. It's gonna be a bummer when they all depart,
but life will go on.

I need to hit the hay soon, so I'll close up with these last thoughts:
first, my birthday did come and go recently, and you know what, it was
great. I went out to dinner on the day of with a couple close
friends. We went to a restaurant where I ordered a burger and fries.
I realized after eating it (oh, especially the next morning) that it's
been probably 8-9 months since the last time I consumed that much
ground beef at one time, and my body was not prepared to process it
very quickly. That next morning I woke up still feeling as full as I
had right after first finishing it. Then on the weekend, I obviously
hung out with frisbee folks, and we played frisbee for a bit, had some
delicious Papa John's pizza (woo hoo) and then some of us went to a
노래방 (no-ray-bang) for karaoke. Guys. I want you all to come visit me
just so that we can relive/experience this kind of day. The karaoke
rooms are so much fun. Wow. haha. Seriously, anytime you get a
chance to come this way, do it!

Second, this past stretch has been a strong non-writing spell for me,
but hopefully this marks a change. I have a list of names posted
right in front of me who'll be receiving some specific replies
soonish. And I will try to hit you all up again sooner rather than
later.

Third, I haven't uploaded/posted too many pictures/videos from the
past few months, although there may be a few new ones around. Anyone
connected to me through facebook/google plus can see what I've put up
before. You can also go to my Youtube page at
(http://www.youtube.com/user/bengraves321) to see any videos that are
there.

Alright. Lots of love from Korea, and I'll catch you on the flip
side. As always, I would love to hear about how your life's going as
well!

pfn,
bg