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
