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