Letting Go

I think my month’s hiatus from blogging represents my denial of my upcoming transition. Subconsciously, I have been refusing to acknowledge that a chapter of my life is coming to a close. Perhaps, by abandoning my blog, I thought I could postpone the inevitable. But alas, I find myself in a two-thirds empty apartment, having already said tearful farewells to some, and nervously anticipating many more goodbyes in the upcoming weeks… I might as well kick-start the blog again.

Last week, my move became especially real. In the same day I shipped most of my clothes, shoes, books, and household items to Uganda (with the help of a fantastic packing man at the local post office) and I got my new teaching assignment for next year (grades 7, 9, 11, and 12 MYP and DP English). The next day, I had the entire soccer team over for our end of season banquet and awards ceremony. All the girls wrote incredibly kind notes of appreciation and well wishes that were assembled into a book. As I sat on my couch reading their letters, the realization that these girls would no longer by in my life began to sink in. The nervous anticipation of distance has also begun to seep into my social life. Two times in the last week, typical conversations with friends have spiraled into collective crying over departures. Whether I want to deny it or not, in 2 weeks I am going to be leaving the country and community that has been my home for the last 3 years!

There are so many things and people I am going to miss! What will life be like when some of my closest friends no longer have their classrooms besides mine? Or when my coffee buddies and Thursday night supper club crew are continents away? Things just won’t be the same without Click girls, soccer logistics, Home Church, dorm kids, pottery class, rooftop BBQs, or the best students anyone could ask for!

While I want to revel in every moment, the grieving process has begun. I know that home will be meaningful and Uganda will be a new adventure, but I am not quite ready to let go of Korea just yet.

2nd Place!

Last week I announced an open tryout for my girls' varsity team, just 2 days before the start of our large international APAC tournament. With half my team severely injured or sick with the flu, I never would have guessed that we would make it into a championship game. One can never underestimate the power of determination and heart, though.

Five other teams travelled to Daejeon for the APAC tournament: Hong Kong International School, Shanghai American School- Puxi, Shanghai American School- Pudong, Brent International School, and Western Academy of Beijing. My girls fought with such perseverance that they ended the round robin portion of the tournament in 1st place and finished the championship game in 2nd. I was so proud of them and their positive attitudes! Even with injuries and brand new players, I have never seen them play with such determination! I am one proud coach.

International Chicken Appeal

When Emily, LeeAnne, and I discovered that there was a Museum of Chicken Art in Seoul, we were immediately intrigued. What would a chicken art museum hold? Bronze busts of chickens past? Scrawlings on canvas resembling chicken scratches? Plastic replicas of famous poultry food dishes? Paintings drawn by renowned cowards? It was a combination of boredom and curiosity that lured us in its direction.

When we arrived at the tiny musée, we were greeted by three older women sitting in a room surrounded by hundreds of miniature chickens from around the world. An entire floor of polished international chicken figurines glared from behind glass windows, carefully dusted wooden hens rested on benches, proud paintings of roosters atop fences, trees, and farmers watched our bewilderment. I am quite certain that the first floor must have belonged to an obsessive and eccentric grandma who forbid her relatives to dispose of her "valuable" collection. We climbed the stairs and found an entire floor of traditional Korean chicken funeral statues. Apparently chickens were known for holding all the zodiac signs in their feathers and thus, were important symbols on graves.

Talk about a random experience!

My Thai vacation.

6: # of days in Thailand,
5: # of books I read,
4: # of massages I indulged in,
3: # of hours I spent in cooking class,
2: # of friends I travelled with,
1: # of nights I stayed up after 11:00
0: # of moments I thought about work

The Plight of a Thai Jasmine Bud

A single jasmine bud pirouettes from the tree
to skip along the pool’s surface,
it dances in the ripples of the couple’s wake.
Dark fingers laced around a white bristly neck
and caress a shoulder stained with sagging tattoos.
The faded face of an old flame,
gone or continents away
peers from beneath her fingers.
Farang fantasies enshroud the embrace
Hope, Desperation, and Fear braided into invisible handcuffs.
Together they float in the luxury hotel’s pool.
Sloppy kisses, tokens of lives promised.
Stability nodding blindly
as children paddle by.

The blossom bobs silently,
cascades suddenly:
the pull of the drain overbearing,
the dainty petals useless parachutes
against irresistible currents.



www.nightlightinternational.com
www.rahabministriesthailand.org
http://homeofnewbeginnings.com

Thailand is...

beautiful, relaxing, and most importantly... WARM.

That is all I have to say for now.

Seriously?

The Californian in me is flabbergasted that the refs did not call yesterday's game on account of weather. It was like no game I had ever experienced. Perhaps I am a baby when it comes to cold weather, but a snow capped field transforms soccer into some mutant sport that is more like a combination of ice skating, snow wrestling, and football than soccer.

Yesterday, our teams drove up to one of the base schools near Seoul just in time for a relatively heavy (unanticipated) snow storm. Their turf field, one lacking the rubber gravel necessary for traction (even with fair weather), was under about one and a half inches of snow at the start of the game and several by the end. Heavy snow reduced visibility and drenched everyone/everything. Not exactly the dream turf we were hoping to finally get to play on.

Kick off sounded about 2 hours into the storm. With each revolution the soccer ball made, it gathered snow and expanded into giant snow mounds, only to shatter into powder in the faces of receiving players. The damp snow collected into solid masses between the spikes of cleats, forming slick blocks of ice for the girls to tediously balance on. Bodies were flying everywhere! It became common for both opponents to run in the general direction of the ball and miss it altogether as they tumbled together in a giant snow-wrestling mass. At half time, our talk consisted of strategies for sprint and sliding, getting up off the ground, and persistence.

We tied the game 1-1. I am looking forward to seeing what real soccer looks like the next time we play them.

I couldn't feel my feet for about an hour after we got back to Daejeon. Thailand in 3 days is continuing to look better and better! So is the weather in Uganda!

P.S.

Soccer update: 4 wins, 1 loss, 2nd place in the league thus far (out of 8)! Not bad :)

It's supposed to be spring!!

This California girl has finally adjusted to long johns every practice and a general lack of feeling in her toes. The sunny sand shores of Phuket for spring break have never sounded so good!

Running on fumes...

This has been a very good, but long week filled with seemingly ceaseless icey rain, emotional face-painted girls, and plenty of exciting moments. The girls team has now played 3 soccer games (2 wins and one very muddy loss). Add my soccer roller coaster of a week to a full teaching load, a pottery class, an online IB class, a mountain of marking, and a variety of other commitments, and you have one exhausted woman! I have completely refused to step out of my pajamas until church tomorrow morning! I would imagine some of my girls feel the same way.