This weekend I attended the national free tennis tournament in Gangwan-do province. There were eight teams in the boys middle school group. One team representing there particular province. We were representing Gyeongsangnam-do. We won the provincials a couple of months ago. Since that time we have been training extremely hard and we knew we a had a good chance to win the tournament even though our school only has a hundred students to choose from. In this sense, we had to adopt the mentality that it is not who you have but how hard you train that will make the difference. In the end, our work ethic showed.

The tournament was divided into two groups. We easily won the group stage by huge margins only losing one set one the way. Each game has five matches and the team that wins three of them wins the game. Out of the 3 group stage games, we only lost one set. Most of the games were blowouts as well. This set us up to play the second place team in the other group which was also a blow out. We won most sets by doubling the other teams points. However, the winning team from the other group were running through the competition in a similar fashion setting up an interesting final match for the gold.

Usually games are played until 21 points. However, for the final game, each team plays three sets to 11 points. The first team to win 2 sets wins the match. The first team to win 3 matches wins the game. The first match was extremely close. The other team won the first set while we won the second. The third set was not that close since we made too many blunders. This gave the other team a 1-0 lead. Match number two went in a similar way. They won the first and we won the second. At the start of the 3rd, we got a 5-1 lead and I thought this was going to be our game, but they were able to score 10 unanswered points and taking the second set. They only needed one more to clinch the championship and this time they won both back to back sets giving them the match and the overall victory.

I must say, it was not our finest performance but I know they could beat that team with a little more luck on their side. With their nerves running high, they made too many blunders which ended costing them the game. The other team was not better, but had a better game that day. Many students were quite upset and it showed from the tears rolling down their faces. Someone had to lose and someone had to feel the pain of defeat, but they did their best and there is always next year for those who are not graduating this year.

 

This week my school had a volleyball match against another middle school. The odds were stacked against us and it was going to be difficult to win. My school only has around 10-12 teachers and the other school we  were played against had something close to 50. This means we did not have many players to choose from for our team. At the same time, the other team actually had multiple teams. The best players on one team and the lower level players on another. For some strange reason, we were places in the higher level league and we had to play the best team not only from this school but the stronger teams from around Geoje. Keep in mind that our school has not won a tournament game in 7 years.

For the first set, our team managed to win after equalizing for a deuce. We knew it was possible to win from that point on. All we had to do was win the next two points. Well, it went back and forth for awhile before we managed to get the 2 point lead and take the first set. There was a man on the other team that used to be a professional player and this proved to be something to be concerned about. My job was to blocked him on the right side. I managed to get a few blocks on him which helped our team to take the first set.

For the second set, our team kind of fell apart and we lost by a large margin. The morale of our team fell a little and this showed for the beginning of the 3rd and final set. They got the early lead on us before we called a time out. We regrouped and slowly cut the lead until we were at deuce again. The score was 20-20. We were all feeling it in our nerves but I knew that we could beat this team eventhough they have won the tournament a few years and had a professional player. I managed to block the professional player and put us up one point. All we needed was this last point and the victory would be ours. After they served the ball, they were not able to get a strong attack off. We were able to keep the ball in play and spike it down for the last and winning point. It was a difficult yet extremley rewarding game.

This allowed us to participate in the tournament the following weekend. Now we had to play okpo middle school in the semi finals. Unfortunately, this team also had a professional player but he was younger and more athletic that the player from the other team. However, this team seemed to be about the same strength as the last. It was going to be a difficult win but it was in us to do it. The first set we lost by quite a bit, though after that set, I knew that we could beat that team. I knew we just played really bad and I don't think I even managed to get any blocks which is crucial for a victory. Second set I managed to have a strong defence and get a few blocks in. This also makes the spiker a bit more hesitant and forces him to lob the ball more often in order to prevent being blocked.  We won this set after a back and forth battle of deuces and match points. The final set for this game was to 15 points. It was a really good game but we came short by 2 points. I was impressed that we managed to make it such a close game since their team was much stronger than ours, or at least it seemed that way to me.

Okpo went on to the finals but lost 2-1. I don't know how we would have fared against the other winning team but I imagine that it would have been possible to beat them with a little luck on our side. The tournament is over but I hope to play more exhibition games against other schools in the future. That's all for now!

Free Tennis Provincial Champions

Schools don't come much smaller than mine in Korea, yet we were able to compete on the provincial level in free tennis and win the tournament. Its only the second year that the school has a team. Free tennis is a relatively new sport that I beleive came from Japan. It is not popular in Korea and one of the reasons why the gym teacher decided to bring it to our school. He thought there would be a good chance that the students here could win at least a provincial title. Since it is not that popular, the competition would not be as steep as it is for sports like badminton, table tennis or even volleyball.

It was a great idea on the gym teacher's part to give the students at our school of 100 students a chance to compete with even the biggest schools. At the same time, those school might not even have a team since their time and money probably went to the main Korean sports. With this opportunity, the students have worked extremely hard the last year and a half. They train and practice 3-4 times per week. This is usually after school but on most saturdays as well. I try and train with them as much as possible and help out where I can.

The students skills have drastically risen during this time as have mine. For the free tennis tournament, teams play doubles matches. This means, students play two versus two. The rules are also different than badminton where one player can repeatedly hit the birdie while the other waits around. In free tennis, is is much more engaging for both parties because they must alternate hitting the ball. Therefore, a team with a strong player and a weak player will most likely lose. There are no superstars in this sport because one person cannot carry a team to victory. Each player must hit the ball 50% of the time. That person must work hand in hand with their partner in order to obtain optimal results. At the same time, one team alone cannot win a tournament. They may go undefeated and still lose the tournament. This is because in a free tennis tournament there are five teams that play together as one team. The five teams play matches against other teams. A team has to win at least 3 games in order to win the match.

In the first match we played last weekend, it was again the defending provincial champions that we loss to last year. They beat us 3-2. This year, after so many hours of training and hard work, we manage to beat them 5-0. I think it was a little shock to the coach of the other team since he knew the quality of our team last year. Hard work pays off! In the finals, the other team was not as strong as the team we beat in the first round 5-0 but they still managed to win one game. That means, we won the finals 4-1.

With this results, we will be going to the nationals this November. It should be a strong tournament but we have a really good chance at winning the whole thing. The team that we lost to last year in the provincials and that we beat this year came second last year in the nationals only losing 2-3. Being aware of this and knowing the quality of our team, I am optimistic about our chances to win the tournament and be throned Korea's best middle school free tennis team.

Time will tell if that becomes a reality. I will definetly update if it does. For those looking for a new and exciting sport, free tennis might just be what you are looking for. Check it out and you might be pleasently surprised!

This year my summer vacation was really good! My first week of vacation after summer camp I attended a teachers badminton training. I was invited by the gym teacher at my school. The training was from Monday to Friday and 8 hours per day. It turned out that some days I stayed for 10 hours. The training took place at Gohyeon middle school which was only 20 minutes from my house. There were about 40-50 other teachers taking part in the training. I was the only foreigner and the rest were elementary, middle and high school teachers from around Geoje-do.

Every morning we would warm up with some basic strecthes and warm-up activities. Then we would work on badminton foot work and proper stroke form. After this we would do badminton drills usually until lunch. If there was a court open, some people could get some games in before lunch. After lunch we would start with warm ups, then right to drills and for the last few hours it would all be about doubles games. It was so hot and I would sweat so much. I probably lost a few pounds that week.

The next week I went to the vipassana center like I try and do every year. I think of it as a mind tune up. It definetly was and I felt so good leaving there. This year, since I did not have enough time to stay the whole course, I signed up as a server and worked mostly in the kitchen. Before the course started, I was asked to be a driver and drive some things to the dump a few times. This was a little nerve racking since I had not driven in almost 2 years. It turned out to be alright and it was a small town with hardly any traffic. It was quite exciting to get back behind the wheel.

After the course started, I would wake up everyday before 5:00 and head to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the meditators. Everynight, I slept like a log. I don't know why I sleep so well at the centers but it always seems to be this way. Maybe because there is no internet, computer, phones or any other distraction that activate my mind into overdrive. I always seem to be calm. The one thing that I do get to do is read my book on down time. This is the luxury or being a server. As a meditator, they cannot do this. They are asked to hand in all their reading material along with phones, writing material and anything else. They are pretty much only supposed to focus on their meditation. It can make life at the center quite mundane for them but extremely benefitial for their meditation progress.

I have not been meditation much this year, so I thought I might have a harder time getting back into it. I was pleasantly surprised that my meditations were actually really good. I say good in terms of being able to sit without moving. Usually, I get to the center and it takes me some time to be able to sit without moving for an hour. However, my first sit, I felt like I broke a new barrier within  my meditation. You never know when these barriers will be broken. They can come when one least expects it. The rest of my sits were also pretty good and I was pleasantly surprised by it all.

Serving a course seems to involve more learning about the self than actually just sitting the course. For servers, sanhkaras (deep rooted impurities)  arise and the server has to interact with other people and this can cause tension. For the meditator, they just have to deal with them without the need to interact with anyone else. This was definetly the case for me in the kitchen this time around. I tried to remain equanimous but there are certain people that seem to push my buttons. This person was on everyones case. He seemed to be a control freak but I tried to stay calm. This person was also sitting next to me in the meditation hall. He was moving around every few minutes. I knew that sankaras were arising from his meditation. It can be very difficult to sit when the sankaras come to the surface if one has no equanimity. I knew his mind must be really agitated because of the way he was sitting and his method of dealing with people in the kitchen. Eventhough it was difficult with him around, I felt lucky at the same time. He was able to help me with my practice. I had to make sure that my negative feelings which arose within me did not affect other people. I did not want to in turn throw my fire at them. I tried to smile and be grateful for the lessons that I was receiving.

I was lucky that there were so many other positive people around me. This one lady in particular that would always lift my spirits. She was always smiling but at the same time got told by this other person not to talk so much . She seemed to take it alright. We are supposed to limit are chatting in the kitchen and in general as servers, but we have to comunicate with each other at the same time.

Before going to the retreat, I always try and give my mind and body a cleanse in order to be ready for practice. This means that I do not drink or drastically limit my consumption quantities. At the same time, I try and limit my meat and sugar in take. Its not fun to have any sort of withdrawls from alcohol or dietary things. While at the center, I would only eat very small meat of vegatarian foods. This means that I usually lose another couple of pounds. As a server, I eat more than if I'm sitting. While sitting, I hardly eat anything. Two meals a day and only a little rice, vegetables and kimchi. It helps to keep the stomoach mostly empty for meditation. Allows meditators to go deeper.

From these experiences, I have cleansed my mind and I feel ready to start work again. The body and mind and clean and I feel happy and light. This will allow me to teach my best and go great work. Thats all for now about my second summer vacation in Korea.
 

The Start of my second year in Korea

This is the last week of my first contract. I can't even believe it. One year has come and gone. Time flies when you are busy and having a good time. My first year in Korea  has been quite memorable, except when I had too much soju. My new contract starts next Tuesday. Since I have decided to re-sign for another year, they are paying me a 2000$ bonus and increasing my monthly pay. I am excited to stay another year and save a bunch more money and hopefully get a chance to travel to a few more places in Korea and abroad. Everyone at my school is really nice to me and I get along with everyone. No bad vibes here! Thank god! I've heard some horror stories about work places. It would make it hard to stay for another year if the work atmosphere was not amazing. For most foreign teachers I know, their work atmosphere is pretty good. The horror stories I here come mostly from forums like Waygook. I don't think this is the best representation of people who enjoy their jobs here because it would seem logical that the people that don't like their jobs would complain much more.

After my first year, I think the second year should be even better. I know a lot more Korean and I can communicate many of my ideas and get around quite well. I am also familiar with the city near by and know where all the spas and jimjilbangs are. I also know where many of the best restaurants are. I also made it through my firs tyear without a cellphone, which is unheard of in Korea. I have skype and do not need a phone at all. I can communicate with all the people I know without any problems. There does have to be some thought and preplaning when meeting them, though it is not difficult at all. I really enjoy not having a phone. I'm perhaps one of the only people in Korea that does not have one. Next year will be a breeze without one again.

Spring in Geoje is in full effect. It's an amazing time in Geoje because all the spring flowers are starting to bloom. It's really warm and I'm loving this weather. Unfortunately, spring does not last very long here. Summer comes soon and it gets really hot and humid. I was told that there used to be four equal seasons, but with global warming, srping and fall have been cut short. I believe Korea is one of those places were global warming has become more aparent. Summer is so beautiful here, especially where I live in Geoje. The vegetation is so lush and everything is green. Soon the rice will be planted and those brown patches everywhere will be filled with green. Ah!!! I love this time of year. To an amazing second year!

 

The Badminton Challenge

A couple of weeks ago, a new vice principal joined our school. He bearly speaks English but we do make an effort to talk to each other with my low level Korean and his low level English. He challenged me a a badminton match and the winner would have to buy the other a korean BBQ meal and a few bottles of soju. He was telling the other teachers how he would easily win since he was a gym teacher before being promoted to vice princiapal. I only have one year of real badminton training but I feel confident in my skills. The match was 3 sets of 21 points. I won the first set, lost the second and in the 3rd was down 14-19. I kicked in my mental game and brainwashed myself to believe I could come back. In the mean time, I did notice that my racket was broken and gave me an explanation why I was not doing as well in this set. Once I changed rackets, I came back and score 7 consecutive points to win the match 2 sets to 1. I was so happy since he was telling me that I needed to practice more before facing him in a match. I told him I was ready and that's why we played the match right away. This week, either on Wednesday or Thursday, I he will be taking me out with the gym teacher. I have to give so many thanks to the gym teacher for literally putting hours upon hours of time into training me this year. Without his help and skill training, I would have been destroyed in the match.

Year End School Trip!

The 2013 school year is officially over and for the next two weeks its spring vacation. The year officially ends the second week of February, so 2013 school year is extended for a month and a half in the Korean school system. New first grade students will be entering the school during the first week of March. This means, for the next two weeks, I do not have any classes, though I still have to come into school. I get to work on whatever I want including studying Korean, writing or reading, and planning for next year.

To celebrate the end of the school year, all teacher from Hacheong Middle school went on a field trip together. We left on Thursday afternoon after the 3rd grade students graduation ceremonies were over. We took a bus from Geoje island, to the northern part of Gyeongsangbuk-do. That night, we went to an expensive Korean beef restaurant where there was an abundance of soju flowing along with samgypsal and raw beef. I never ate raw beef but I was willing to try it. To my amazement, it was so good!. I could not help to eat more and more. I don't really understand why it is okay to eat this kind of beef raw, but I trusted that I would not get sick from it. After dinner, we made our way to the norebang (kareoke). Every teacher had a chance to sing a song while the rest of us clapped and danced around. I was singing and dancing so much that I built up quite a sweat before it was my turn to sing a song. I decided to sing "Heart of Gold" by Neil Young. I knew the song and the rhythm so it was an easy choice.

After the sing-a-thon, the bus took us to some cabins in the woods where we continue eating and drinking. I was given 30,000 won for the purpose of gambling with the other teachers. I ended up with 60,000 won by the end of the night. The air was so crisp, fresh and full of trees. Most of the teachers stayed up talking before going to bed at around 2 in the morning. The next day, we were up by 6 in the morning and getting ready for beakfast which was served at a nearby restaurant. After breakfast, we went ziplining. It was cold and many of us were tired from a lack of sleep and perhaps a few too many drinks, but the rush of zipping through the trees changed our demeanours real quick. There were 9 ziplines courses in total that we experienced. It was great fun!!!

Next we had lunch which was almost the same as our breakfast. This is typical in Korea. I t was also served at the same restaurant as we had breakfast.  The only difference was that the soup was not tofu, it was fish, but all the rest was the same. The soups even tasted the same...at least it did for me. Then we went to the last activity of the day before returning to Geoje. ATV-ing!!! This was so much fun! Every teacher had their own 4-wheeler. We had a guide and were taken on an excursion through the forest and along a river. There were a bunch of different terrains that we were taken through along the way. When we first arrived to get our 4-wheeler, I was pretty tired, though once I got onto my machine, I was beaming with energy. It was so exciting to peeling out, beep my horn at the other teachers and take the occasional picture break.

After this adventure, we made our way back to the bus for the 3 hour journey back home to Geoje. The weekend was a success and a good bonding experience with the teachers at Hacheong middle school. Some of  the teachers are leaving the school this year, so it was the outing with them. Many teachers transfer schools on a yealy basis and this is quite common in Korea. At the same time, teachers can only stay at a particular school for no more than 5 years. However, they can transfer before that time period if they so desire. All teachers that are leaving have been here for less then 5 years. Most of them just want to be closer to their home town. I don't blame them, some of the teachers don't see their families very often since they live so far away. I hope the best for them in and coming year.