Playing Chicken with Umbrellas (v2.0)

It’s raining today, and to be honest, my Canadian girl senses are quite insulted. The only wisp of snow this year was 2 weeks ago, and it was fleeting at best. By this time last year we had already had 3 snows days! I made Bonhomme, a Canadian snowman in Korea. I was hoping to resurrect him this year but noooooooooo! The temperature refuses to drop below zero. *sigh* at least I won’t spend as much money on heat.

Anyway, considering the rain, I decided not to ride my motorbike to school. Let’s face it, having a soggy ass is no way to start the day. Whenever I walk to school I inevitably pass crowds of middle school boys, whose school is in front of my apartment. On days like today, however, they aren’t really crowds of boys, so much as enormous umbrella monsters. I seem to be one of the only people who holds an umbrella in such a way so as NOT to impede my vision. Convenient, no? I spend my time trying to guess which way they are going to go, or if I’m going to have to yield to them. Mind you, yielding usually mean stepping into traffic (an action which bears its own risks, no doubt). Most of the time I concede to simply raise my umbrella slightly to avoid hitting theirs. Other times I’m forced to step off the sidewalk and grumble in their general direction. I suppose being a foreigner puts me outside their rules of rank whereby they would be obliged to give me a wide berth (and possibly bow) due to my superior age and position in society. :D Hmmm, I have to admit that they usually do give me a wide berth, but certainly not out of respect. I call it fear, or at least slight discomfort. “If we don’t go near the white girl, then she won’t try to talk to us.” Don’t worry, one gets used to it!
_______________________________________________________
I love this country, mostly because of the people I have had the pleasure and honour to meet. The latest example of the endless Korean kindness is from yesterday. The teacher in my Tuesday morning workshop decided that instead of sitting in a cold, smelly room, we would go out for lunch for our last workshop. w00t! We were also joined by the two teachers from my Wednesday morning workshop, which is why I am now free to write the blog (for the 2nd time).

Anyway, we all piled into a car, 5 women and 1 man. I told him he was a lucky guy. We ate lunch at the Green Tea Plantation Restaurant and then went to a different place for some green tea. Deeeeelish! During lulls in the conversation, the teachers sometimes lapsed into Korean, which I didn’t mind. Little did I know they were discussing a Christmas present for me! Before I knew it, one of the women had bought and presented me with some very high quality green tea. She did this right in front of me and I didn’t even notice. I’m so clueless! All in all, they bought me lunch and didn’t let me pay and then bought me a present! I guess I’m the lucky one, eh?
______________________________________________________
Tales From Volleyball
Anyone who knows me well knows that I don’t get angry very often, but I do get frustrated, especially when there’s something that I can’t understand or learn in a relatively short period of time. Anyone who has witnessed “frustrated nessie” knows that she’s not fun to be around (ask my high school teachers). I believe my mom used to call her “Vanessa’s Evil Twin”, which naturally ticked me off even more. I love you mom, and guaranteed I’ll do the same thing to my children.

A few of the nasty characteristics of Frustrated Nessie are relentless biting sarcasm, impatience (both for myself and others), and a closed mind (no criticism allowed!!). All of these things are not good to have in Korea. Allow me to explain…

Volleyball is wonderful. I’m improving pretty well, but this week has been a bit tough so far. Why? Well, I’ve been pushed outside my comfort zone to do things that I didn’t think I could do (and therefore didn’t want to). Don’t get me wrong, I know that this is a good thing for me, and trust me, I like a good challenge, but it was the circumstances (namely the language barrier) which made it a little difficult. On Monday the challenge was spiking. I know I can’t do it, and I also know that the reason is because I’ve never learned how. Learning it in Korean makes it that much harder. I try, coach yells. That’s how it works. There’s a lot of yelling. Naturally, I don’t know what he’s saying, so all I hear is loud voices. Also, Koreans tend to not show facial expressions as much as I do, so it’s hard to read his emotions while he’s yelling. Enter Frustrated Nessie. I’ve got this Korean dude yelling at me to do something, but I don’t know what. My face turns bright red and I try not to yell back. That would be a biiiiiiiig no-no. Never mind the fact that, according to Korean social structure I am inferior to him in every way – young, female, a beginner player – but I am also foreign, which I think puts me right at the bottom. All I was thinking was “hold your tongue, don’t say anything, just smile and nod.” I at least managed the nod, but smiling was out of the question.

I finally realized that sometimes he yelled the same thing: “Gruhchi!” and that actually means “Good Job” or “That’s Right”. All in all, I learned a bit, but it will be a long time before I can actually spike a v-ball properly.