Thursday, April 30, 2009

Across the universe

Last Wednesday I got to experience teacher's volleyball for the first time. My school doesn't take it as seriously as some, so it had been cancelled each week since I'd arrived. We left school early, I was pulled out of my last class 10 minutes in, leaving my Korean co teacher to finish out the day. I felt bad about it ("See ya kids, I'm off to play volleyball because it's more important?"), but it was my vice principal's decision, so I thought it was best not to argue! We drove to another school and proceeded to dominate on the court - beating the other team in all 3 games. The level was SO varied. Some of the teachers play in leagues in their spare time, while others have no volleyball skills at all, so it makes for an interesting game. I was stuck in the back row for the first game, and even though it was a 4 man back row (8 on the court total) I was somehow responsible for basically the entire back court. So I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of almost every spike or overhand serve the other team sent our way. The bruises all up and down my forearms have just faded! After winning the first game I was moved to the front row and managed to pull off a few decent spikes, and really changed things up by adding in a tip at one point - I got "oooh"'s and "aahhhhs" - from both teams.



On Saturday George and I ventured to Nampo-dong market with our friend Erin. It's a huge network of streets and alleyways filled with vendors selling a wide range of merchandise. Since Erin and I were only there to find cheap imitation purses I can't really tell you what kinds of things were for sale, but I know there was a lot! I had my first experience with bartering for a better price - and was successful both times. My Korean vocabulary has expanded to include "how much does it cost" and "expensive", both of which are necessary to bargain with vendors.



Yesterday I had to leave school at 1:30pm ( a full 3+ hours early) to go to the bank. I ended up being home by 3:30, which was a 2 hours ahead of schedule. After an apartment cleaning frenzy I decided to make the trip to the Grand hotel in Haeundae to check out their 50 m pool. It's been a full month since my last swim, and almost a year since I last swam long course, so it was tough, but I just went slow and focused on form. The pool itself was old, but the view was AMAZING! It's on the 6th floor of a hotel that's right on the beach, so that alone made me want to go back. I did 1500 m .... decent, but nowhere near what I was doing at home before I left, I need to swim more often!

1 comment:

  1. You'll find bartering at garage sales here a cinch when you get back!

    Keep up the training.

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