Yesterday was my school's sports day. Held at the grand Mokdong sport's stadium which was gigantic to say the least.
I was on the blue team and became highly competitive as I always have done. I feel that as I am becoming older and nearly at the scary age of 30 it is time that I realise my days of competition are over and that even the ability and the flexibility to just take part is a luxury. I used to be so fast, in school I was the second fastest girl and I keep thinking I am still there in that small primary school of a few hundred kids racing in relays. Alas, I am not and I must hang up my baton and only take it up if I understand 'it is just a game.'
I didn't win the relay
Silly Silly
Anyway this sporting event was extremely odd. It was a family day and so the parents and grandparents were there and it was surprising the amount of fathers that were present. Koreans work extremely hard and the majority of fathers work long hours I would say all mothers were there and about 70% of the dads. It was really beautiful to see the interaction between children and parents and I have always had a soft spot for fathers and their off spring. The sad thing is as the day progressed it became painfully obvious that the day was geared more towards parents and their (making) fun. At one point the parents took part in a race and the kids were sat in such a way they didn't even know anything was going on. They were unable to cheer or enjoy their parent's misery. I am not sure if this hadn't been thought through well enough or was deliberate but I just expected a day for the kids to go crazy.
A harsh lesson in Korean culture was also learned when a father of one of my kids fell in a race, not once, but twice. Unfortunately he wasn't a butch,musclier athlete like some of the fathers but a nerdy, overweight, balding guy who I (stereotypically) assume never got picked in his school's sport's day. He probably thanked the heaven's above that his days of physical competition were over. Little did he know that he would be dragged screaming to a day full of humiliation and torment (I do not use these words lightly)
He ran the race and ate the track early on and then after getting back up and soldering on he fell again breaking his glasses, his finger and his dignity.
If you have ever been to Korea and taken your time to see it as a culture of it's own, not as a person here for a year to just make money and leave as fast as possible, but really understand the people and their way of thinking you will know that 'saving face' or 'Chae-Myun' (family honor or pride) is ever present. It literally killed me to see this guy take 2 dives because I knew his heart would be sunk and he would feel the anguish for a long time after.
As opposed to those in the UK who would, none-the-less, be mortified but would soon enough laugh it off and proclaim that they fell flat on their face twice for their kids stupid sport's day I knew this Korean father wouldn't ever laugh about it.
Another child of mine also took a nose dive and hid his head in shame and tears he didn't even have a scratch but was also ashamed of doing something so natural yet undignified. It is sad to see such small children be so aware of how they appear to others.
Another strange thing at yesterday's comical event was the music a mixture of club songs and racey renditions fit for the bedroom, I wonder about these songs and explicit lyrics and feel sad that in today's society children are pushed into adulthood way before their time. On a slightly unrelated note Jaden Smith in 'The karate kid' seems to be emotionally, as well as slightly physically, excited by the 12 year old Chinese girl gyrating to 'poker face' in front of him.
Why are we forcing our kids to have feelings like this at 12?!
I was bullied in school because I wasn't pretty enough, I was in SCHOOL I should never have been thinking about my looks. We do that for the majority of our adult life why should I start in school and who should I do it for?!
Tragic.
I have decided that I have become, finally, a good teacher I adore my children all of them from the kindergartens to the middle schoolers and I believe each of them has beautiful potential, whether it be to speak English or something else.
One 6 year old I teach proclaimed earlier on in the year that he wanted to 'jump off a bridge' he remains in our school and usually wears a forlorn, sad face. It has become clear to me that our job is to make the environment as happy and comfortable as possible, he deserves to smile because however depressed he gets he wont be taken out of school and he will be there until it is time to go into the world of work.
I have had issues for a while now about schooling and forcing children to learn so young, to learn in a room behind desks with little freedom to run around and be free but it is the world we live in, if we want something else we must seek it as a group.
http://www.thelensoftruth.org (is one way.)
Anyway I have gone off on tangents and must re-focus.
The school sport's day was weird but I enjoyed running around with some very deeply beautiful children and seeing their eyes light up as children's eyes should always be able to do.
I was on the blue team and became highly competitive as I always have done. I feel that as I am becoming older and nearly at the scary age of 30 it is time that I realise my days of competition are over and that even the ability and the flexibility to just take part is a luxury. I used to be so fast, in school I was the second fastest girl and I keep thinking I am still there in that small primary school of a few hundred kids racing in relays. Alas, I am not and I must hang up my baton and only take it up if I understand 'it is just a game.'
I didn't win the relay
Silly Silly
Anyway this sporting event was extremely odd. It was a family day and so the parents and grandparents were there and it was surprising the amount of fathers that were present. Koreans work extremely hard and the majority of fathers work long hours I would say all mothers were there and about 70% of the dads. It was really beautiful to see the interaction between children and parents and I have always had a soft spot for fathers and their off spring. The sad thing is as the day progressed it became painfully obvious that the day was geared more towards parents and their (making) fun. At one point the parents took part in a race and the kids were sat in such a way they didn't even know anything was going on. They were unable to cheer or enjoy their parent's misery. I am not sure if this hadn't been thought through well enough or was deliberate but I just expected a day for the kids to go crazy.
A harsh lesson in Korean culture was also learned when a father of one of my kids fell in a race, not once, but twice. Unfortunately he wasn't a butch,musclier athlete like some of the fathers but a nerdy, overweight, balding guy who I (stereotypically) assume never got picked in his school's sport's day. He probably thanked the heaven's above that his days of physical competition were over. Little did he know that he would be dragged screaming to a day full of humiliation and torment (I do not use these words lightly)
He ran the race and ate the track early on and then after getting back up and soldering on he fell again breaking his glasses, his finger and his dignity.
If you have ever been to Korea and taken your time to see it as a culture of it's own, not as a person here for a year to just make money and leave as fast as possible, but really understand the people and their way of thinking you will know that 'saving face' or 'Chae-Myun' (family honor or pride) is ever present. It literally killed me to see this guy take 2 dives because I knew his heart would be sunk and he would feel the anguish for a long time after.
As opposed to those in the UK who would, none-the-less, be mortified but would soon enough laugh it off and proclaim that they fell flat on their face twice for their kids stupid sport's day I knew this Korean father wouldn't ever laugh about it.
Another child of mine also took a nose dive and hid his head in shame and tears he didn't even have a scratch but was also ashamed of doing something so natural yet undignified. It is sad to see such small children be so aware of how they appear to others.
Another strange thing at yesterday's comical event was the music a mixture of club songs and racey renditions fit for the bedroom, I wonder about these songs and explicit lyrics and feel sad that in today's society children are pushed into adulthood way before their time. On a slightly unrelated note Jaden Smith in 'The karate kid' seems to be emotionally, as well as slightly physically, excited by the 12 year old Chinese girl gyrating to 'poker face' in front of him.
Why are we forcing our kids to have feelings like this at 12?!
I was bullied in school because I wasn't pretty enough, I was in SCHOOL I should never have been thinking about my looks. We do that for the majority of our adult life why should I start in school and who should I do it for?!
Tragic.
I have decided that I have become, finally, a good teacher I adore my children all of them from the kindergartens to the middle schoolers and I believe each of them has beautiful potential, whether it be to speak English or something else.
One 6 year old I teach proclaimed earlier on in the year that he wanted to 'jump off a bridge' he remains in our school and usually wears a forlorn, sad face. It has become clear to me that our job is to make the environment as happy and comfortable as possible, he deserves to smile because however depressed he gets he wont be taken out of school and he will be there until it is time to go into the world of work.
I have had issues for a while now about schooling and forcing children to learn so young, to learn in a room behind desks with little freedom to run around and be free but it is the world we live in, if we want something else we must seek it as a group.
http://www.thelensoftruth.org (is one way.)
Anyway I have gone off on tangents and must re-focus.
The school sport's day was weird but I enjoyed running around with some very deeply beautiful children and seeing their eyes light up as children's eyes should always be able to do.
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| On the bus watching Tom and Jerry and possibly the quietest they have ever been. |
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| This stadium is pretty big for a school sport's day. |
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| Blue Team |
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| Jane |
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| The MC dressed as..actually I am not so sure but I bet he was hot. |
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| The speakers and music stage. |
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| Getting ready for the 4 hour day ahead |
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| Marching with the flag |
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| Alice and Erik (with a K as he always tells us) |
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| This was possibly my favorite part when the parents bent down with their children and gave them words of encouragement (I assume anyway) |
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| Lunch was basically given to us by the parents lots of yummy fruits for me which I was grateful for. |
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| Brian |
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| The winning relay team, Peter, Kyung Hoon, Brian, Jasmine and Sophia. |
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| The relay baton a teddy with 'bling' on his top. |
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| The cherry blossoms outside my apartment. |
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