Quantity versus Quality
On my way home from the gym today, I stopped in again to watch the boys hit in the batting cage. It really struck me how much better the kids in America are at baseball than the Korean kids. There are several things to consider here though, not just America has more people, etc. These boys practice from 9-6 everyday, yet their skill level is nowhere near kids of the same age in the U.S. The kids in the U.S. practice, I would guess on average from 1.5-2 hours 3 times a week, and that is during the good weather months/baseball season. Here, they are doing it year round, and when school starts up again, they will still be practicing for 5 hours I am guessing. So, is the quality of instruction that much better in the U.S. than it is in Korea? Does it have to do with genetics? We have much more muscle structure than Koreans do as well as bigger and longer bones. This is due to their diet versus ours as well as genetics. Meat is not a "main course" as it is in the U.S., which no doubt contributes to our kids' size. Back on topic though. The coach at my school has been doing this for 7 years I believe, but he does not have a college degree and he started doing it when he was 19 (he's 26 now). Does his knowledge or lack of knowledge come into play? How much does it have to do with the fact that he is teaching the kids whatever his coach taught him rather than possibly exploring other options. Their hitting is very weak because they do not use their legs very well. They hit with their hands, then their hips, resulting in weak hitters. In the U.S. several different styles are taught depending on the coach, but the constant tends to be hips first, then hands, resulting in more power. Maybe it is just the differing cultural styles, such as his coach did it this way, this is how he was taught, this is how it has always been done, so we will do it this way. Overall, the kids here have a lot higher quantity of baseball, but I think the quality of baseball, both practice and instruction, are not as high as in the U.S. I am sure there are some kids that practice baseball for 4 hours everyday and they also get good instruction in the U.S., but the numbers of kids doing it for more than 4 hours a day in Korea probably far exceeds the number of kids doing it in the U.S. I also wonder how many of these boys here would be playing baseball on their own with their friends if they weren't on the school team. I am sure that my brother and I had a lot more fun than these boys are having now. We loved going to practice after school and after our paper routes, well, I guess I will only speak for myself, hahahaha, but I also loved playing it with my friends in our yards or in a neighbors yard. Would it have been the same for us if we would have been forced to practice all the time? Who knows. Thankfully, we never had to find out. These kids I don't believe have much choice in the matter, which is unfortunate.
Hey all, things are going good at school still. I think we have the apt problem taken care of. It sounds like they are gonna let us have the $300/month, and we will stay in our current apt. They are also gonna give us a small portable stove that uses the little propane tanks, similar to a camping stove. This will give us a 2nd burner to cook on now. Along with what Debbie used to use as her electric tea kettle will give us 3 things to cook with. Put the veggies in the tea kettle and it is boiling in like 30 seconds, not EVEN exaggerating. Debbie can back me up on how quickly it boils. This will pay for most of our food bill each month, so that is good. Also, smaller apt=lower utilities. Save a dime, save a dollar. Then give that dollar to my student loan company. hahahahaaha. We recently a acquired a water cooler for our apt. Free, but we have to buy 2 19liter bottles of water every so often, big deal. Only $5 each, versus paying $3 for a 6pack of 2liter bottles which we then have to carry home from the store each time we go. Tap water is not good enough to drink. Koreans don't even drink it, so it isn't just the foreigners. We are only teaching in the afternoons now, 3 classes at 40 minutes each. We still have to come in at 9:00 though. Borrrrring. I "sneak" out quite a bit for 30-45 minutes at a time to watch/help out with the elementary baseball team. It can be difficult sometimes because of the language barrier, but demonstration goes a long ways. Can't believe our first 3 weeks are up. They have really flown by. I hope the rest of the year goes the same way. Smooth at school, and no problems with the apt. That would be great.
We are currently trying to decide what to do with our vacation time. Last year I didn't really travel much at all, other than around Korea. This summer we are gonna use 7 days of vacation and fly to Jeju Island, South Korea for a 3 or 4 day weekend, and then we need to decide what to do with the other 5 or 6 days of vacation for the summer. Hong Kong is a possiblity, but we are still researching it. It might be ungodly hot and humid at that time of year, so will have to check into it further. Travelling around Korea is a possibility so that we won't be spending as much money on flights and hotels. During the Chusok Holiday(Korean Thanksgiving) we will be going to China to visit the Great Wall and other things. Debbie is expected to SHOP LIKE CRAZY! hahahahaha. Get your requests in now for purses, etc Rachael and others. hahahhaa. Next winter will be Thailand, but we are not sure for how long. We will still have 5 days to use as vacation. However, if we resign with the school, they will give us an extra 2 weeks of vacation, in theory so the teacher can visit home. So if we can combine the 5 days with the 2 weeks, we might spend the Christmas season travelling Thailand, Phillipines, and the south Pacific with one of the special airpasses where you can travel to so many places whenever you want for a set price. Something like that, we have to look into it more. If you have any suggestions, let us know. That is just what we have "decided" on so far, but it could change. Have a super weekend. Cheers.
baseball opening ceremony
The pictures are of my 130,000won(apprx $140) bottle of wine that I was given at the "opening ceremony" for my baseball team. Everyone on the team was given one, including my co-worker, who is only on the team cuz he can speak English and Korea. He says he has never played baseball.
This "opening ceremony" was more of a big deal than I expected. There were 8 huge flower things, not the real name for them, but they are taller and wider than I am all fresh flowers and I can't imagine what they cost. I got to admit, they do smell really good though. Our sponsor is a local TV station, and I guess they pay for everything, including the food, which included big trays of fruit, chicken, beef ribs, sushi, shrimp and of course the always present octopus and kimchi. I was just expecting it to be a bunch of Koreans sitting in a small restaurant eating pork and drinking soju. I can't wait to see what they will give us if we do really well, or what about if/when I hit a HR. I wonder if there will be gifts for playing well. hahahahaha. Debbie is hoping for more wine. I told her I got this bottle of wine for her, but once we looked in a pamphlet that was in the bag and saw the price, I decided I will try some of it.
I am really hoping they don't hassle me about doing things the "Korean baseball" way. I think our body types are a wee bit different, and I have been doing the "American baseball" way for oh, probably about 25 years, so don't think I will be changing it. We are apparently a "new team" so this is the first year for us. the 8 guys sitting at my table are all younger than me, so maybe they can play ball a little bit better than the team in Masan from last year. The last thing I had to do is cut the cake. I guess cuz I am the foreigner. It was me, the team director, the manager and I think 2 of the big wig businessman for the photo op. Maybe it is good press for them if they show up in a newspaper with a Megook(American). Thats all for now. Cheers.
First baseball practice
Wow, what a confusing day. I showed up at 2:00 when we were supposed to have practice. I started playing catch with a guy there, then I took some fly balls and ground balls. Afterward, one of the players asked me to be on their team. That got me thinking, hmmm, maybe this isn't the right team. Sure enough, the elementary school coach came up to me and said, "Practice, uhhhh, delay, ok? 4:00 PM. Hey when you don't know their names, they really do look very similar. And as a friend of Debbie and her brother, who happens to be Chinese said, "There was a look alike contest in China, they all won." So unless I know their names, it is very hard to know who is who. You try remembering which guy is Kim Sung Joon, and which one is Kim Sang Yoon. Sang and Sund sound very similar as do Joon and Yoon. On the plus side though, I know all 12 names of my students from my morning class. I think Debbie and Christina may not know any of their students' name.
Anyhoo, the manager for the elementary school is apparently the manager for the adult team I will play on, although I don't remember seeing him out there with the elementary school during practice. I am not sure how it actually works with them. But I did notice that it is WAAAAY too serious for kids that are 9-12 years old. It's ok to be serious, but kids that young don't need to be getting yelled at like that after every inning. I don't know much Korean, but I do know when someone is yelling at another. The kids looked scared to play. I don't think they ended up winning. And I found out later that I don't think my team even practiced, so I don't know who was wanting me to get measured for a uniform. I hit with a few of his team members for about 45 minutes, then left as he tried to get me to stay for a uniform. I guess I told him I would be on his team, again, thinking it was the regular team that I was supposed to be playing on. oops. At least I got a few hundreds cuts in the cage. Guess that's all for now. Cheers.
Pics from Dr. Fish
The Dr. Fish sign. Debbie and the fish above. Me and my fish on the left.
Pictures from Osaka
Temples we visited in Osaka, Japan.
The oldest temple in Japan. It was built in the 500's. I think around 570 but cannot remember.
Me and my ladies. hahahaha
A little man holding up the Ash Buddha temple.
Below is the temple where the Buddha made of ash can be found. The story is over 200,000, I think closer to 300,000, bodies were burned to make the ash for the buddha statue. No pictures of it though, sorry.
Baseball in Gwangju
Hello, today was a gorgeous day so Debbie and I walked around the neighborhood mainly looking for a gym to work out in. No luck, so we headed towards our school because we knew there was one nearby. We walked past our school and there were Koreans inside the baseball building practice. Lucky ME!!!! I communicated with them that I was a teacher at the school and one guy said he was the coach of the school's baseball team. Then I asked if I could play on their men's league team. He said "test, next Sunday." Which I guess means tryout to see if I am good enough. I played catch with him and they were all impressed it sounded like, so chances are very good that I have found a team to play ball with. Even better is that after work, I can jump in the batting cage at our school and take some cuts. If the gym across from the school is any good, then I can head over to lift weights right after that. Home by 6pm to cook and eat dinner and then I will have free time without having to worry about going to the gym after dinner. Hopefully it will all work out. Now I just have to try to convince the school to let me help with coaching the baseball team.
I'm back
Hey everybody, it's me again, "viperinkorea." I was brutal last time cuz I just didn't write much at all, but this time, I vow to do better. I am in Korea this time with my fiance Debbie. We are in the city of Gwangju, South Korea. Popluation, 1.5+ million people. Home of Mt. Gundeumsang.....or something like that. We are currently in a very small apartment, considering it is for 2 people, not just 1. If it was solo, it would be more than big enough. We haven't decided if we will stay here or not though. We originally told them we wanted a bigger apt, but we have since reconsidered among ourselves. We are considering trying to get the extra $300/month instead of a bigger place. When we got here there was nothing in the apt except a bed. At our urging, they have since added a wardrope, tv stand, dining table, 2 chairs, and a microwave. The tv will be coming next week. We hooked up the internet this morning, and the phone and cable will be next week, hopefully with several English channels.
Our school so far seems fantastic. We have the normal extreme disorganization that is to be expected here, but at least it isn't just us, but our Korean co-teachers as well that are left in the dark about everything. We work 8:30-4:30 so we have normal working hours. We are not sure where we will find a gym, haven't really explored the area. Spent our first Saturday at Home Plus, probably the best supermarket/department store for foreigners. I got a haircut, which is ALWAYS an adventure, and we both experienced Dr. Fish. You place your feet in a tub full of little fish, which peck at your feet/legs, presumably to eat any dead skin. Very ticklish and freaky feeling. But feet did feel good afterwards. Still do tonight. I will include pictures of it as soon as Debbie uploads them onto her computer. Our co-worker rocks. She has been in this city for 4 years. She is here with her fiance. They are from Montreal. She is willing to fight for what we all deserve just as Debbie and I are. Some foreigners show up here and work, and just go along with what their Korean bosses tell them, which can lead to a lot of unfairness, not in the foreigner's favor. All 3 of us will demand to be treated the "right way", as she proved by standing up for herself on a contract issue and Debbie and I did the same on the apt(even though we might stay in it for the money:$300) Wow, what a long write up. Sorry about that, but had a lot to cover. Hope this finds all in good health and good spirits. Cheers.
viperinkorea
