Fighting

Ok since last week's blog was all mushy about boys; I figured I'd change it up this week and talk about fighting. Hahaha. So last Sunday, my instructor was hosting a kickboxing tournament at another gym. We met at our home gym first thing in the morning and took a bus to the other gym. I was one of two foreigners that attended the tournament. The other foreigner was also from our gym; her name is Douchi. She is awesome. I really got to know her at the matches. It was pretty sweet. We spent all day watching matches. They were really good matches. The guys from our gym did really well! The high school boys did alright; one guy won his first match and lost his second match, another tied in his match, and the other lost his match. Our adult heavy-weight fighter lost his match; it was his second time up against this fighter and the fighter is really good. He was really upset about it. All of our other adult fighters won their matches. Only two of them had to fight all three rounds. The first adult fighter went all three rounds and won. The second and third adult fighters' opponents threw in the white flag before the first round was over. The last adult fighter fought in a special match. He fought without headgear, and he was awesome! It was a really good match.

After the tournament, we all went out to eat. The guys were hilarious! They kept teaching me Korean phrases. It was really cool because the ones that normally don't talk to me tried to talk to me. A lot of them don't like to speak in English in front of other Koreans or they don't like talking to foreigners because they are afraid their English is bad. I hate it when they are afraid to talk to me. I don't want them to think that I am going to make fun of them. Most of the time their English is really good. One of the Korean girls, her name is Son, at the gym speaks English very well, but she was so afraid to talk to me. I had to encourage her to speak in English to me. But we have started talking a lot at the gym, and she is so sweet! She is also extremely strong!!!! She can kick my butt! Hahaha. There's also a Korean guy at the gym that speaks in English very well too, and he always talks to me. His English isn't as good as Son's even though his mother is a middle school English teacher. I don't like to talk to him as much as Son because he is super mean! He says he is just kidding, but he always talks about the same thing so I'm thinking he's not. Anyways, he rides the same bus as I do so if we leave at the same time he likes to talk. Luckily, two other guys from the gym ride the same bus too. I like the other guys, but the other day he started being mean right in front of the other guys. It made me so mad; I moved to stand by the door awhile before my stop. I think he might like me, and so he's trying to pull a jerk move by breaking my confidence. He's asked me a couple of times if I have a boyfriend, and he's told me that he doesn't have a girlfriend. Guys are so weird sometimes! Grrr. Anyways, this post is not about boys right? Hahaha, but it was cool riding the bus with the other guys because I got to talk to them a bit and learn more about them. One of them is one of the guys that doesn't want to speak in English to me because I'm a foreigner which sucks because he likes to use the jerk to interpret for him. I hate that he won't speak to me in English because we are about the same age, and he is one of the guys that is really good with the little boy at the gym. So I would like to hang out with him more, but the language barrier is definitely a problem. The other guy is awesome. He is a big guy, but his skin is so soft...so I call him Pandy like a Panda Bear. He speaks to me in English when no one else is there to interpret for him...his English is good from what little he's used anyways.

Friday at school, we had birthday parties for the kids whose birthday is in May. The teachers also got a lot of presents because Teacher's Day was on Saturday and since we didn't have school the kids gave us presents on Friday. I got a lot of flowers, candy, and I even got some lotion and bath gel. It was definitely really nice!

Saturday, the gym had testing for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I went to watch because I haven't been feeling well lately and I didn't think that I would do well. It was intense!!!! They had to spar over and over with several different guys. One of the guys didn't pass his test and didn't get his stripe on his belt. He was upset the rest of the day. We went out to eat again afterward, and he still wasn't happy. It was nice eating with all the guys again. After dinner, I rode the bus home with Pandy and another guy. They were nice without the jerk there. We actually had a good conversation.

Today, Sunday, I got up early to go to Korean tutoring. It was ok. It was difficult because they taught me the Korean alphabet last time, and they expected me to be able to read stuff this time. I told them that it was going to take me some time because I have to hear the pronunciation while looking at the letter. It's also hard because I don't have a lot of time to study. I have a lot of time to practice phrases because I'm in Korea where everyone speaks Korean so I get speaking practice in. Hopefully, they understood and weren't too mad at me. After that, I went shopping. I wanted some shoes, and I had to get my Dad a Father's Day present to ship home. I have to ship home my Mom and sister's birthday presents and my Dad's Father's Day present this week in order for them to get there in time. I got my mom and sister some accessories because they are easier to ship and all girls love accessories. Dad's present was way harder to find. I went to a shop and picked up some chopsticks, a sign that says office in Korean, and some pencils with Korean writing on them. Then, I went to twenty different shops looking for a ball cap written in Korean. It is so hard to find those because Koreans mostly wear MLB caps or caps written in English. I finally found one and got it. And now, I'm doing laundry and writing this so I think we're up to date.