things I've laughed at recently

The students got a much needed breather this week due to our school's sports day followed by Children's Day (national holiday).  Last week was their midterms, and clearly the students were running on fumes the last few days.  Wednesday was sports day and the entire school was out on the playground to cheer on their team.  It was a good mix of running events and random games that I had never seen before, so I got a kick out of the whole thing.  Koreans have a warmup routine that is used before every gym class or sporting event to loosen up the body, so the students lined up by class and went through the motions of the 'national stretching song' while I laughed and tried to take pictures.  It reminded me of George Orwell's 'Nineteen Eighty-four' as teachers scoped out the crowd for the rebels who were unwilling to bend all the way, and the heavy usage of the term 'big brother' strengthens the comparison.  

hana, dul, set, net

Next up were some running/relay events.  The little kids race was hilarious as they haven't quite developed their running skills enough to do a whole race without a lot of falling over.  They're too concerned with where their neighbor is to focus on not face planting.  Those races ended in a fair amount of tears, luckily there was an ice cream stand near the school to quell the sobs.  Also I found it funny how the kids would run with their heads pointed up/chin first. 

Next up were some of the games.  I'll share just a few that stuck out to me.  One involved a large ball that was perhaps 4 feet tall.  They had little kids (1st grade?  2nd perhaps?) push the ball to the middle of the field and turn around and push it back where they would give it to the next group to do the same thing.  The kids got a big kick out of pushing the ball as fast as they could, but they didn't put much thought to how they should stop the ball.  This led to a lot of casualties in the waiting line as the ball would come barreling in and the kids weren't paying attention.  The ball won that battle every time, launching kids a few feet and into tears.  

some kid is donebar

Another event was quite similar to a piñata, except instead of using a stick the kids were given a bunch of hackysacks to throw at the ball.  A few unfortunate teachers were tasked with holding the pole that held the ball, needless to say they were pelted over and over again.  The students were too weak so parents rushed the field to take care of business... the teachers were none too pleased.  

sooo much homework was given out after this event

Two events that went over really well were the adult races and tug-of-war, more commonly known as pull the rope in korea...  Nothing better than moms running as hard as they can in street clothes and flimsy shoes or high heels.  The mens races were impressive with one dude wiping out pretty hard.  

winners

losers

other things that have recently made me laugh...

Nate and I were at a local watering hole the other evening, throwin darts and sippin on some barley water when an open mic session started up.  The MC was rockin out his first song, Wonderwall, by Oasis and when he got to the line 'after all, you're my wonderwall' it came out as 'and afterawrrrrr, you're my wonderwarrrrrr' and i couldn't keep it together.  South Park's interpretation of a korean accent is spot on!

That'll do it for now, hope all is well with whoever reads this.

-keith

sad day

My barber shop has been boarded up and barber pole taken down.  I'm not sure if there is any place else in the neighborhood that can make me feel so relaxed one moment and scared for my life the next like that guy could.

of course it's the day I go to get a haircut too...

correction

I will be home July 22nd-August 5th.  I should land in La Crosse around 8 PM.

I never knew this, but I guess La Crosse airport also flies to Detroit!  I'll be flying Incheon --> Detroit --> La Crosse.  Not bad!!!

take care