This weekend I took part in a volleyball tournament, along with about 90 percent of the foreigners on Jeju. The tournament took place at Iho beach on the north part of the island. Iho beach would be a nice beach but for the random bits of styrofoam and other refuse that are littering the sand. However, there are some really cool lighthouses which look like Trojan Horses. I’ll have a big photo dump of all the pictures tomorrow, but for now, this blog post is going to be in black and white.
As for the tournament, it was fun to pretend that I play sports, but at the same time, it was a grueling affair.
I had to wake up at 5:30 on Saturday morning (and 7 am on Sunday), because the games started at 8. Last week, I went to Iho beach to practice with my team and had a hard time figuring out how they were going to have a tournament there, as the beach is pretty narrow, but somehow they squeezed nine courts onto the sand, as well as pretty white tents for every six-person team that was there.
The tournament was basically divided between A teams that were in it to win it, C teams that were in it to get drunk on the beach, and B teams that were suffering from an identity crisis. Can you guess which group the Jeju Planeteers were in???
I’ll give you a hint: by around 11 am, one of our team members (not me) was (hilariously) missing half the balls that came his way. Not that anyone on our team was doing that much better. We had some good games and some good points, but the Planeteers made a bad habit out of blowing early leads. In fact, during our last game on Sunday, we were winning 11-1 and ended up losing 21-13. I think one girl on the opposing team served for 17 straight points or something ridiculous and embarrasing like that.
As for my own volleyball skills, I was pleasantly surprised at the level of competency I displayed, which hovered around mediocre, occasionally rising above that mark and then falling when I got tired during the middle of the afternoon on Saturday and Sunday.
My serves were solid and consistently hit the mark, although they weren’t necessarily difficult to hit back. But I did get a few aces. During the first few games on Saturday I took things seriously, then as we started playing teams who were just getting drunk and being silly, I started getting tired and frustrated and so I broke out some citrus wine and then was (literally) dancing my way through the final few games of the afternoon. That continued into the morning as well.
There was a dance party, as well as people shooting off fireworks at each other as if they were wands. I took part, and for my efforts, a friend judged that ‘this was the stupidest thing I have ever seen anyone do in my life.’ One of my co-teachers knows someone who has a glass eye because the fireworks went somewhere they weren’t supposed to go. But I still have both of my eyes, neither of which work particularly well in the first place! So, no harm done, except to my pride.
The Jeju Planeteers lost most of their games. On Sunday, I think we went something like 2-25. But while the Planeteers lost this weekend, so did the Phillies and Yankees 10 thousand miles away, which overall equals a WINNING weekend of sports for me. And I got exercise as well.
There was also a dance party. I was having a great time until my body instantaneously decided that it was time for me to go to bed. I felt dizzy and exhausted, and although I was irritated that I was going to call it an early night, maybe going to bed at 11:30 wasn’t such a bad thing after all.
I wouldn’t call it a habit, though. I’m too afraid to say what time it is in Korea right now, so I’ll mention that it’s currently “pi time” (3:14) in New York right now and let readers do the math themselves.
Tomorrow: photos. Right now: sleep.
Culture Time 