Eden is one of my English co-teachers, she's the one that picked me up from the airport (if you remember)... I guess I'll digress here for a moment to explain co-teachers and whose charge I am under while I am in Korea.
There are 4 English teachers at my school who also happen to be the only 4 people at Songtan Middle School who speak English. Jinny is my actual "co-teacher" and she is in charge of making sure I have accommodations, helping me get an Alien Registration Card which is absolutely crucial because you cannot do anything in Korea until you have one (i.e. get a cellphone, open a bank account or leave the country), basically she acts as my pseudo-mother while I am here. She gets compensated for having to spend time with me-- don't worry.
While Jinny is the one actually responsible for me, I have become just as friendly with the other 3 other co-teachers. And since Eden picked me up at the airport and was the first person I had a connection with in this country I have developed a special attachment to her.
How would I describe Eden... she's got a reddish bob, wears glasses, is sporty and has a great sense of humor. Having a sense of humor in a second language cannot be easy, so Eden's ability to not only converse with me, but also make jokes or witty comments that have me laughing with her and not at her is hugeee.
On the way back from a staff dinner Eden and I got to talking-- I think I asked her what sports she plays because Eden has repeatedly mentioned to me that she really wanted to be a gym teacher not an English teacher. One thing led to another and before I knew it I had agreed to play Badminton after school a few times of week as some member of club Eden has lofty dreams of starting. I'm making it sound as my hands were tied behind my back and Eden forced me to sign my badminton club membership in blood.
In actuality, I am more than happy to participate in anything that involves interacting with other humans after school. Usually after school I come home, have a snack because I am on most days famished the result of a less than ideal school lunch, take a nap, walk to the grocery store and stare blankly down the aisles of rice and dried seaweed and kaleidoscope packaging wondering what if anything I can make for dinner and then some FoxLife.
Alright, I've droned on enough now, back to badminton...
Eden invited another teacher, Maria (that's her English name) to join the badminton club so the three of us finish up work around 5, change clothes and then head down to the gym. Eden brought along some spare rackets and shuttlecocks from home and we set up the net alongside the taekwondo mats.
In my head I thought "Goddd I must look so cool. The kids are going to love me. I am going to be the coolest English teacher Songtan Middle School has ever had. The taekwondo jocks screaming and kicking each other on the mats next to me are going to pay attention in class now. God, why am I so awesome?"
Again, this is where I should have checked myself because like I said this was not your typical game of gym class badminton. I very quickly realized that Eden and Maria had come ready to play and equally ready to show me up. I of course knew none of the actual rules, normally we just swat at that thing for 30 minutes lobbing it back and forth seeing who can set the shuttlecock sailing the highest. Wait, that's not how you play badminton?
Instead, I got a very brisk introduction to the rules of badminton-- who serves when, how to the racket is actually supposed to held, how to appropriately serve etc etc. and we were off. Thankfully I've played tennis before and dabbled with racquetball so I don't look like a total ignoramus swinging a racket.
We raged on for a solid 2.5 hours and worked up a sweat if you can believe it. Apparently Songtan Middle School houses some sleeper badminton pro's one of whom, Mr. Moon (I don't think that is is actual last name, but I was told it was close enough) just happened to find his way to the gym to give us a run for our money. Mr. Moon has got to be at least 65, I'm pretty sure he's a science teacher and he's wicked good at badminton. The man didn't even have to move, no diving or chasing after the shuttlecock for Mr. Moon. He could so tactfully and with an immense amount of grace and power send the shuttlecock speeding toward your face. I got nailed a couple of times because I couldn't swing my racket into place fast enough to deflect the thing. Before Mr. Moon retired he graciously complimented my prowess and told me "With just a little bit more practice I could be really good!"
And I've got to say those first couple minutes were a little tough on me, but I got the hang of the game pretty quickly. And Eden and Maria were incredibly worthy and pleasant adversaries. I played with them twice last week and we had a few more male semi-pro cameo's by teachers who I think are understandably intrigued by the new female American English teacher who has taken a sudden interest and demonstrates quite convincingly a knack for badminton.
Playing badminton has garnered a lot of attention and respect from my fellow teachers. As I said, the only 4 teachers who are confident enough in their English to talk with me are the English teachers. Conversing with the rest of the staff is a bit more challenging, I would wager that some if not most have some knowledge of English, but are perhaps to shy or intimated to try talking in English to me. My fellow badminton-er Maria speaks very little English but the time we have spent playing badminton has eased her comfort around me and she has begun to try out phrases such as asking me to lunch in English and so forth.
If for nothing else, I want to continue playing badminton so that I can facilitate the kind of relationships I have forged with Eden and Maria with other teachers at Songtan. That is the great thing about sports, its an equalizer, a unifier-- you don't have to speak the same language, believe in the same religion or wear the same clothes, you just have to share the love of competition and the game. Just remember to bring your "A" game though...
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