Amanda Takes Off...

Yesterday I was working with the elementary students on occupations. I was asking what you could be when you grow up. One of my girls said, "A pr—pr—prisoner!"

She meant "president."

Tae kwon do was tough last night, so much so that Master ended class 20 mins early. Very unusual. Class was small, everyone was aching, coughing, falling on the floor during sparring, etc. I remember a few times that Master back home would end class early; it was just as surprising last night as it was back in America. Words learned include "yesterday" (어제) and "the day before yesterday" (그저께) as well as "giraffe" (기린) and "voice" (목소리).

Tonight class was much better. After working on forms for a bit, I got to free spar three of the guys, including Blue and Tired. I back kicked Blue in the ribs and apologized while Master just grinned and said, "Ah! Amanda, good job!" Blue in turn accidentally smashed my foot. Tired was less afraid than the other two to get right up on me and and I was blocking him quite a bit. Since we weren't wearing gear, I'm sure I'll have bruises tomorrow. We played soccer and I scored a goal from across the room.

During the breaks tonight I learned a whole slew of Korean, as usual.*

Most interesting of all, I asked Master about the tenets of tae kwon do. (Although both schools I studied at in the States used the exact same phrases, things can be different from school to school.) I brought in the words in Korean (based on the above linked website) as a list to try and clarify what I wanted. He knew right away what I was talking about and agreed that he used those same words. Together we looked up each word in my digital dictionary.

Seven years ago, I was taught that the tenets were courtesy (예의), integrity, perserverance (인내), self-control (극기), and indomitable spirit (백절불굴). Many websites use 염치 for "integrity." When we looked up 염치, it was defined as "a sense of shame (honor)." I looked up "integrity" and Master said, "No, not the same thing."

This makes me wonder. Is this a mistranslation? Or was this a purposeful close-but-not-quite translation? I was looking at websites in English, aimed at Westerners; would Westerners be as open to having "a sense of shame (honor)" as they are to having "integrity?" Or is there simply not quite the right word in English for the true Korean meaning?

During our talk, I also found out the name of the studio. Master started teasing me, "Three months? Three months and you don't know name?" He pointed to the giant neon sign that was attached to the building and visible from the room. I laughed. Well, no, I didn't realize that was the name, and as I defended myself, "It's only been two and a half months!" I found out that my studio has been around for 30 years; Master's father founded it. He told me the name of his brother's studio as well; his brother's studio is less than ten years old.

I didn't tell him that I still don't know his name. I just know him as 관장님 (kwanjangnim, head of the school).

* Ghost taught me 춥다 (cold) and 덥다 (hot). The too-long-to-list list of words Master taught me includes 연습하다 (to practice [physically train]), 공부하다 (to study), 정신 (mind, spirit, soul, consciousness), 운동능련 (motion, moving, kinetic), 체육관 (gymnasium; he does not use "dojang" to describe the studio) and 순발력 (instantaneous reactionary force of one's muscles—I am sure I will use that one daily now).