Amanda Takes Off...

Today we had a taekwondo tournament. This was the first time I competed in a taekwondo tourney. It was fine but it was a very, very long day. I did poomse and striking; I got "third place" in each, which is not nearly as special as it seems.

When we got the program books, I think most of the kids looked for my name after their own, because they all found it before I did! "Oh! Amanda! Amanda!" I have been wondering if "아" is a last name here. It would have to be a very, very uncommon one if it were. I asked Master and he said no, so it was obvious that my name was unusual.

The opening ceremony was so boring. Blue, Tired Guy, and a few of the other teenage boys hadn't changed, so they didn't have to partake in the ceremony. Next time, I'm taking a page from their book. I took the time to estimate that at least 300 people were sitting on the floor in doboks, waiting to compete. That wasn't counting the people who came late or weren't on the floor.

When the ceremony was over, Master said, "Amanda, I look. You're the only foreigner here."

"I know. I think there are 300 people here."

Master pointed to the other studios that hadn't been on the floor. "Those studios, parents, taekwondo coaches, I think 600 or 700. You only foreigner."

I said dramatically, "Oh! I am lonely!" in Korean.

Master replied in English, "No, Amanda, I think you are Korean. You are not American now. You are Korean."

With unintentional perfect timing, a very young girl walked by, staring wide-eyed at me the whole time.

"관장님! 한국 사람이 아니에요!" Master! I am not Korean! I nodded at the girl, still staring at me from 25 feet away.

He laughed and said, "She not know, you are Korean."

Poomse was first. Eight of us were competing in the adult class, including two women from Master Brother's studio. One of them, Goalie and Goalie's Brother's Mother, I've had beer with before.

The woman I freesparred at my black belt test was there, too. She recognized me and we chatted a bit. (You can see her in the photo below; she's the very short one.) She's 17. When I told her my age, she freaked out. She said, "My Sabumnim is a year younger than you!" I said, "And my Sabumnim is two years younger than me." She asked me if I'd be at the second dan test next year and I said I hoped so. She said, "Ah! I will see you again, then!"

Yes, slowly taking over Korea with taekwondo, I am...

The Adults After Poomse

We did 고려 and one random form, which ended up being Yuk Jang. I messed up at least once on 고려. I had a knife hand when I should have had a fist. I did OK on the forms, but I felt somewhat "off." My pacing was uneven and I wasn't snapping correctly. Master said I did fine, but I know he knows I was nervous because it was my first tourney, and he was forgiving my performance.

Two winners of the eight of us were chosen, and the rest of us received third place certificates and bronze medals. While we were on stage, the announcer called our names. I never heard my name, so I just stood there. After a while, when nobody had stepped up, Goalie's Mother said, "Amanda!"

I thought, "My, how did I not hear my own name? Why did I think he was calling a Lee?"

When we got off stage, Master immediately checked my certificate for the spelling. I didn't realize what he was doing and said, "I'm sorry! I didn't hear my name! I'm sorry!" By this time, we were back with the boys, and one of them teased me, "안녕 이만다!"

Turns out I'm not an idiot. The announcer misread 아만다 as 이만다. I didn't know who "Lee Man Da" was, so I hadn't moved.

Since 이 is a last name and 아 isn't, it's not that surprising that he misread it. But come on, the white lady is standing right in front of you!

The last tournament event was striking. It was really disorganized. We were called down to wait while the machines were being brought out. They were tested and then someone realized that the poomse competition wasn't over. Or something. I'm honestly not sure. We were sent back to our seats to wait some more.

When we finally did end up doing striking, I was supposed to be in a class of six people. However, only four were there and I was the only female. Normally the classes would be split out by gender, but since I was the only female, I was lumped with the men. I have no idea was my striking score was, but I wasn't first or second place. After we finished striking, another guy asked us if we'd already gone and sent us one place. Then we got sent another place. Then...it happened again.

When it was time for us to receive our certificates and medals, two of the guys (including the second place guy) were missing. At least time my name was read correctly. When I returned to Master, he thought I was second place. I corrected him and used his handphone to look up "disorganized." He agreed.

He did say that my form looked good, I need to work a little more on timing. He also said that next time he thinks I should only do poomse since there are no other women in my class doing striking.

As I was exiting the stage, Seventeen Year Old Sparring Woman yelled, "Congratulations, Amanda!" really loudly. It was a bit embarrassing.

Ghost competed in sparring and was awesome. He got to second place in his class. I know he was disappointed that he didn't win, but he really did a great job. I was really proud of him. We all were.

Ghost (Red) Sparring

The tournament was an awful lot of Sit and Wait. I studied Korean a bit, slept a bit, and tried to ignore the kids who weren't from my studio who wanted to speak English with me.

(While I was waiting to do the striking competition, a girl yelled "foreigner," over and over.

I ignored her.

"Tongil foreigner!" she said, having read my dobok.

I turned around and said in English, "What?"

She froze.

"What do you want?"

She stayed frozen.

I switched to Korean. "Please don't yell at me. It hurts my ears and I am busy."

She nodded, wide-eyed.)

Master's 선배 that I met in February showed up. He greeted me and I greeted him in turn. He asked if I remembered who he was. I laughed and he asked where we met. I answered by demonstrating the clapping pattern we used when we cheered. He said, "Oh, your Korean is very good!"

Master said, "She is very Korean. She even drinks soju now. And when she drinks soju, she speaks a lot of Korean."

Master must have had soju at lunch, because he was certainly confusing the facts. His English improves with soju, my Korean turns to mush!

I let the kids loose with my camera and got back some amusing photos.

New Kid Playing With His Handphone

Tired Guy and His Signature Smile
(And the Signature Converse All Stars of High School and College Students)

Coverboy was awesome today for some reason. He was just really funny, was willing to scream loudly for Ghost with me, was chattering away in Korean and helping me with my homework.

Coverboy Plays

I have a ton of photos of him. Drinking soda, playing with other studiomates, acting coy. There's a reason I call him Coverboy (though I used to call him Mischievous)!

Coverboy and Amanda

Near the end of the tourney, I was very tired and very hot. The temperature in the gym was at least 5 degrees warmer than in the hallways. I found a spot without anyone around me and studied Korean. Master left and a few moments later Crybaby and Brave's Brother were freaking out, sending me outside (Master drove me to the tourney).

I got to his car and he said he was only outside because it was so warm inside.

I sighed and said, "I have twenty Korean mothers! 'Amanda, go there. Amanda, come here. Amanda, do this!' I have twenty Korean mothers, and they're all my little brothers!"

Master laughed. He looked up a word meaning "intimate, familiar." He explained when I was first at the studio, everyone only spoke to me a little bit, but now that we're familiar with each other, they treat me like they do each other.

Considering my age and gender, he's right, of course.

All in all, an awesome (Korean) Memorial Day.