Are you ready for some Futbol

OK, so John Madden wasn't here to commentate on this game of Futbol - but this is probably a good thing. Our boss, Sun, asked me yesterday during work if I wanted to play soccer with his group Thursday morning. Without putting much thought into it, I said "sure, that sounds fun!" In my mind I was thinking, "wow, this would be a great way to meet other people, get some exercise, and do something new." Once I started thinking more about it, I realized how I may have made a terrible mistake. America doesn't glamorize soccer like they do other sports. Having gained a keen interest in American Football, I didn't follow or play soccer. Now move over to Korea, and soccer is all the rave here. Just about every kid plays soccer to some degree (I have been teaching adverbs of frequency so I have found this out..."I sometimes play soccer, I always constantly play soccer......")

I met my driver at 7:30 this morning to go to the soccer field. We picked up a couple of other people that were joining us in the game as well. Luckily to my surprise, they were all native English speakers. This meant that if nothing else, I had three other guys that I could carry on a conversation with in English. We got to the field to play and began warming up. One of the other players asked me what position I play. Thinking quickly, I responded..."I don't." This set the tempo for the rest of the game.

Long story short, they took it easy on me today. Some of the players were really good, while others were just out there like me (they wanted enough people to play the game). I also realized how incredibly cool our boss is. He has done all he can to make sure that Christine and I adjust well to Korea (sometimes treating us better than other teachers). At one point in the game, a player twisted his ankle. Sun was the first one to run over to help this guy out. While we were all catching our breath, Sun walked this guy to the sideline to make sure he could rest. And it wasn't as if he was doing this because he was head honcho either - the president of all L*Bridge Campuses played as well.

I never made a goal (never attempted one for that matter) and I only made a few decent passes and steals. Most of the players went for lunch after the game. The president of our school always buys lunch for everyone after they play. I turned down the offer because the other English speaking players also turned down this offer. They lived near me, so we shared a cab ride back home. I may continue to play soccer as the year goes on or I may decide to quit while I'm ahead. I still haven't decided. What I do know is I don't expect to be playing for the American National Soccer Team anytime soon.