throughout the country take on afternoon a week for all the teachers
to play. People tell me that Masan school district is particularly
competitive and takes playing more seriously than other districts.
When I first arrived to Ho Gye E.S., on my first day, I was asked d
see me and shout for joy "how my volleyball was. They saw that I was
tall and immediately thought that I would spike well. What they didn't
know was that I don't do ball sports at all.
I was born nearly blind. I got my first pair of glasses at four years
old. I began wearing contacts at eight years old. I could never even
SEE the eye chart at the doctors office, and I certainly couldn't read
anything on it. My eyes were so bad that doctors would shout for joy,
"Oh! I've read about people like you, but I've never seen one!" The
only sport I could play growing up was competitive swimming, and I
still had trouble there because I couldn't see the wall.
Seven years ago, I had laser eye surgery to correct my bad vision. My
eyes hurt so much from contacts that I couldn't wear them anymore, so
I had thick glasses instead. The surgery helped me see normally
(20/40-20/50), but I can't really wear glasses for normal life because
of the way the doctor corrected me. The point is, I still don't see
well, and I never developed eye-hand coordination when I was young.
Translation: I suck at volleyball.If we were choosing teams, I'd be
one of the last standing alone, just like in my elementary school when
I was a child.
Most of the teachers at Ho Gye E.S. are still very nice and supportive
of me, even though I play like a geeky girl. Most. There are some men
who play very seriously, and I don't want to play with them. They look
at me like I'm useless -- like they hate me for missing the ball -- so
I try to avoid playing volleyball now whenever I can find an excuse,
just like several other people in the school who don't play well.
Geeks make good teachers but bad volleyball players.
These unsportsman-like men steal the ball from other players, running
across the court to get balls that weren't theirs because they don't
trust the people whose balls they are. Last week, I watched a man
shove an older woman down onto the hard wood. She hit her head and
passed out for a moment. Professional athlete who act like that are
suspended from the sport.
This is a team-building exercise. It should bring the school together,
not mimic the social atmosphere of high school. Someone should tell
that to these men.
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