The Taekwondo lesson this morning was fascinating. First there was a show of Taekwondo moves by those who would be our teachers, and it was impressive. However, I did notice that the boards they were breaking as part of their show seemed to have charges set in them, as there would be a flash when they were hit, as well as a puff of smoke. Unless I seriously missed something when it comes to human anatomy and the abilities of the body, I don't think that was just created by the force of the board being broken. But I wonder why the charges were set? This is something I must look into.
As for the lesson, I had been expecting a dinky little lesson, enough to appease curious Western teenage minds, but it turned out to be a bit more than that. Had I known, I would have worn clothes that were not nearly so warm. We learned four kinds of blocks (high, low, inside and outside), and four kicks (front, side, roundhouse, and drop), as well as a few self defense moves. Then we were given time to practice with a foamy target held by the (very brave) volunteers. I say very brave because we were very bad, and there was a high probability of one of them getting kicked in the face, or other undesirable area (not like there are desirable areas to be kicked in, though some are more preferable than others).
After all that, if we wanted to, we were given the chance to break a board by kicking it. I hadn't planned on it because I wasn't terribly interested, but one of my suitemates, who usually doesn't get really into anything got extremely animated and wanted to do it and have me go with her, so I went. I didn't kick through the board on the first try, mostly because I couldn't get the order of which leg you jumped with and with leg you kicked with right. I knew I wanted to kick with my right leg, but somehow that move required kicking the left leg as well, and my brain couldn't process all this at once. The second time I made it through, and they gave me the board to take as proof that I did it. Now I really hope the TSA doesn't mind me taking it home in my luggage.
After that and after lunch (today it featured both spaghetti and pasta salad and rice . . . a little heavy on the starches), we watched a movie called JSA: Joint Security Area. It was highly entertaining, and I recommend it. I won't say to much about it in order not to give the plot away (and because I'm lazy), but it would be interesting even to someone not really interested in Korea, it's a very sweet and sad story, though filled with quite a lot of humorous moments.
After the movie, we were going to go watch Harry Potter, as it opens here earlier than it does in the States, but then we realized that the tickets would be sold out, as it only opened this morning, so that will be part of tomorrow's agenda. Instead we just wandered around outside of school, and I got some more perfume as I am quickly going through the bottle I brought, as I am trying to make up for the washed-clothes funk, and the fact that it's always hot and humid, as well as trying to do a better job of matching these Korean girls in their made-up-ed-ness. They still always look cute and put together, and I feel like a slob. Maybe it's just because I'm taller and fatter than 90% of them that does it. Or maybe it's because I dress like an American - ie, goofy.
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