My classes and volunteering are going well. If I wasn’t busy enough, now I dedicate two nights a week to playing badminton. To begin, I was never much of an athlete. In high school, which seems like decades ago, I did track and field. I have gotten chubby. Too many years of working at hotel or studying at college have taken their toll on me.
Despite the physical disadvantage and lack of time, I still try hard at learning how to play badminton well. As usual, I also try to be as polite as possible. I do this because I want the badminton playing students to like me. In track and field, I always got a cold feeling from the other students. Their attitudes spoke to me, they were saying, “Why are you here? We don’t want you here.” At Korea University that is not the same. Despite being the only Westerner and having little Korean speaking or badminton skills, they have welcomed me.
Now that I have adjusted, I am very happy in Korea. I have things that I didn’t have in United States. At my home, only the popular or privileged students could volunteer or do sports. If your family was not a part of the church or did not participate in small town politics, you were excluded from these activities. I am finally doing the things that I was meant to do.
