I want to start off by saying that the lack of pictures in this post is mostly due to the fact that I didn't really have my camera with me during the day because I was out on the field and when I did have my camera, it wasn't really the most opportune moments to snap some photos. With that being said, the quick trip to the Philippines was excellent. We got into Manila a little before midnight on Friday night and caught the shuttle bus bound for Clark that the tournament organizers arranged for us. Clark Field is roughly 2 hours away from Manila so we didn't arrive at the tournament site until after 2 am Saturday morning and we had to be at the fields for 8 am, so it was a quick night of sleep. Unfortunately there wasn't a lot of time for sight-seeing on this trip, but from what I saw and have heard about Manila, it's not the nicest city. I'm interested in all the history that has taken place there but modern-day Manila is very cramped and packed in. There are malls everywhere and lots of traffic, but I guess that's a given in any big city. Clark Field is an interesting place. Up until 1992 it was a U.S. Air Force compound but has since been converted into a resort and family camp area. Our accommodations were pretty nice. We split 2 villas between our team (or at least the Korea half of our team) which meant that each person got their own bed (a rarity at Ultimate tournaments) and the villas also had a nice living room and dining room area.
Back to the actual tournament...We had our first game Saturday at 8 am and while we were warming up, we got to meet the other half of our team who came from Singapore. I had no idea what to expect from them, but they all played really well and were a definite asset for our team over the course of the weekend. Our team played alright on Saturday; we had moments where everything was clicking and other moments when things completely broke down. But, this is to be expected from a team that really hadn't played together at all. The weather was pretty decent all weekend long, in the high 70s Fahrenheit and very humid, but a welcome change from the cold front that blew in back in Korea at the end of last week. After the games on Saturday there was a tournament party and originally our team had intentions of attending, but after a day of play and the late night on Friday, only half of us made it out. I was not one of them and felt quite refreshed Sunday morning after the 9 hours of sleep Saturday night (a rarity on a normal weekend!). Sunday we won our first game and moved into semifinal game for 9nals (Ninals) against Beijing. Unfortunately we got off to a rough start that we couldn't recover from. Overall I believe we finished 13 out of 32 teams, which was disappointing, but gives all of us some motivation to work harder over the winter in preparation for the spring season. The tournament itself was a lot of fun and I'm glad I went, it was nice to get away to somewhere warm for the weekend, especially after being in the news all week. It was also great to see Shira Klane, a friend from Madison and Minneapolis, who is currently working in Vietnam. She played for the women's Ultimate team at Wisconsin and picked up with a team based out of Cambodia for Spirits. I know that Dave, Shira, and I took a picture for everyone back home, but Shira has it on her camera, so when she posts it, I will put it up here as well. The return journey to Seoul was pain-free and before leaving the Manila airport, the requisite dried mangoes were purchased and brought back to snack on, hopefully they last a long time.
In other news, I know some people are probably wondering what the real deal with last week's artillery exchange at Yeongpyong-do and the following diplomatic gestures is all about. To tell you the truth, it's all a little confusing as to why it happened and what will happen next, but rest assured, I'm safe and sound here in Suwon and just hoping that diplomacy is able to work all this out. I know American (and Canadian) news outlets tend to sensationalize world news like this and I've seen articles that have blown the event out of proportion, but day to day life here hasn't changed at all. I think I wrote in an earlier post that I'm going to Thailand for my winter vacation with my friend Judy. Well, we finally booked our tickets and we'll be going from December 30th-January 9th. We'll be in Bangkok for 3-4 days and are trying to decide what island or islands to stay on. We're deciding between Ko Phi Phi, Ko Samui, and Ko Pha-ngan, so if you have any suggestions or recommendations, please let me know. I can't believe it's already December and I'll be going on this trip soon. It's almost time to add more pages to my passport! Also, in music news, Eric Clapton comes to Seoul February 20th, one more concert I'm probably going to have to see.
Congrats to the Badgers for pretty much securing the Rose Bowl bid, can't tell you how much I'd love to be there! Let's see if maybe they can sneak into the national title picture after this weekend. I'll leave you with another action shot from the weekend and the usual links. Happy Hanukkah to everyone at home, enjoy the latkes and sufganiyot. I think we might try and get a Hanukkah brunch together here next weekend.
 | ||
| Scoring a goal and trying not to run over my teammate. |
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-HLujHZMeqw
I'm sure everyone will enjoy this:
http://dosdose.com/game/13/where_in_the_world_is_carmen_sandiego/
No comments:
Post a Comment