Working

So while I've been primarily studying for the past year, I've also been goofing off to do some 'work.'

This has involved everything from writing to visiting a tourist area in the south.

While it has become clear that I will never be a linguistically agile person, what with it taking so long to learn Japanese, I've found that I'm decent enough at dropping in and out of a variety of situations to do a variety of jobs.

I'm coming to the end of my language learning, having spent the last of my saved money on this terms tuition.  With that, my options are basically as follows:

Sponge
Mooch
Work

I don't really have it in me to sponge any more than I already have been.

I don't really know what mooch means.

I guess that leaves work.

So the next question is, where to work?  I still don't have the necessary language qualifications to work full-time at a 'real,' company, so it's probably going to be a part-time job somewhere.  If you will indulge me patronising the reader a little, if you are under 50 or so years old, you might misunderstand the term part-time here.

It used to mean fewer than X hours a week (depending on country, somewhere around 25 hours a week).

Part-time now means a job that pays terribly, has zero benefits (health insurance, pension, etc) and can be any number of hours a week.  To put this in perspective, I was a part-timer while I was teaching, because I was paid for X number of hours despite working much longer.

At this point you're wondering what on earth I'm talking about and why I've written this confusing screed against the current state of employment law around the developed world.

Don't worry about it.

This post is entirely for me, reminding myself why I quit my previous job and am working to improve myself.  Everyone has to write something like from time to time.

Legs

So last Saturday was the first (maybe the second?) proper training session of the year.  We'd done a lot of fitness for a couple of weeks prior but the entire squad turned up for the official beginning.

We played a few different games, aimed at skills and fitness to try and get into the new season at a run.

It was surprisingly cold so I obviously went for short sleeves because I'm a fool.

I think I had my hands crossed for 90% of training to try and keep the extremities warm.

We also played a game of 7's against a local team, I scored 2 but my hamstrings are incredibly sore again - I need to start stretching, massaging and hot/colding once again.  This seems to crop up once every few months, achilles tendinitis perhaps?

A game of 7's right after training isn't exactly a great idea so I scored our only points before I limped off.

The first one was from the kickoff, I handed off a couple and ran as hard as I could, just about making the line ahead of their team.

This is from the kickoff, bad achilles and all.

The training went well, the fitness was okay, I just need to figure out how to buy a new pair of legs and I'll be good to go!

So it's Like That, is it?

So yesterday was one of those days that turned on a sixpence.

We went to Gohyun in rush hour, which is a forty five minute bus ride, expecting to find an american football practice session.  We turned up expectantly, and so did four other people.  I'm no expert, but I think american football requires a few more than four people.

The complex we visited is enormous.  Samsung international, the people who own the complex (and the team, incidentally) are one of the biggest companies on the planet.  Their turnover would, if it were counted in world GDP, come in at number 35, ahead of Argentina.

Now that's a fact that blows my mind.  I sat there for five minutes, thinking of all the countries that have a lower GDP than this companies turnover.  It's a lot.  Samsung account for 20% of all Korean exports.  Just think about that for a second.  Koreas GDP is in the region of a trillion dollars a year, and Samsung turns over 200 billion of that.  My mind still can't quite understand it.

Anyway, these four guys turrned up and said there was no training because no one else had turned up.  I was thoroughly disheartened, and we all went to play basketball instead.  After ten minutes of me moping around being all depressed, the guys who were in the changing room came out and  started running about.  Naturally, I ran over there and started joining in; low and behold, they taught me how to play _______ .  I don't know what the position is called, but they taught me it.  It's an offensive position, and not just in nature - I have to be protected by a bodyguard, and I essentially just run forward and score touchdowns.  It's pretty restrictive as a position, because there are only a few avenues of attack, most of the pitch being taken up by fatties.  I was only in trainers, as my boots haven't arrived yet (another thing that hasn't arrived...) but I was able to skin all four of them.

One of them  was the quarter-back, one was his bodyguard, and the other was my bodyguard.  Their English wasn't great, but it seems like we're going to be a four-man unit on the pitch.  I don't know if this is how they treat all their new players, but they were extremely friendly, and were extremely positive about my chances of playing in the first game on July the third.  However, as I've realised many times before, it's important not to count your chickens.  Todays positive reception is tomorrow frosty farewell.

On a tangent, my finger is still broken, and it hurts like hell right now.  I'm going into the nurses office tomorrow to get it taped up, and when she's not looking I'm going to steal a few rolls.

I think the whole 'training' session started well, because they were jokingly try to tackle me, and I skinned all three (one had left at this point) in one attempt, and I think they realised I wasn't here just for a jolly kick around.  Remember folks, opportunity knocks around every corner, so be prepared to grab it when it comes.  The first real training session starts next Wednesday, as it will be full contact, fully padded nonsense.  I figure all I need do is score ten touchdowns to secure my place in the team.

No problem.

At least it's not as difficult as rugby.