Boards

In taekwondo class tonight, the instructor said something to the class (there were only 6 of us tonight, of which I was by far the oldest), and everyone cheered loudly! I knew it must be a day of no exercises!! Yay!! I was up for that...since this last week I think I've used every muscle in my body I didn't realize that I had. Not bad, just really painful. I was seriously considering not going tonight, but figured I'd push myself one last time for the week. And it was worth it!

The instructor sat down on the floor, and the kids all joined around him. He started putting thick plastic boards together that were curved slightly like a "u". Then he stacked them and had us each go one at a time cracking one board. Then 2, then 3, and so on. When someone couldn't break through all the boards, they were out. We got to 4 boards, and it was me and 3 kids. Then at 5 boards, it was me and one other boy. At 6, it was just me. I did it!! So the instructor made it more difficult by jumping all the way to 10. I cracked 8 through, and the bottom 2 wouldn't give. Ahh!! It hurt so bad!! But it was worth it. The kids all cheered me on calling me "Queen Amy" for the rest of the night. It was so cute.

One boy in particular stands out to me. He's pretty rough and has a ton of energy trying to be the center of attention. He's maybe 11 or 12 years old, and I think the instructor knows more than I do. Because when the other kids act out, they get scolded pretty harshly, and this boy gets an arm around his shoulders and a hug...He doesn't seem to be friends with anyone in the class, and he speaks no English, but the last 2 days I've stayed after playing soccer with him. Just him and I after everyone goes home. It's so fun, and he tries to teach me Korean words for different games with the ball he makes up. I taught him how to jump rope with two people and one rope, and he thought that was pretty cool. I don't know, I think everyone needs a friend, and in taekwondo, I definitely need one, so I'm thankful for this kid! There's something special about him, but I'm not sure quite what...