CoachBri’s Blog

I sat in the Olympic Park in Seoul Korea for some time. This beautiful park was once the Olympic Village and the whole community within Seoul used it as a refuge. I sat on a small bench for about an hour, just looking at the trees and two birds and the play of the wind on the lake. The sky was holding the colour of the morning, and it seemed that particular day to rise quickly in the background of the green and majestic mountains.

A large group of little Korean children came over the hill. With their dark hair, big round eyes and small round faces they looked like little cherubs. The girls and the boys were all holding hands, and the teacher was constantly addressing the boys to stay in line and not be loud. They sat on the grass, very close to where I was sitting, because they had access to the water fountains. The little girls in the group would talk amongst themselves. And every so often they would call out to one of the boys and seemed to give him the same scolding as the teacher. As they set their blankets on the ground, they soon opened their lunch pails and began to eat. Most seemed to have some rice cakes, drinks and some type of seaweed. Every once in a while one or two of the boys would get up and chase each other in between the trees, until one of the teachers would call out and they would run back and sit down. Then the girls sat in a small circle and faced each other. The boys seem to sit in small groups that were constantly being dismantled and put back together quickly, with lots of laughter, and intention. There was, however, a boy in the middle sitting quietly by himself and who wasn’t engaged with the others. He seemed to be aware of them, but was too busy watching the girls’ teacher and the marvellous trees. Every once in a while our eyes would meet, he would hold my glance until another boy or two would come around and bother him and he would kind of shoo them away. When they finished their lunch, all the children began to play some games, and the boys were off making lots of noise and wrestling with each other. This young boy remained seated and was smiling and laughing at the children play. He seemed very content, and then became busy folding up the blankets for the teacher. It was very odd to see such a young person folding these blankets in such a well thought out manner. With the blankets on the ground, he simply would stand up and walk behind one of the blankets, pick it up and fold it over the other part of the blanket. Then he folded it again until it became a size that was manageable for him. He then presented the blankets to the teacher, who thanked him and they both bowed at each other. He then returned to his lunch pail and sat there for several minutes looking at me. He opened up his lunch pail and took out something and walked over to me and gave me a piece of what looked like a rice cracker. I took it and said thank you and then I nodded my head. A huge smile came over his face and his deep brown eyes lit up like to silver dollars. He took two small bows and then gestured for me to eat the rice cracker. I took a bite and then he laughed, and within seconds I had become the centre of the class attention. I said thank you again and then added “This is a very good!” The 10 or 12 kids began to laugh and giggle at my strange accent and words. The teacher came over and asked me, in English, where I was from. When I told her Canada, she turned and explained it to the class, and they all said “Oh Can-a-da”. The children thought this was fantastic. I took another bite of my rice cracker and all the children laughed. One of the other teachers gave the command and the boy who had given me the cracker was gone to his lunch pail, and stood behind that teacher. The girls seem to fall into line quickly, and the boys need an extra bit of time to gather their things and fool around. As they left the park and started to walk up the hill, the little boy looked back and waved. Then after that, a few others seemed to follow and waved back as well. As the children disappeared over the hill, I felt a deep sense of connection. The little Korean boy had something that was absolutely unique. I felt like I was in the presence of a very special person.

Coachbri