Six Things From Sixes: Vol 4

Another year, another Six On the Beach. The best event of the Korean Ultimate calendar rolled around last weekend, and Kris and I once again cut a trip to South Africa short in order to be back in time for it (sorry Dalene!). With every Sixes that I go to, I learn new things about myself, Ultimate, the community, Korea, or all of the above. Here are the lessons that this year brought.

Never go full neon.

Every year, Sixes has a themed party. This year’s was neon, a simple yet effective choice. Partygoers were decked in every luminous shade imaginable. Some had a small neon accessory to complement an otherwise stylish outfit. I decided to don bright yellow neon shorts and a matching shirt. I also emblazoned my arms and face with neon bodypaint. I could see the light coming off of my clothes on the faces of those next to me in on the dancefloor. It makes you easy to find, but difficult to be close to for a long time.

If I get drunk enough, I will consume everything in sight, including cold cup noodles left at a convenience store.

Yep. Someone ate half of a cup of noodles and left them at the convenience store closest to the bar. I came upon them later and slurped them all, to the horror of those around me. Needless to say, I do not recall this event.

Sixes is a great place to say hello or goodbye to the Korean Ultimate community.

Between the revels mentioned above, the welcoming atmosphere, and the emphasis on having fun, there really is no better place to begin or end your Korean Ultimate journey than at Sixes. Every year, there are many heartfelt farewells for those whose watch has ended, and cheerful introductions from those taking their first steps in the community. These cycles beginning and ending at the same time is heartwarming sight to behold.

Seven! Seven! E-le-ven!

If you have a Nintendo Switch, bring it with you for all Ultimate travel.

You never know when express train tickets will be sold out and you’re staring down a 5-hour bus ride back to Seoul with no means of entertainment. You could talk to your wife, but who wants to do that?

The best hat tournaments show the organisers’ hearts and souls piercing every part of them.

Sixes would not be the wonder it is without its parents, Ollie and 선화. Their love for the sport, the people, and the event is clear from the moment it is first announced until long after it is over. While more serious tournaments are arguably improved by feeling like a well-oiled machine, the charm of Sixes come from it feeling like the biggest family gathering in Korean Ultimate. From impassioned speeches, to walking around checking on the teams, to making sure that everyone is adequately fed, watered and sunscreened, the team behind Sixes elevate it from an ordinary hat to a vital fixture of the Korean Ultimate calendar.

With my fifth Sixes and fourth post about it (if you like, you can read about my experiences in 2015, 2017, and 2018), I am pleased to say that Sixes never fails to improve on itself. This edition truly was the best yet, and I can’t wait to see how it will be topped next year!

ROK-U: The Reason I Stayed in Korea

2019 marks the fifth year that Kris and I have been in Korea. In that time, we’ve made innumerable memories (some of which I’ve been studious enough to record here) and a host of lifelong friends. I can wax lyrical about how we’ve made our own home, about how our teaching jobs have improved with every changed contract, or about how easy it is to be comfortable in Korea. However, were it not for ROK-U, we’d have almost certainly left Korea after our first contract.

Awww.

For new readers to this blog, ROK-U is a social Ultimate Frisbee league that happens in the autumn (no, Americans, it is not fall) and spring of each year. Basically, people who love throwing pieces of plastic at each other gather for four or five weekends, throw plastic at each other, socialize, and generally have a great time.

2015 was, without a doubt, the most difficult year in Korea for Kris and I. Our first contract had the longest hours and we had almost no friends in our town. Kris was even accused of child abuse our first month of teaching. Our daily routine involved getting up, going to work, coming home, and playing video games until we fell asleep. On weekends, when we weren’t travelling, we were by ourselves in our apartment. Our calendar was far less full. We were enjoying the new experiences around us, but something was missing.

Oh yeah, I used to wear glasses. Also, flame on!

Then, six months into our stay, we played our first season of ROK-U. Our team only won one game the entire season, but that didn’t matter at all. We had found the ROK-U community. I had played sports growing up, from school to club hockey, and I had always socialized within my team. With ROK-U, you get to know as much of the league as you want to. ROK-U is far more than just a group of sports teams gathering to sports against each other to see who is better at sportsing. If you want it to be, it truly is a family that will welcome you and make however long you spend in Korea a much better time. Most of Kris’ and my strongest friendships come from the ROK-U community, and the wider Ultimate community we found by branching out from it.

Without ROK-U, we wouldn’t know any of these goobers.

We may have played Seoul League first, but ROK-U proved to be exactly what we wanted from an Ultimate league in Korea. The balance between enthusiastic games and making friends in the community is almost perfect. Everything can be improved, but we have never regretted signing up for a season of ROK-U.

It’s clearly a serious league for serious people. No fun allowed.

If you’re in Korea and interested in signing up for the Autumn 2019 season, all the information you need is here. I cannot recommend it more highly. It might be a fun activity for a few weekends. It might just be what holds you together when you truly need it.

How Two Teams’ Spirit Deepened my Love for Ultimate

Every Ultimate player, or player of sports in general, has their own reason for playing their game. For some, the drive to compete and be the best in their field is all-consuming. For others, it’s a way to keep healthy. For me, health plays a role, but my primary reason is enjoyment – I play Ultimate to have a good time with my friends on weekends, both on and off of the field. With this as my primary motivation, spirit of the game is incredibly important to my experience of the sport, and I have recently been lucky enough to play on two teams where spirit and enjoyment is valued above all else.

The first was my Fall 2018 ROK-U team, the Seoul Hammers.

The team was a great balance between experienced, spirited players and newer players keen to learn and become bigger parts of the Ultimate community. The season was not without its tense moments, particularly at finals weekend. We stood a good chance of making a deep run, and it was our captain’s last season in Korea after almost a decade in the country, so we wanted to try and give him one last championship. It didn’t end up working out, sadly.

Despite this drive to do well, the team dynamic was wonderful. Everyone was ready to be spirited both on and off of the field. Experienced players helped the new players without being overbearing. Newer players weren’t afraid to ask questions about the game to grow their skills. And no team represented better than Hammers at social events and parties. After my previous ROK-U team being far more results-driven, playing on the Hammers was a good time.

In between and after ROK-U lay a couple of club tournaments to add a higher-level spice to my Ultimate season, and I am honoured to say that I was able to play on Rebellion for this time.

Captained by the same long-serving veteran as the Hammers, a similar ethos lies at the heart of Rebellion – we’re there to compete, but not at the cost of players’ enjoyment and spirit. No club team I have yet played on has been more fun to play than Rebellion was, particularly at the recent K-Cup, the last tournament of the club calendar year.

Every single player on the team wanted nothing more than to have a good time whilst playing some good Ultimate. The team was a collection of some of the most spirited players in the Korean scene, and we all got along like a family. No-one got angry at anyone else for mistakes on the field. All communication was respectful and encouraging. Our sideline banter and cheers brought constant positive energy onto the field, even in tough games against teams not known for their spirit. Even when we were losing, we were still having the best time.

This sense of fun extended to the social side as well. Our team dinners were riotous celebrations of the team dynamic our captain had worked so hard to build. Sunday games were often slightly clouded by the fog of escapades and trials from the night before, but no-one cared because they enjoyed themselves so much. Several players, myself included, declared their love for the team and its people on multiple occasions. I can’t wait to play on Rebellion again next season. Some key faces will be missing, as is the norm in Korea, but hopefully those of us who remain can retain the beating heart of love and fun that kept the team going up until now.

I have been blessed with my ROK-U and club teams this past season. I haven’t enjoyed a season this much in a long while. The prioritization of spirit and player happiness over all else is a testament to the captain that made both of these teams what they are. Korea will miss you, musical man. You went out with two amazing teams and a love shot with a manager of a Baskin-Robbins. Nothing could be more appropriate.

Autumn Ultimate Wrap-Up

While the past few weeks haven’t been filled with many posts on here, which is entirely a result of my sloth, they have been filled with, amongst other things, a great deal of Ultimate of all levels, from the casual Halloween Hat, to the last few weekends of ROK-U league and finals play, and finally the Ulsan and K-Cup tournaments at club level. These Ultimate events have certainly kept me busy, and made sure that there were many Mondays where I went to work with aching muscles and a smile on my face. Let’s briefly look back at each of them in turn.

Ulsan Team Tournament

In mid-October, I was fortunate enough to make the DnD roster for the Ulsan team tournament. I had missed out on the previous tournament, as I simply was not up to scratch for the team, but a combination of working on my skills during ROK-U and other players being injured or unavailable meant that I had the chance to prove myself at a club level again. For two days, teams tested their skills against each other to see who had the best line-up in Korea. DnD was seeded 4th from the results of the previous tournament, so we had a tough pool right out of the gate.

On Saturday, we fought hard against both Baekho and LGW (two teams seeded higher than DnD), but ultimately came up short. We won one game against the lower-seeded Flickachu, so the first day was not entirely doom and gloom. Personally, I felt like I had a highly positive day, particularly on defense. Even though that is typically my strong suit, I felt like I had an especially good day.

One of my lesser defensive efforts.

The second day was the playoffs. Our team came out strong, defeating Maxima, a visiting Japanese team, before falling to the star-studded UFO. From both a team and a personal standpoint, our performances weren’t quite as stellar as the day before. We left Ulsan satisfied, but with room to grow as a team.

Halloween Hat

The week following the Ulsan tournament brought Ultimate of a far different nature. For the unaware, a hat tournament involves all players being placed on random teams (controlled for skill level as best as possible). Oh, and everyone is encouraged to play in whatever costume you can manage to pull together for the weekend. Pieces of toast played against Minions. Larry Bird took on a ghost pirate. Thing 1 and Thing 2 confused everyone with their similar costumes when they had to face off against each other.

Halloween Hat was a high-spirited, fun weekend that seemed to be enjoyed by all. While smaller than previous iterations of the tournament, those who attended all looked like they were having a welcome break from the seriousness of ROK-U and the Ulsan team tournament. It didn’t really matter who won. The main goal was to have fun, and it was met many times over.

ROK-U Fall League

Interspersed before, between, and after the two tournaments above was the Fall 2017 season of ROK-U, the largest Ultimate league in Korea. Although for the past few seasons, Kris and I had played for the Wonju Knights (a team Kris created), this year brought change. Since we had moved to Seoul, we were no longer eligible to play for our old team. We were instead placed on Seoul Hammers, a team who had won the league the previous season.

On the team with us were a number of players that we had seen around and befriended in the scene, but hadn’t had the opportunity to play with. Kris and I were both excited for the season, as after the initial practices, our teammates were highly spirited and had the right balance between a drive to succeed and the desire to play for fun and growth.

We started the season strong, finishing at the top of the league standings. We only lost one game during league play up until the weekend before finals. Then, our strongest player had to leave Korea, and that left our team with a major gap to fill, which we struggled to do. We came together in the end, only dropping one more game, but the team dynamic was clearly different, and roles were still uncertain.

Come finals weekend, and we once again struggled to find our rhythm. Our opponents, on the other hand, came out firing. We fell behind early in the first game, and while we did gather ourselves towards the end, we didn’t have enough to overcome the early loss of points. We were knocked out in the first round. We played a couple more games in the consolation bracket, which was more of the same.

Overall, our first season on a Seoul team was a fun one. The team was a great group of people, and both Kris and I learned a lot from the experienced players on the team.

K-Cup

The final event of the Korean Ultimate calendar for the year was K-Cup – one of the premier club tournaments of the year. I was once again fortunate enough to play for DnD. Like with the Ulsan tournament, some key players on the roster were injured, and our squad was smaller than it usually is, particularly in the male department. This meant that the men would have to step up and play more than they usually would at a club tournament. I was nervous about this, but secretly also excited , as it would give me extra time to hone my skills in a highly competitive environment.

The smaller roster certainly taxed the players on our team. Having to play over five hours of Ultimate on Saturday left many bodies hurting by the end. We had to play LGW, Baekho, and Boom (the three top seeds for the tournament) and Flickachu (seeded below us). The roster was different to that of Ulsan, and we had not had time to practice before the tournament. As a result, our chemistry took a while to get flowing optimally. Our games against the three higher seeds ended with us going down, b meshing together better with every game. This left us in a good position to face off against Flickachu. We ended up taking the hard-fought game. On a personal note, I sadly had to sit out the last half of the game to prevent injury to my calf muscles. I was frustrated by this, but happy with my performance on Saturday overall.

The story of DnD’s K-Cup Sunday was similar to that of our finals performance on Seoul Hammers – our opponents came out firing before we could mesh together, and we couldn’t recover from the early pressure. That dropped us down to the consolation bracket, where we didn’t quite come together again.

I was happy with my own personal performance at K-Cup. My defense was strong again, and I even snuck in a few scores here and there. I also know what I need to work on – mostly fitness – and I have months during the winter to hit the gym and get faster and build my endurance.

Whew! So much Ultimate! I enjoyed every moment that I spent on the field, with all of the teams and people I was lucky enough to do to share it with. I am, however, also looking forward to the off-season. Not having to get up at six in the morning every Saturday to travel to the not-terrible Gumi or sometimes other places will be welcome. As will the extra free time to engage in my other hobbies. Still, at the back of my mind during winter break will be the countdown clock to the start of the new season. I’m sure it will be here before I know it.

Six on the Beach: Six More Things I Learned

When I first attended the inimitable Six on the Beach hat tournament in 2015, I had barely dipped my toe in the world of Korean Ultimate, and had never before played Ultimate on the beach. After that amazing first experience, I wrote up six things I learned from the weekend. Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to attend the latest iteration of the event, and here are six lessons that I brought with me from Sixes 2017.

Cleaning up seaweed is not as gross as you would expect

When we arrived at Bukbu Beach in Pohang on the Saturday morning, raring to compete, we discovered that a large portion of the beach was covered with seaweed. We would need to clear it up in order to have all of the field space that we needed for the four concurrent games that the tournament required. I thought it would take hours. However, with dozens of players helping out, the entire beach was relatively seaweed-free within an hour, and games were only slightly delayed. It was great to see almost everyone who was at the beach helping out to clean up. We shoveled it into bags with discs, rakes, and our hands if necessary. Wet seaweed is definitely less pleasing to handle, the slimy texture far less desirable than the crisp texture of its dried brethren.

Playing a day of Ultimate on less than 6 hours of sleep might result in afternoon naps

Pohang, the city that hosts Sixes, is 3 hours from Seoul by KTX. Kris and I foolishly stayed up late the night before, and I didn’t sleep on the KTX. This meant that I did not have the sleep that I was accustomed to playing on, and fell prey to a savage nap attack. Thankfully, I fell asleep under the cover of a gazebo, so I avoided waking up to sunburn in addition to the surprising loss of time.

When selecting a love motel, shopping around can result in a better deal

Normally, when Kris and I visit Pohang, we stay in a place called the Queen Motel. We do this because it is very close to the bar where Pohang parties are always held. The closer that we are to the party, the better. However, on a friend’s recommendation, we tried a different motel nearby, and saved 10 000 won ($10, R100). More money to spend on festivities!

Your wife may get upset when you forget to watch her play Ultimate

Kris and I ended up on different teams this tournament, and our teams happened to be in completely different pools. This meant that we played at different times, and could watch each other’s games. Kris noticed this, and diligently watched most of my games. I, however, was far less on the ball, missing all of her games on the first day. In my defense, some of them were lost to the aforementioned nap. Nevertheless, I may have ended up slightly in the dogbox and made up for it on the Sunday by watching her games where I could.

The mere sight of a plastic guitar can bring back a load of memories

One of my favourite game series ever is Guitar Hero. The simple delight of being able to simulate playing epic tracks in a videogame appealed to both my gaming and musical natures. I spent an inordinate amount of time playing every Guitar Hero game from Guitar Hero 3 to the final Warriors of Rock. I was also pretty good at it, earning the title of top player in South Africa in the final year of the title’s competitive cycle. At the party, I noticed that the bar had a plastic guitar controller leaning against one of the walls, and I was thrown upon a wave of happy memories and desire to revive my love for the genre.

Six on the Beach truly is a must for any Ultimate player in Korea

Every form of Ultimate in Korea has its appeal, from the relaxed competitiveness of ROK-U to the challenge of club play. However, no weekend of Ultimate in Korea can rival Six on the Beach for the sheer joy of playing the game for enjoyment. Results don’t really matter. What matters is that you are having a good time playing the game that you love on a beach surrounded by a large chunk of the Korean ultimate community. Whether you are a fresh arrival to Korea looking to feel out the scene or a seasoned veteran of many years, there is nothing quite like Sixes, and I can’t wait to see what next year’s iteration brings!

‘Twas the Night Before ROK-U

Tomorrow is the start of the ROK-U Spring season. It will mark a bunch of firsts for Kris and I. Our team, the Wonju Knights, will be playing our first games together. It will be our first set of games as captain and assistant captain. It will be my first true trial as a handler. How do I feel. PUMPED!

Over the past few days, however, I have been feeling less than enthused for the weekend’s festivities. This may strike you, the reader, as odd. Regular readers will know that Ultimate is one of the things that has kept me going in Korea. I enjoy almost every aspect of it, from the challenge of competition to, sometimes, talking to other human beings about mutual interests (gasp).

Despite the many draws that I have to Ultimate, I always feel profoundly disinterested and disheartened in the days leading up to any major event. I feel useless at the game when I think about the people that I will be playing with and against. I perpetually bring myself down by how bad at the game I perceive myself to be. At many points, I flat out consider not going, so my team will be better off without me.

In my heart, I know that these thoughts are largely unfounded. Sure, I’m not the most experienced, skilled, fastest, fittest, or smartest player on the field. Sure, I might make a play that might cost my team the game. I may also be hit in the temple with a small stone flung from a fellow player’s foot and die.

Before every major sporting or competitive event, I travel down the roads of ‘What If?’ and ‘I’m Not Worthy’. These treks to Downertown are bad habits that I haven’t quite been able to shake.

What Ultimate has allowed me to do is grapple with and fight off these thoughts on a more regular basis. By no means do I avoid them completely. I still make myself feel like I have less aptitude for my pursuits than a slug has for playing the guitar. But I am also doing it for far less time than I used to. The self-shaming used to last several days, sometimes longer than a week. I would just feel like dirt, and I used to associate this with things that I love. This, of course, is less than optimal use of my emotional resources.

Over the past year and a bit, I have become far more self-aware, particularly of my negative habits. I still tend to gloss over my positive character traits. Nevertheless, I am working on it, and Ultimate has helped me do so. By dealing with this problem more often, I have been able to detach the negative emotions from the activity itself. I now know that it is just maladaptive behaviour that I need to rectify.

What this dissociation has helped me to do is get over it far more rapidly, and get back on the hype train more readily. A year ago, the night before an Ultimate weekend, I would be running through the possible illnesses I could fake in order to get out of it without losing face with my friends. Now, while the negative thoughts still linger, I try and focus on the positive. I try to see more angels, and fewer demons.

Apart from the more frequent resolution of my inner conflict, the other major help in this regard has been Kris. She has gotten my lazy, self-hating butt out of bed more times than I can count. Previously, when my activities weren’t ones I shared with Kris, it was far easier to skip. Now, she holds me accountable. And it has helped me climb the mountain of self-positivity.

So, here I sit, feeling not-so-down and amped for tomorrow’s play. We may win, we may lose. We will finally get our swag kit that we have been waiting for for weeks. Most importantly, I will have fun with people I enjoy spending time with, playing the sport we all love. I may be average at best at it, but that won’t stop me having a great weekend.

Sport or, How I Learned to Socialize Whilst Sweating

I sit with most of my body aching at present. My shoulder is sore. My calves are tight. My back occasionally reminds me that it is not at tip-top performance either. Finally, my throat is hoarse, and my voice gaining husky sultriness and quiet awkwardness in equal measure. Why is this? Bonding over sport, namely Ultimate and rugby. There were losses. There were wins (although these were fewer). Most importantly, friendships were formed or forged even stronger through the simple acts of playing and watching sports that we love together.

In school, I found sport largely an odd phenomenon. Sure, I played sport all of the way through my schooling career. I was in the 3rd cricket team in my final year. I batted at number seven at earliest, and bowled one over per game if I was lucky. I occasionally latched on to the optimistic thought that my fielding was that good, but most of the time I realized that I was profoundly average. The sport that I enjoyed the most in school was hockey. Although I did not achieve a higher team placement than cricket, I felt like a more integral part of the team than I did in cricket.

My first truly great sporting experiences lay on the hockey field, but on the club level. When I say club level, I do not mean the kind of club level where the players are all sporting six-packs, there is constant training, and my team is expected to win the title each and every year. I mean the kind of club level where the players are all sporting six-packs of beer, there is no training whatsoever, and the team is expected, well, to hopefully remain in the same league and not get relegated.

It was great fun, and I had many happy memories from my club hockey days. Some of these great memories came from on the field, but the majority arose during the shenanigans that took place off of the pitch. One memory that springs to mind most often is the one and only time I have seen my father truly drunk. Here is a picture from that night.

Doesn’t he look majestic? I was a year or so shy of legal drinking age, and fairly responsible. I ended up driving us home, because he was incapable of doing so. It was a night I will never forget.

Whilst hockey was my first foray into social sport, I feel that I truly found my outdoor sporting community in Ultimate Frisbee at Wits. Everywhere else, I had felt a little bit of an outsider, for one reason or another. I was too slow. I was too young. I didn’t drink enough. The list goes on, and many are likely to be overly critical perceptions from my mind. But in Ultimate, while I wasn’t the most integral part of the lineup, I still felt like part of the team to a degree that I had never felt before. Some of my strongest friends from my days at university come from the Ultimate team, despite me only playing in my final year in the university. I even played with my supervisor for my Honours thesis project whilst doing my thesis. Witsies will always be there to jol (have a good time for all of you not from South Africa), and that is what I loved about Wits Ultimate and the Ultimate community as a whole – everyone simply wanted to have fun.

This feeling continued into Korea, where the emphasis on the community is even more intense, especially in ROK-U, the main league in which I am playing now. ROK-U is largely comprised of expats from countries as varied as Russia and Canada, with several stops off in South Africa along the way. As a result, when game weekends are planned, so are organised social events for the teams to mingle and grow their expat connections within Korea. Ultimate people are great. Everyone is a little weird, and no-one cares, because you are all there together, in a strange country, playing the game you all love.

This past weekend, there was a two-day game weekend in Daejeon, which is pretty central in Korea. At one of these parties, the South Africans in ROK-U all bonded by staying up until 2am to watch our national rugby team, the Springboks, suffer a narrow defeat to the rugby juggernaut that is New Zealand. It was a heart-breaking affair, but I will never forget the sounds of a handful of South Africans (some more drunk than others) screaming at the top of our lungs at a television screen in the corner of a bar. It really was one of those special moments.

So, to everyone looking to meet new people, try sport. I’d say try Ultimate, but I may be a little biased. I am sure there are many sporting codes being played really close to you that you never knew existed. You don’t have to be serious, or even fit. I most certainly am not. Just get out there. Spend a little bit of time away from the digital overload. You won’t regret it. Not even when everything aches on a Monday evening and you have to carry heavy shopping.