I have entitled our blog with our wood ball chant because today was the tornament we have been training for over the last few weeks!
When we showed up and were standing outside the stadium it was a surreal moment. For me it was a bit intimidating because the stadium is huge and there were people everywhere. Given that some of these people, like our coach Ms. Lillian, had been perfecting their wood ball skills for years, I was not expecting to be anywhere near the top of the leaderboard, but I did have the expectation that I would have some fun and maybe even learn more about the sport. It took me by surprise when we were told our teams and we were all separated. I begun to panic a little just because I was depending on us playing together. We were all beginners so there was less pressure when we played together and I felt more comfortable. I should have known better though because the whole purpose of the trip is about getting comfortable with being uncomfortable! I remembered that in life you have to be flexible or you’ll be very unhappy. When we went off into our teams I felt I didn’t have much interaction with mine. For a good majority of the time my teammates spoke to one another in another language and so I felt left out. Instead of speaking up and making myself more present, I stayed mostly to myself which wasn’t very smart on my part. I participated in shaping my own experience during the tournament and therefore I could’ve done more to make it more interactive and enjoyable for myself. When Mr. Mathias called us for lunch I was so excited to get a break from playing and though some of the other SIUE students felt that same way, others had been having a good time and were very into their games and would rather have kept playing than being interrupted just to go eat. That just goes to show how different perspectives create different experiences. After lunch, we all played together again and I did really enjoy that because we all were very encouraged of each other and were routing each other on.
Ultimately, the day was very long and draining, but it was still a worthwhile experience because at the end of the day it taught me something about myself. I was able to reflect and adopt a new perspective. The highlight of this day for me was seeing the traditional dance performances. A few of us even got up and joined in on the experience (I was not one of those brave souls, but hats off to them. I truly wish I was that brave and just got up and did stuff sometimes without being so worried about making a fool of myself). Anyway, sorry for the random tangent, but that was my day and we shall see what tomorrow has in store!
A Whole New World 