Day 52 Daejeon: Sports Carnival
In the wee hours of the morning, i hopped onto a chartered bus and headed to a carnival held at Daejeon University. The event turned out to be a really huge one involving members from all over South Korea. To think i thought that there would only be about 50 people from the team. HAHA. We waited for hours for our turn to play some soccer, only to be informed that there were only two female teams participating. We ended up playing only one game. X.X
I participated in the 200m race. Short distance has never been my forte and i had second thoughts about competing but i eventually dragged my feet and my doubtful heart to the starting line. The stands were filled with hundreds of people - hundreds of strangers. No one knew me. There was no pressure to perform, there was no one's expectation to live up to,... except my own. The gun went off and i ran as fast as my body and mind could go.
I made it to the finals. (because there were only about 12 participants HAHA) For the second time, i walked over to the starting line and this time, i knew i was up against stronger opponents. My heart pounded against my chest. I remembered the trainings leading up to Nationals and Nationals itself. Ten sets of 400m in ninety seconds with sixty seconds of rest in between each set. It was test of mental strength - something i lack up till today. On your mark, ready, ... BANG. I scurried around the curve like a mouse. In an instant, two runners shot to the front from behind me. I couldn't catch up. I wanted to, but i couldn't.
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| I was Yi Chorong for a day. One of the officials called me by this name and spoke to me in Korean. Somehow, i can still remember his voice. |
I chatted with two of my friends on the other side of the field while the relays were going on. One of my friends gave me a bar of liquid Snickers.
I will remember all the friendships that would have had the chance to be stronger.
