I made an astounding discovery the other day. I learned that you can sweat when you play badminton and I don’t mean little drops of sweat but I mean you can get drenched. Autumn and I met up with two of our Asian friends to play some basketball. I was so happy that I found some girls who enjoy sports (that is a very rare thing to find). We headed out to the basketball courts but they were packed full with guys. After a quick debate on what to do we decided to go to the badminton courts. They have a whole gym dedicated to the sport. I think when I come back overseas I am going to make a mandatory badminton night. I was amazed at how much fun it is to play and they have real feathers on the birdie not plastic like in the States. At times I felt like we were crazy Americans when we were playing. We would scream and shout and get all excited and when I would miss the birdie sometimes I would just plop myself down on the floor. Our friends got such a kick out of us having so much fun. It is interesting for me to see how different the culture is even when they are playing sports. They are still very quiet and reserved when they play. So our court was the noisy one with the crazy Americans.
I think one of my goals for the year is to have at least two of my friends become crazy like me. By the end of the game Autumn and I were both sweating so much. We were very surprised at how much exercise you get playing badminton. I mean we were tired to the max and I must admit that I am a bit sore today. I think that playing badminton with those girls is one of my highlights for the week. It was a great chance to connect with them and to develop our friendships.
Some other highlights of the week have been settling into our apartment (yeah!!!!) and getting a bike. I love to ride around the streets and I have a little bell on my bike that I can ring to let
people know that I am coming up beside them. I believe there are going to be many great adventures on that bike! It is pink and white with a cute white basket. I love riding it. I have had a great week settling in to our apartment and I am so excited for this coming week because now we are starting to invite girls over to hang out!!! I believe that those will be some of the best connection times.