My Tae Kwon Do Black Belt Test

Today I finally receive the black belt in Tae Kwon Do which I have worked so diligently for. I have been working on it since last November, with a short 2 month hiatus for travel. This semester Tae Kwon Do has been a significant part of my daily schedule, consuming about 10 hours of my week. Due to many "pre-tests" I feel like I've been preparing for today's test for about 3 months now. There are 8 poomsaes total that one must know in order to pass the test, but you are only tested on two of them (8 and one of the other 7, picked at random). The other part of the test is a short sparring (fighting) session. Due to the language barrier, I was more nervous than I should have been, because I felt quite confident in my ability to do the poomsaes. In the past few months I have begun to feel like a valid member of my TKD classes and gym. The students no longer stare at me or treat my like a stranger visiting from another planet. I can proudly say that they treat me like a peer (they treat me like any other 10 year-old in the class). My TKD coaches were genuinely excited (and nervous) for me today, and it was really cute to see. My home-stay mother, sister and a Fulbright friend (Janaki) who was visiting me for the weekend all attended the test. My day started off on the wrong foot when we had been driving for 5 minutes (the testing spot was about 20 minutes away) and I realized that I hadn't put in my contacts. To this my friend Janaki said: "Do you really need them?" I mean, I didn't practice for the past 6 months to attempt to pass the test without my contacts in... I know I've been known to live on the edge, but that just seemed plain stupid. I didn't even answer her question, instead I said to my Korean mother (the driver) "Go home." in Korean, so that she would turn the car around and explained in English to my Korean sister that I didn't have my contacts in. For this reason we were a little late to the test and there was no time for formal practice. My three coaches (one woman and two high school boys) crowded around me immediately, asking if I had practiced at home, to which I lied and said "Yes." I asked my home-stay sister to translate anything that my coach might want to tell me before the test, and my female coach said to tell me "just to do your best, because this is the only shot you have to get your black belt." Somehow this didn't calm my nerves, rather I began replaying the poomsaes in my head immediately, one by one, to increase the likelihood of success. Today's test was different than the pre-tests, because all the children went first, and then the adults. In all the past tests, I have been the only adult, head soaring high above the rest of the mini athletes. Today, I had to wait while the kids went and then test with a group of about 8 adults (college kids). There was one communication breakdown that came while I was waiting for my turn. My home-stay sister came to me and said that instead of dong poomsae 8 and a random poomsae that they would choose for me, I could pick ANY 2 poomsaes and do them. I was SO confused, because my coaches had told me for weeks that the test would consist of the former, and it seemed too good to be true that I would get to choose whichever poomsaes I wanted. I asked her to double check, and she came back and said that I was indeed free to pick 2 poomsaes to perform for the judges. I didn't know if I should follow my instincts or just launch into whatever poomsaes I wanted when they told us to start. Luckily I followed my instincts and sure enough the man announced poomsae 8 first and 5 second (picked at random). It would've been horribly embarassing had I started doing a different poomsae from the rest of the testees due to miscommunication. The poomsaes went off without a hitch, but the sparring was another story. Last Friday, one of my students came up to me and informed me that her father is the head of the Tae Kwon Do Association on Jeju Island and would be judging on Sunday. To this I said: "Does he know who I am? Did you tell him I'm your teacher; tell him I'm your teacher!" I probably sounded a little desperate, but it's always good to stack the cards in your favor whenever possible. She told me that she passed her black belt test and that the poomsaes weren't what I should be worried about, rather I should be worried about the sparring section of the test. "The adults fight really hard; they kick hard, and it really hurts." I believe those were her exact words. For the sparring I was paired with a Korean girl who was about my size and height (not common). She was probably about 20 or so and in college. She seemed nice enough and I didn't expect her to be very aggressive, because I've found the girls in my classes to be a little wimpy. I also didn't know that we were actually supposed to kick the opponent with force, because in class we are told just to sort of tap them. I realized right away that this girl was out for my blood. She kicked really hard, and she was very aggressive. I was not prepared for the sparring section (we've done sparring like 3 times in class) so I was a little surprised. I think I recovered O.K. though, staying light on my feet and kicking back with as much might as possible. A minute felt like eternity, but when it was over, I was so excited! My coaches said I did the poomsaes really well and I passed! So it's official; I have my black belt in Tae Kwon Do!