Power of Sports
131109 JeeHoon Lee
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| Even Korea and Japan shake hands in soccer game! |
What
do you think is sports? Do you like playing or watching sports? Is it just a
kind of a hobby? Many people here indeed have played at least one kind of
sports before, right? At least kendo or
taekwondo as morning exercise. I have played many kinds of sports especially soccer. Also,
to me, soccer is not just a sport to enjoy. I also learned a lot from it, too.
So today, I am going to talk about an interesting, and precious story which I
learned while playing soccer. This experience is very important because I
chose my future career and dream because of this.
My
story is related to my experience in America. I went to America when I was in fifth grade.
At that time, I followed my mom to the town called 'Lexington' which is near Boston.
I found out this plan very late, and I could not learn English before going to
U.S. When I went to America, I could only say like "Hi!, Bye!, and words like 'starcraft,' which is a computer game. When I began my school life, I did not know what to do. I just spent every day in
my school meaninglessly. Even though many teachers helped me, lack of
communication meant that I could not get along with friends. But one day, I
went out to the fields on lunch time to get some fresh air. Then suddenly, I
saw some friends playing soccer. I went there and asked them whether I could
play with them, of course with body languages. Starting from that day, I began
to play soccer with a lot of students. We really enjoyed that moment altogether.
We got sweaty together, ran together and laughed together. The most important
thing was that playing soccer together does not need much of a language. We
knew all the basic rules for the game. After playing soccer with them, my life
in school changed a lot. I got close to them, and many friends began to exist
around me. I was called to the town's varsity soccer team also(may be because
it was a small town.) I began to do many group projects with new friends, too. Meanwhile,
I developed in my English fluency slowly. I got my confidence back and I
happily spent rest of the time in U.S. I still don't forget all the pleasant
memories in Lexington.
After
I went back to Korea, I kept thinking about my experience in Lexington. I
became curious about the whole change of my life in U.S. Then, I started to
believe in some kind of special power in sports. So I looked up for more
examples about the 'power of sports.' In 2002 World Cup, I am pretty sure that
all the Korean citizens became one and called out "Dae han min gook!"
All the people got extremely happy together and it was unusual to see this
nation getting united. Also, there is a famous soccer player Didier Drogba, who
united the citizens in the Ivory Coast and ended a long-lasting civil war. After
him and his national soccer team qualifying for the World cup, he kneeled down
in front of T.V. camera and cried out "Let's please stop the war at least
for this one week and enjoy the festival of the world altogether!" The
government and the rebellions actually stopped the war. This was a miracle. How
can a single person stop the war? This was a huge war that could not be stopped
by numerous negotiations. However, sports could bring all the citizens into
one, and it could even stop a war! It had super power to move many people. So I
started to dream working for the peaceful relationship of South and North Korea
using this power of sports, like Drogba did, and make a change here, too. I believe
that sports could do what normal diplomacy and politics could not do.
