The Fowler Family Blog

Well, we went to Seoul to play softball. It as a great trip and we had a blast, but we got killed in softball. We were definitely a second class team in a frist class tournament. We played 5 games and got beat by different varaitions of the mercy rule each time. There were so many teams they played throughout the night. We had one game at 3AM. Our last game was against another not so talented team and we scored a respectable 9 runs. We got beat so bad in the first four games it was embarassing. But the last game we actually had fun. The one thing we did have goning for us was super sweet uniforms.  We definitely had the best looing uniforms in the tournament, Hey you gotta take victories where you can find them?!?!  We had them made for $40 two weeks before the tourney.  Either way, Dayspring and I got to go to Seoul and had several good meals, which is what we miss in Chinhae. I don’t think this is the end of softball. We really are much better than we played in that tournament. Hopefully more tournaments are in the future.

Ryan

Hello to all,

I have been stretching my legs (proverbially and literally) and playing soccer with a group of Koreans. I used to play soccer in high school, but truth be known I haven’t played since. I met a Korean friend who works on base, Mr. Kim. He works in security. Mainly we play sports together. Tennis, table tennis, and soccer. He is maybe ten years older, but very nice and has gotten me involved with a soccer league. He plays with a group of men/boys from his church. They play Sat/Sun each week. I have been going each Sunday for maybe a month or so. We play for about two hours on a nice artificial turf field. One large field and one smaller field. We also play a Korean soccer/tennis game were you kick a soccer ball over a shorter net than tennis. Very fun, called Choku. Well, needless to say the Korean players are VERY GOOD!!! It also turns out that I play for the best team around as we handily beat every team we play. Aparenty they don’t mind me playing even though I am not nearly as good. But, I finally had a GREAT victory yesterday. I scored a goal!!!! First, the game was on the large regulation size field (or center stage) against a group of younger and sometimes faster Korean boys. I was playing stryker, I passed to my left right outside the goal box and did a sweet give and go to receive the ball back about 20 feet in front of the goal. I only had one touch on the ball available as the defense was closing in. So, with one kinda clumsy left footed touch I scored in the left ground corner of the goal. This was the goal to stop the game!!! I was rather proud of myself. So, I said I may be the only Miguk (American) to score a goal on the field. I have only seen two Mormons walking by, no other non Koreans play. Yeah for me!!! So, to leave you with a short Korean lesson. Chucku katchi kapsida—let’s play soccer together!!!

Playing ultimate frisbee

 

Well, being at a small base and being in charge definitely has it’s advantages. Now that it is that holiday season, the base is making sure that all those single sailors aren’t bored to death. That means tons of sporting events. So, as an older member of the base I have been partaking in all the sporting events I can. It started with Ultimate Frisbee. I was on a mix match team with others from admin. We lost two games, but it didn’t really matter. Next we had khaki vs blue shirts (Officers vs Enlisted). We tied with 2 sports wins a piece. The next sporting event was the monthly Commander’s Cup, which puts departments against each other in different sports. This month it was basketball, and again I was put with people from Admin and Supply. We ultimately lost our two games, but it was so much fun. There is also a 3 on 3 basketball tournament tomorrow that I am playing in. I forgot how much fun playing sports was. To make matters even better I made a Korean friend who is really athletic. His name is Mr. Kim. So far we played table tennis (he killed me), regular tennis (pretty even), and soccer. Soccer was definitely my favorite. The Korean’s are really good at soccer. I am going to continue to play with them as much as I can. Brings me back to my high school soccer days!! My afternoons are good lately!!!!

Well, I still have marathon fever. I have been increasing my running lately and hungry to do another marathon. I have been running about 6-7 miles each Saturday morning with the executive officer (XO or CSO, second in command). I also do command PT (physical training with most of the base) T and TH at 0730. I try to run or do something most other days. The only problem is there are not a lot of marathons in Asia to choose from. At least one in each country but tough to figure out the timing. I have started to look in Europe but I am not sure how the travel will be–jet lag for the race. I did find a cool race in the Netherlands. Basically, this is a plea for my running buddies back in the states to do a destination marathon with me. I am thinking about maybe March time frame at least. So, if anyone is interested and finds a good race email me at bikeryanrun@yahoo.com.