What the Wendling's do outside of school...

Prior to leaving for Korea Justine, Kyara, Matteya and Ariel were involved with a number of different activities. These included: dance, hockey, volleyball, basketball, soccer, golf and exposure to other activities from time to time. Most of these activities are done through the elementary or middle school program at GSIS and so the girls are able to continue to do these activities - but hockey and dance are not. A promise that Rosanne and Kevin made to the girls before deciding to go to Korea was that they would try their best to give the girls the same activities that they participated while in Canada.

To help facilitate this a large hockey bag was brought to Suwon with everything from Matteya's hockey equipment to dance shoes and body suits. Bringing the equipment was the easy part - finding the activities in a city of 1 000 000 people would be the hard part.




Luckily, at the end of August, a hockey arena was discovered and with the help of some new found friends Matteya began to play hockey. Now, Matteya plays hockey twice a week - usually on the weekends. With the help of Siyehol - whose sons Jin and Peter are pictures above and below - much of the registration and transportation have been provided for.


What is hockey like in Korea? Hockey does not have a specific season - they play all year long. As well, hockey practices have lots of skating drills - both forward and backward skating - and not as many drills involving team play, passing and shooting. Because of this the average Korean hockey player is a strong skater.

In Korea - skates are grinded not sharpened - there is training not practices - and we are not quite sure what the Korean word for flooding the ice is. However, after one special practice there was pizza and chicken wings for the kids - so some traditions are the same no matter where you live. (However, chicken wings are made one way in Korea - HOT!!!)


After some adjustment - and getting into shape - Matteya is enjoying hockey and in her first game scored a goal and had an assist. Unfortunately they only play one or two games in a month and much of the players time is spent training and practicing.

Matteya' number, 99, 11 was not available and after consulting with mon oncle Paul it was agreed that 99 was acceptable because it was Wayne Gretzky's number and mon oncle Paul wore it one season - (as well 9 is her Maman's number).



The other activity the girls were able to find was dance. With the help from a teacher at GSIS Rosanne found the girls a dance studio which offers ballet and hip hop. So twice a week the girls walk or take a taxi to the dance studio, approximately 15 minutes from the apartment.


What is dance like in Korea? Justine, Kyara, Matteya and Ariel find that the instruction is a little more intense and the dance to be a little more challenging. This is probably due to the demands of the parents - who have high expectations and pay a lot of money to have their children meet these standards. One has to remember that most students in Korea go to school and then go to extra academic classes after school. If a child was to dance or play hockey it is because the parents have made this choice to look at activities that they deem to be important for the future of their children.

In the end, the Wendling girls are enjoying their various activities. It gives them the opportunity to continue to improve their abilities and a chance to see Korean culture in a different way. Spending time at GSIS gives one perspective of Korea and the culture it exists in. However, going to dance and hockey give Justine, Kyara, Matteya and Ariel more information on what life is like in Korea.

As well, a number of other girls have tried taking the ballet or hip hop classes - all of them have enjoyed the experience and many have continued to train in ballet or hip hop.