Do you know the conveyor-belt sushi group?

Naver Webtoon <2016 Welcome Back to School-Episode 9 Artist Sansam>

3^rd Stage of Making Friends: Go for a walk

(Do you guys want to take a walk to the playground?, Okay Okay)

Best Comment of Naver Webtoon <2016 Welcome Back to School-Episode 9 Artist Sansam

But this is so real, when you visit all girls schools during lunch break, they’re all making a rotation at the playground like conveyor-belt sushis

The conveyor-belt sushis are not only seen in a Japanese restaurant. It is also a cute word which refers to girls who walk around the school playground while chatting every lunch time (It could be a characteristic of some female students in Korea.). There were also students who were called the conveyor-belt sushis in the middle school and high school(both coeducational school) that I went. Mostly, those students took a walk around the playground every lunch break for a ‘faster metabolism’ but most of them didn’t like physical education class. A physical education teacher from ‘[The Wise School Life Replay] Physical Education Class of Female Students’ played in KBS2 said, ‘Most of them (female students) haven’t seen much of an experience of why moving is fun.’ I agree. The only sports that we could play was dodgeball, where you have to dodge the ball and partner soccer where the boys were the main players.

[The Wise School Life Replay] Physical Education Class of Female Students Episode 2

Saying, ‘Most of them (female students) haven’t seen much of an experience of why moving is fun.’

Mystery of the Basketball Club Manager

There was a basketball club in the school that I went. Most of them were boys but there were also few girls. Some of them were my friends but none of them liked sports. To be more precise, they did not like moving as they were afraid that their legs might get thick if they play sports which require running. Then why did they even join a basketball club. The reason was simple. It was because their close friends wanted them to cheer for them(but they weren’t big games), someone they liked was in that club or they had nothing to do. In this way, they became the ‘Basketball Club Manager’.

The managers didn’t have much things to do. Their mission was to place the drinks on the stand for the players which they bought before training or a game and cheer for them when the game starts. Managers chatting while sitting on the stand was quite often seen. I asked the captain of the basket ballclub at that time and he replied that he did not remember what the managers did as he was busy playing basketball. Then why did they say that they were recruiting a manager and why did these students apply for this. He threw me off when he replied that it was because other schools also recruited managers. In addition, the managers did not have to sit for a practical test which was necessarily sat by the members.

I asked my friends if the reason why they needed a manager for a basketball team which didn’t even participate a competition held in the City or province was just because they needed a reason for the presence of ‘Queen of Housewives’ in their club as well just like the other basketball clubs.

He replied that he did not realize at that time since he was young but now, he thinks that it’s right.

His reply made me a little sad. If there was a ‘Sewing Club’ with many girls, would the male students join the club to assist the girls with the materials and worry for them whether they would get injured.

Is having only one option, also called a choice?

For 12 years of schooling, I wanted to play basketball where I had to run for the goal while bouncing the ball rather than playing dodgeball where I had to avoid the ball. It was because I slightly remembered running around the court with my mother and father to head in the goal but the boys did not want to play with me and even if I did joined them, I was always the fifth wheel. Just because I was shorter than the boys, just because I was a girl. Girls who liked sports or had good athletic abilities were sometimes called ‘Hyung’ (how the boys call the older boys) among the boys. So I was always the fifth wheel for every physical education class, or sometimes even a ‘know it all’.

However, the girls were different. They did not like sports because their legs would get thick but instead, they liked sitting down and chatting. As a person with a strong desire to win, I was suffering from a sickness that I always had to come 1^st in running but my friends seemed to be suffering from a sickness that they always had to minimize the movement to avoid their thighs getting thick, even for a millimeter. To be a member of that world, I had to hide my shaking hips, ready to run out during physical education class, but instead, sit down quietly under the stand or in the classroom.

Can we really say that the things that kept us sitting down were voluntarily chosen by us. Do girls like to chat around instinctively and does their desire for human movement lack than the boys. There is a need of education for girls who are active like me and boys who like to sit down and rest. What would have happened if we grew muscles in our body and mind while playing around joyfully at that time and learnt the excitement of sweating earlier.

What kind of person do you want to be?

Few year ago, I stayed in Canada for a short while. One day, the niece(middle school student) of the owners of the homestay invited us to her basket ball match. I still remember lively, when I faced the inside of the stadium at that time. The kids that I saw in the stadium where fighting over the ball in the court whether they were tall, short, their hair was short, long or whether they were skinny or not. Of course this was possible since it was not a big match but this is the beauty of the physical education class in school. As a public education subject, I thought that physical education should be a chance for everyone to play and enjoy different sports without restrictions. You know it after you give it a try, there is no way to know whether I like that or not when there is no chance given.

It was wonderful to see each person doing their best on the court. They were not afraid to bumping, falling or even making a small mistake. Not only that. The cheerleaders in front of the audience were dancing vigorously and jumped high and fast as if they were about to make a hole in the rooftop. It looked a little dangerous as they were making movements completely relying on themselves and their friends but it also seemed like a firm tower which was so strong that it would never collapse.

Looking back, I think I did not only see the basketball match of the niece and the cheerleading in that stadium that day. I saw various options from that place. To fly high above in sky while supporting each other with trust with the audience, to run forwards for the goal on the court, block the other player and bring back the ball or support the friends. I dream of at least a society with different choices for us. The basketball court is quite big just to sit down under the stand or take care of someone’s drink. The sound of the canvas soles reaching the surface of the court formed an exciting tension and the live communication with the audience was just enough to absorb the vibrancy into the body.

If there is someone who would just like to sit down on the stand and stay as ‘Queen of Housewives’, I suggest you to go outside and look at the world, feel the breeze and sunlight. If you are more used to the playground, I hope you could decide your role and the venue. Whether to fly to the rooftop, relying to your friends or run on the court with scores rising and falling. If we could choose the most appropriate choice from many options, won’t we be able to expand the world we’re living in a little.

+) Good contents to see along with

: Nike Korea, Believe In Yourself

This advertisement which starts off with Boa’s narration was a big hit of 2019.

In the beginning of the video, Boa asks a girl who just turned a year old.

“What kind of person do you want to be?”

I would like to ask you, who is reading this article.

What kind of person do you dream of.

Source of Information and References

KBS [The Wise School Life Replay] Physical Education Class of Female Students Episode 1

KBS [The Wise School Life Replay] Physical Education Class of Female Students Episode 2

For Better Physical Education for Girls / Oh Jung-hoon / The News of Korea Education /2014.12.01

NIKE – Believe in Yourself.