Vote for Pedro

Note to self: Don't attend a loved one's tae kwon do belt test with a camera containing ancient batteries, or else most of the shots you try for will not work or, at best, will come out blurry like this one.

Pedro earned his brown belt today after a grueling test that included a lot of hurrying up and waiting (i.e. a 20-minute-long photo session of the whole school followed by watching lower belts test; then a sweaty session of forms, self-defense, and kicking combinations; another long period of watching higher belts test; followed, at last, by two bouts of sparring.).

Hooray for Pedro! He managed to make it this far within two years of starting the sport, despite traveling so much for work that sometimes the most he could train was only once a week. And yet he has kept up with the group with whom he started: Lisa, a British mum of three and a full-time teacher; Shion, a Japanese teenager with a high squeaky voice but a kick that would flatten most men; Etienne, a French dad of three who also travels a lot for work; and Priyanut, Etienne's gorgeous daughter who's awesome with TKD but has been distracted recently by her emerging modeling career (every Papa's nightmare!). The whole lot did great and deserve massive pats on the back for sticking it out.

Our small fry also held up well considering how long the belt test lasted. For nearly three and a half hours, Nathan and Alec entertained themselves by alternately roughhousing with each other in the dressing rooms, watching the test, looking at the Sunday paper's comics, debating the merits of boys vs. girls with their fellow kids Moonie and ChaCha, rolling around on exercise balls, and snacking on honey-date-nut bars. They should be proud of how patient they were during an extremely long test that, had they behaved antsy and petulant, could have been an ordeal.

Of course the Walter clan had to evacuate the test abruptly after Pedro sparred, because if he'd waited around for the belt ceremony, he would have missed his flight to the Philippines. He has an important meeting first thing tomorrow morning in Manila. The quick exit seemed rather fitting somehow, as if it exemplified how work travel has always cut into Pedro's TKD time and yet not snuffed it out. I suppose Master Don will do a mini-belt-tying ceremony at the next class Pedro can attend.

Congratulations to diligent, tenacious Pedro! Vote for him, even though he dances much better than his counterpart in "Napoleon Dynamite"! (Which I have yet to see, because not even the pirated DVD has hit Bangkok -- but I'm keeping my eyes peeled.)

Comments

[Elemmaciltur]

I used to do TKD when I was young back in Thailand, too! Never got through the white belt because my health got the better of me (I had kinda half-sickly childhood). My older brother however got through to finishing with a black belt!

Who's Pedro? Where and for what should we vote him?

[Lyle]

first, elemmaciltur, i must thank you for being the most prolific commenter on this blog recently! :)

my dear friend T also was pretty responsive earlier but i think his impending move to london is keeping him extra-busy these days.

the pedro in question is my husband, the father of my two munchkins. "vote for pedro" refers to the high-school election slogan from the film "napoleon dynamite", which i still haven't seen but have heard is very good.

during homeleave this summer, i kept spotting shirts and hats saying "vote for pedro" -- finally, after realizing it was not for a local election because the shirts were popping up in dc, florida, and then ohio, i was like, what is going on?! and asked my ohio friend karen, who then explained to me the "napolen dynamite" phenomenon.

[Elemmaciltur]

Jejeje, de nada, Lyle! I always try to comment on the blogs I read regularly, solong I have something to say and solong I'm sure that there's not going to be any lashbacks to myself (i.e. the possibility that someone would know me - even though I have my photo on my blog -, or knowing my parents, since my parents are opposed to blogs - "it's like putting your diary on the net for everyone to read about your private life!" -, thus they don't even know I have a couple of blogs running).

Apart from that, I think I've re-found my fascination about my home country after not having lived in it for more than 10 years now. :) And it's also really funny to see Thailand through the eyes of expats living there.

[Pedro]

Thanks for the free press, Lyle!

For anyone looking for a good way to improve flexibility, get great physical and cardio exercise, learn a useful skill & meet nice people, try Tae Kwon Do.

By the way, the author of this post failed to mention that she, herself, is already a green belt and doing great!

But vote for me, anyway...I'll run for something someday