ULTIMATE!

February 12-13

Oh boy, the long awaited 11^th Annual Bangkok Hat tournament was an absolute blast. I was looking forward to this tournament for a few reasons. One- ultimate is awesome, duh. Two- I was really eager to meet new people, and meet some people like me- farangs! Three- I was pumped to meet a friend who I’d been communicating with for months but had still never met. Lauren Ladky, a friend of Sean Demet’s, my good buddy from camp, had put me in touch with this girl because she had been living in Thailand when I was beginning to plan my adventures. When I arrived in Thailand, she had just bounced off to Indonesia for six months, so when it came time for the tournament she was finally back. I was excited to put a name to a face, especially of a Milwaukee person! And Four- I had been feeling a little anxious about my position at school and with the end of my contract and school term approaching, I had some decisions to make- stay in Rayong at Watpapradoo School, or move on to another location to teach, or just travel around for a few months. I knew many ultimate players in Asia are teaching English, so I was looking forward to hearing their experiences on teaching to get some perspective on my own situation.

Talking with new friends about their lives in Asia was really interesting, and getting to play with them was even more fun. This tournament is the biggest hat tournament in Asia, so people make special trips for it. People came from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Cambodia, The Philippines, Singapore, China, and one guy even flew all the way from Chicago for this tournament. The proceeds of the tournament went to a few local charities as well as funding the Frisbee experience for two Karen kids. The Karen are a tribe that live in the North of Thailand, and it was really special that these two teenagers were able to join us and play in the tournament. They played with cleats that were donated through the Soidawgz- the Bangkok Ultimate team. I hope they had an enjoyable experience hanging with a bunch of nutty people. The Asian ultimate scene is really great. It brought together some really wonderful people- expats and those that hail from different corners of Asia. The level of competition was really good, the food was delicious, music all day, and I had a blast just playing Frisbee again. And man, we played a lot of Frisbee. Four games on Saturday and four games on Saturday. I was so exhausted by Sunday night, and I was still sore until Tuesday.

costume party Saturday night- Experience History- my friend Rachel and her Cambodia gang came with Preah Vihear masks- the disputed temple at the Thai-Cambodia border.  It was a big hit.

I just really liked his costume.  Very historic, yet contemporary at the same time.  I think he may have won a prize or something.

The weekend did give me some good perspective and I decided to stay on with my company- AYC, and do another term with them and my school in Rayong. I realized I’ve made some roots here and relocating would of course be exciting, but it would also be a lot of work. I’m getting to know my neighborhood, I’m making some Thai friends, and I like living near the ocean. So, I’m happy with my decision to stay, and I’m really glad I got to play some Frisbee to help me with that decision.

Everyone stuck around to watch the finals game, which was a pretty good game. There were some sweet bids, many of which were gracefully delivered by this rock star girl from Singapore I think. As we watched, we heckled (of course) and continued to drink the free Leo beer and chitchat about where we live, what we do, and all that usual stuff, while enjoying the last rays of the afternoon sun. I took a van ride home feeling exhausted and getting muscle cramps, but it was worth it. It was an awesome weekend.

 Yay Orange team!  We kicked butt.  

frisbee isn't frisbee without heckling and debating.