I arrived in Guilin on a Friday. The following Sunday my
roommate Richard told me about a weekly soccer match that CLI’s property
manager hosts at a local field. I warned him of my absolute lack of skill and
experience, but he assuaged my fears and told me it was a very amateur game.
Determined to be more of a “Yes Man” in China, I agreed to suit up and play my
first live game of soccer.
Having thoroughly schooled my girlfriend in FIFA (THE soccer
video game), I confidently walked on to the pitch and imagined my future
glories: Strikes whizzing by incapable keepers, expert tackles slowing down the
enemy attack, and precision passes maneuvering through any and all defenders
who naively tried to intercept them, all the while hearing the commentary of
Martin Tyler and Alan Smith lauding my achievements. Then I discovered real,
scrappy, street level soccer.
First off, it was a bilingual game, with some players
speaking only English, some speaking only Chinese, and others speaking a
garbled amalgam of both. It was informal and 5 on 5, but if someone got tired
they would just sit down, leaving their team to fend for themselves. The player’s
skill levels were about as varied as their language skills. Some had obviously
played their entire life, and took full advantage of the less
experienced/coordinated/athletic participants. Not knowing anyone on the field,
I sat off to the side and watched for a while. They asked me to join and I
reluctantly capitulated, again warning them of inexperience.
I’d now like to berate my parents for not getting my started
in soccer as a child. It is incredibly fun, regardless of how well you play it,
and it’s so simple in purpose that it’s easy to pick up, but so complex in
execution that you could play and watch it forever without getting bored. I
tried to hang back and play defense use my over-sized American frame to
get in the way of the more skillful players, but soon I was making runs and
even scored three goals before the day was over. My subsequent outings haven’t been
as fruitful, but they have been just as fun.
During the game, I began to realize why they call soccer the
world’s sport. As I mentioned, I think the game’s simplicity has a lot to do
with it. It makes it so accessible to people of any background/language/level
of wealth that it’s instantly intriguing. Then the unlimited room for
improvement makes you hunger for more. Along with its universality, I
discovered that despite language barriers all sports, once learned, easily
translate through the actions themselves. An impressive goal makes everyone
clap, and the mistakes of amateurs make everyone laugh. Luckily, I wasn't the
cause of the laughter this time. This time a fellow American (it’s always us
letting our country down) was unguarded and trying to save a bouncing ball from
going out of bounds by flipping it over his head. He succeeded in striking the
ball, but his trajectory was a bit off, and he sent it straight into his own
nose, causing onlookers, regardless of language or ethnicity, to howl with
laughter.
It’s moments like that, when you look over at someone with
whom you could barely communicate speaking words and you both share a laugh, that you
realize how relatable the human condition really is, and how much in common we
all have. It may sound corny, but being a foreigner in a country where I
understand little, and am often misunderstood, finding these little slivers of
understanding, like the humor of a soccer ball to the nose, makes the experience a little
easier and all the more enjoyable.
That’s all for now, I have to get some rest, big soccer game
tomorrow. Hope all of you are doing well. I've attached some pictures of our
venue for these weekly matches. It’s a pretty cool setup, entirely weatherproof
(except for the heat, no way to keep that out).
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