I'm the one who believes in destiny 'cause nothing happens by itself coincidentally. Nothing is a coincidence. Everything happens in purpose as it's written on its book.
Then here is my story about the destiny of the this month.
First of all, it will be about my Tenpin Bowling team that I assisted during Asian Para Games 2018 this month. Before the game started, I and my team had a training session that helped me to know more about our job for this event. We were the National Paralympics Committee Relations Assistants for the Republic of Korea and we divided by which sport we should assist. Before the decision is made, our coordinator, who has the experience more than us because she also participated for Asian Para Games 2018 Test Event not really long after Asian Games 2018 ended, asked us about what sport do we like to do and to watch.
Then, I answered, I ever been a Taekwondoin although only for a year when I was at the senior high school and I won the bronze medal for one and only match I ever had then I lose. Seriously funny and ridiculous but I got the medal until now I don't understand about it, uh! Moreover, I like others material arts like Karate or Fencing. Wait… Is fencing a material arts too? Whatever! I don't know why I like the sport that has punches and kicks elements of it besides boxing and UFC, of course. It's too terrible for me but my dad and my grandfather like it. Urgh! Besides that, I like aquatics sport too, especially artistic swimming and diving. They are beautiful for me, I don't know why. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to watch them all during Asian Games 2018 neither Asian Para Games 2018. Pity me!
Our volunteering days have been coming and the result came out. My placement was for swimming and tenpin bowling team while I expected to get judo team. Sigh but yeay for this! I started my volunteering day a day later than the others ‘cause I had my graduation at our first day, I asked for permission to my coordinator and said maybe I could come to the para village at night but she replied, no, just took my time ‘cause that day was my day. Then I just, okay! I got a free day for free. Yash!
A day that I skipped wasn't really important for me because our teams hadn't come yet on that day either at my very first day. Lucky but I didn't really think I was lucky on the first hand, I was pointed to go to the airport with three others to welcome them and assist them. Hm, okay! But the number of the team at that night was no joke! It was so big! About one hundreds persons or more with about 70 persons in wheelchairs, which wheelchair was the thing I was afraid the most. Yet, I took it lighter because when I was checking the list names, I found my bowling and swimming team would come at that night and I should greet them all in the very first day.
After all scenes we made with all our best effort to welcome all athletes in the best way, finally, we met them all, in the end, still, in front of accreditation desks before immigration desks. At this time, unwittingly, I met one of my bowling team players. He is tall, I can say he's giant for me who is small and short. He put his earphones on his ears. I helped him to get his accreditation card and I asked his name. He is Kyeun-beom. I told him my name as return and he kept mentioning my name endlessly. At this state, I didn't really know that he has intellectual impairment.
After, I helped several ones to get their accreditation cards. I moved to the front of the immigration desk and waited for them all finishing the procedure. While waiting for them all, another incidence was made between me and my bowling team. I was alone and stood up awkwardly in silence because I didn't know what I should do and what I should say to them besides asking their names. Then I met a man with a wide smile was busy taking care of their team. I got my chance to talk with him, sent a greeting and asked his name. Can you expect who is he? Yash! He is a coach of my tenpin bowling! He is really kind and warm since the beginning even he introduced me to all the player right at that time. I was touched! He asked for the attention for them all and introduced me. They all sent a greeting to me and asked for the cooperation as I did. Wanna know more? I don't really think my other friends have this moment too neither this kind of treatment. Lucky me! Thank God!
Oh, wait! One scene I just remembered!
Beside Kyeun-beom and Park Coach-i-nim I met at the airport, I also met our gold medalists. They are Jung-hoon-ssi and Gyeong-ho-ssi. I met them at the accreditation desk. Jung-hoon-ssi is an athlete with visual impairment, he is totally blind and needs help from the other to go somewhere and Gyeong-ho-ssi was the one who helped him at that time. Why did I remember this scene? ‘Cause I remember Gyeong-ho-ssi's handsome face. Seriously he is handsome, a handsome ahjussi. And I remember him because of his bracelet. I don't why I can remember that detail quite well hehe. Unfortunately, at this scene, I was only looking at them both because, again, I was afraid. I was afraid about my treatment to them. I was afraid it would be wrong and I made mistake and I harmed or hurt them.
You know what? That was happened at that night, what I was afraid of.
One of my bowling players fell. He is a wheelchair user and his wheelchair flipped back when he tried to enter the bus. I shocked! My fear was realized in front of my eyes but fortunately, he was okay after that and nothing was serious but still, I shocked! He is another handsome man I had in my team. Ouch! They are too many handsome men at the South Korea team, seriously! I'm not kidding. They are still even they are not young any more, even they are married, even they already have children. I can't understand it but it's true. Drama doesn't really lie to me. He is Baek-ho-ssi, I remember him because of his glasses. Doesn't make sense, right? But I remember him that way beside of his handsomeness. Hehe.
Long story but still don't get the meaning of destiny I mentioned at the beginning, right?
Well, nobody knows what will happen in the future and nobody knows I would go to the airport at the first day I was in charge for this position. Nobody knows I would meet my tenpin bowling players at the very first time the Korean team arrived at the airport. Nobody knows about it, neither me or Park Coach-i-nim or Baek-ho-ssi or Gyeong-ho or whoever. Nobody!
I call it destiny because the first one I met at the airport was the last one I hugged and sent greeting to when they would back to their home, Korea. Of course, he was Park Coach-i-nim, the team's Mama, my Daegu Appa. Yash, Daegu Appa, he called himself this way right before he entered the waiting room when we had to say goodbye to each other. He said if I will go to Korea, I shall contact him, and he gave me his business card. He lives at Daegu and he is the owner of a bowling centre. Gun-hye eonni calls him as Buja-nim, the rich. Even she doesn't mention about it, it's quite obvious to me. Old money has his own style and attitude, right?
And oh! Why does he call himself as Appa to me? Because he has no daughter and he felt like I was his daughter. Ugh! So sweet, isn't it? Yes, it is, of course! Not only sweet, but he is also a reliable man, super reliable man. He can handle almost every need of the team by himself. That's why he is the Mama of the team. And because he usually handles everything by himself, he actually doesn't really need major help from me. Contrary, he helped me more than I helped him, that's why I also felt like had another Dad during the games. He always asked my condition, did I sleep well? Had I taken my breakfast? Was I okay? Was I tired? If I was not okay, I could have rested at my room. If I was tired, I could have had a seat at the bowling centre while they were practising and competing. Even when the lunch break came, he always asked me to have my lunch at first although he couldn't have his own because he was too busy.
There was a scene happened because of Park Coach-i-nim.
I just finished my lunch and took my break at the lounge with my catering friends, we had chit-chat as usual. Suddenly, I got a text, one of my players was bleeding. I panicked and left the lounge in rush and ran to the medical room. I asked the guards at the lobby, did they see any Korean bowling player that hurt and entered the room? They said, who was hurt wasn't the player but the coach. And I panicked more! And shocked more! What did happen? How could he end in this room?
When I entered the room, I met Hong-ju-ssi and he told me that the coach was okay, there was nothing to worry. But how could I not worry?! At that morning, we had a convo, talked about how was our sleep the night before, and he hadn't slept well because there was noise at his tower at 4 am. Before that, he complained about he went to sleep late because the head coach always held the meeting. He said, every time meeting, meeting and meeting. So, I understood his tiredness.
What happened to him was, he almost fainted in the restroom while he was washing his hand at the washbowl. He lost his balance and his head, no, actually his nose hit the washbowl and it was bleeding. Fortunately, there was a medic at the restroom at that moment, so he could help my coach and saved him. Fiuh!
I entered the medical room and asked the doctor about my coach condition. He said it wasn't as bad as I thought. He only hurt his nose, his pointed nose. There was only a scratch on it and it was okay. What did he really need only taking a rest and it was he was doing at that time. Because of that incident at least he could take his rest, sleep better, with a cold compress on his nose.
Many people said that my coach was okay but I didn't really think so because I knew his story. I felt burdensome because of it. I felt guilty because I thought I didn't take care of him really well. Then after I checked his condition, I went to the restroom to wash my hands then I cried. I couldn't help myself to not cry. I cried alone and maybe people questioned about me and what happened to me but I didn't care, I just needed to release my emotions. After several minutes, there was a girl came to me and helped me to calm myself down. Again, another person said, my coach was okay, he only needed rest and he was doing it, I didn't need to worry about him too much.
Then, I could handle myself and stopped my tears to come out. I checked my coach again and the doctor asked my help to say to my coach that the cold compress was enough and we could take it off. I asked about his condition and how did he felt about it. He said, again same as the others, he was okay, only a scratch. And I scolded him to take care of himself, to take a rest properly, to eat well also and do not make me worry. And he only laughed. And I scolded him again to rest well at that time, maximized it then I left him there.
It was his, I also had my scene too. But not as dramatic as his, but he made it be more dramatic than it should be.
It happened on the last day of competition. Since one day before I already had asked the coach about the ball bags and other things, we should pack. The coach told me we would pack it a day after the competition ended because the head coach wanted to bring them directly to the airport as they would back on that day too. But because there was nobody would help us the next day and the condition at that day supported us to pack them all, then we packed them and brought them by bus.
We could pack the bags because we were the last one. So we could take out the bags while waiting for our buses to come. There was one last thing I needed to check before we left the venue, that was the bag number. Each bag had a bag number and I needed to detach and return them to the organizer. I hadn't finished yet but the buses came. I needed to finish it in a rush because I knew they all were tired already after the games. I cut every number's cord quickly, as fast as I could, but there was a moment I didn't cut the cord but my finger. Hehe.
It wasn't hurt at first and I didn't really care about it, so I let it be as it was. But my finger starting bleeding. I didn't recognize it at first but Ban-seok Oppa did. He mentioned about it and told the others. And everyone stopped me to continue even I said I was okay, even I told them that they overreacted. I was stopped, I returned the scissors to the owner. And my hand was held by my coach, he looked for a bandage for me. Everyone was busy because of me. Everyone looked for a bandage. My coach didn't found it in his back but he has the wet tissue to clean my finger but Kim Coach-i-nim had. Not bandage that we usually use in Indonesia, the brown one. No, it was not something like it. It was the real bandage, maybe. White and rectangular one. Too big for my thumb.
As time passed, we packed everything and back to the para village. As usual, we chit-chat to each other. And there was a moment me and several male players also my coach had a convo about my thumb. I told to them, finally, my thumb felt hurt. Haha. And my coach scolded me because I said I was okay but I wasn't really okay, I said it was not hurt but it was in the end. I just laughed and talked back about his incident, I impersonated him:
"You said you were okay but you fainted.
You said you were okay but your nose was bleeding
You said you were okay but you hurt yourself."
He also laughed and I scolded him again. Hehe.
How couldn't I love him? How couldn't I count him as my father also my friend during the games? We backed up each other. We helped each other. We shared our stories, our complaints even our gossip about many things together. We were taking care of each other. It was so sad that our teamwork should meet its end. It was so pitied I should send him and his team back to Korea. I did really feel that I was a part of the team. Even sometimes I confused, who I was, was I Indonesian or Korean, because I was an Indonesian in the Korean Team that should support them all with all of my heart even when they competed my home country team, Indonesia. I did really feel that I have a brand new family because of the games. Even if they wanted, I will be super-duper happy if they brought me to Korea as their assistant manager to help Park Coach-i-nim again and make sure he won't collapse because of the tiredness. Hehe.
Until now, I still keep in touch with him and other players too. We let each other know our condition even Kyung-hee eonni sent a video, special for me. They love me and do really treat me as their child. Hehe. So do I. I love them and treat them as my parents either friends. Then, what should we do now is… will this destiny continue? To gather all of us, again, in the future? Let's see and hope and pray! Cheers!
