A Real Sword

It's been a long time since my last post but I did survive and even pass the test for my yellow belt. During my last test I passed 2 belts so now I'm at blue. The next one will be red, which entitles me to use a real and quite sharp sword from then on. I recently chose the sword I want to buy. Now I just need to undergo a medical test, a basic psychological test (from what I understand), and fill out some forms for the police. I didn’t realize it would get so complicated. My kumdo master is happy with my progress and says I should get my black belt in September. He wants me to stay in Korea longer and study for the 2nd and 3rd dans (levels) above black belt level. With a 3rd dan he says I can be a kumdo teacher and open my own school in Canada (Korea requires 4th dan but since there are so few teachers in Canada, they lower the standard). Unfortunately it would take 2 years of intensive study to reach 3rd dan status, so my master enquires often about my plans for the future and tries to persuade me to stay in Korea longer.

On the other side of that equation is the fact that we recently finished all the paperwork for my wife’s immigration to Canada. It was tedious, time-consuming and confusing but it’s finally been sent off and now all we can do is wait. Once she gets accepted then we will have a certain window of time to return to Canada, which I believe is one year from the acceptance date. This means if I did want to stay and study kumdo more, then we may have to make another application in the future. I’m not sure on all the particulars at the moment though so I could also be wrong. It seems that the requirements are vague and constantly changing…some of the papers we filled out at the beginning of the process became obsolete so we had to do them again later. So frustrating but now it’s done. Of course, there is no guarantee she’ll be accepted but I don’t see any reason why not.

My parents, sister and aunt came to Jeonju for a visit earlier this month. It was great to see them again and spend time with them. We saw some of the sights of Korea, ate a lot of Korean food, went to some festivals and also played board and card games in our apartment, enjoying each other’s company. We were so happy that my family and my wife’s family were able to meet each other and share a little bit of their worlds with each other.

I wish to write more about my family’s visit but dinner is ready so I will continue next time.