Kurt Rambis had a hook shot too.

Today was a great day to be alive if you are me. And hopefully it was great if you are you, hmmm? I made my trek to Myeongnyun-dong to play some basketball. It is a beautiful set of outdoor courts underneath the subway line that took us to Beomosa Temple last week. And it's been really hard to find any courts in this city that have a hard surface rather than the usually hard packed dirt/gravel on one corner of the soccer field. That's an ankle or knee injury waiting to happen. But this place is the jam. I played there for a bit last week and was really feeling it.





There are many Korean street basketball rules that I am trying to wrap my head around.

1. Koreans call all fouls.
2. Koreans only play zone defense. 2-3 zone in a 5 on 5 game.
3. Koreans love to play full court. Americans would rather play badminton.
4. Koreans love badminton. Really. And are bad ass at it.
5. Koreans call the NBA 3 second lane violation. Started calling it on me after I started playing down low. Hey, someone had to go down there.

That stuff is going to take some getting used to. Especially the zone defense. I don't think i've ever played zone defense in a pickup game before. But I think it says something about the mentality over here. Team first always. There is a japanese proverb that suits Koreans well too. "The nail that sticks out, must be hammered in." There's no showboating on these courts. Lots of passes. Guys working for each other. Shooting when they're open. And they play defense as a team. Back home, guys like to be challenged by guarding a guy, and even if he is absolutely dogging them, they refuse to switch men, to prove that they got what it takes. Koreans couldn't care less. All team all the time.

The ridiculous thing is, for some reason, I think it might be the food, or possibly the weather, my hook shot, is on fire over here. Now I have practiced my hook for some time. And back home, I would make like 2 out of 10 in a game, if I even shot that many. I went 5 for 6 today. Really impressing the ballers over here. Each one I would drain, albeit some off the glass, I would hear a chorus of "wooooo." This is blowing my mind. I can't believe its falling for me like it is. I think I must have broken through some sort of skills wall, because the roundball gods are definitely shining down on me. Ill keep you updated.

Next to the court there is this cool montage on the wall of what seems to be Korean history. And then on the sidewalk in front of it what appears to be a list of names. Maybe dead soldiers... I have no clue, but I thought some of the pictures were really interesting. The years are in the bottom corner of them. If you can read Korean.. please translate. I guess I need to get on that.






After a couple of full court runs I chatted it up with a baller there who I dug his game and his vibe. Just a couple of years younger than me and his english was good. He told me that these courts were the most famous in Busan. I think he meant popular, but I like that. "The most famous courts in Busan." The Rucker park of the Far East. I'm definitely going to hit up this spot on the regular.

Then I was off to the jimjilbong. And not just a jimjilbong. But the mother of all jimjilbongs in Busan. Hurshimchung in Oncheonjang. By the way, A jimjilbong is a Korean bathhouse or spa if you will. Basically everyone hanging out naked, feeling sweet, and being pampered.




It was awesome. Insanely relaxing. You can stay as long as you want. They've got a champagne bath. Yeah. That's right. I bathed in champagne. For seven dollars. Amazing. I'm gonna be hitting that up frequently. There are others probably closer to me but this one if for real.

Then I ran into this wizard master while waiting for the subway to take me home. One great thing about being over here is that Korean culture is on the whole way down with foreigners. I've been offered tons of free food and people say hello to me on the street everywhere I go, because I'm American. Not like the rest of the world for sure. I think we've got lots of good Korean war karma piled up here, unfortunately American sailors are doing terrible shit all the time, from what I hear, and there is a movement in Seoul to get rid of all foreigners because of the military over here. But thats another story altogether. So I moved my backpack out of the way for this guy to sit on the bench beside me, obviously right? He couldn't stop thanking me and patting me on the back. I had to get a picture. For some reason though, he reminds me of my dad. Like a Korean version of my dad. You decide.