By Jonathan Corrado

Arm wrestling is as ego inflating or deflating in Korea as it is in the western world.

A small boy challenges me to an arm wrestling match in my Hagwon. A crowd gathers.

I put on a show, pretending to struggle against a boy so skinny he can barely stay planted on windy days. I lose in front of the entire class.

Perplexed and amazed, the rest of the class challenges me. I beat them in droves; two at a time, three at a time. I’ve got fat kids hanging from me like earrings on an emo.

The original kid wants a re-match and again I allow him to beat me after a theatrical climax. Less interested in the truth than his own glory, he leaves class convinved he’s got arms of steel.

I imagine he’s bleeding in an alley by now, the aftermath of an uneven fight and an inflated ego.