Hello Friends,

We're finally moving from summer to fall. Thank Heavens. It was so hot and humid here. And then the last few weeks it was raining almost everyday. UGH! Anyway, We've got a few events planned for the fall so I figured it was time to get back to updating about Korea.

We are back at school and for both Jamie and I it's super easy compared to starting here in September last year. It's so strange to be starting a new year again, but instead of thinking "wow another year!", we're thinking "Oh my gosh! Only a year! what are we going to do in August!". OK. In reality, that's more my daily mantra. Jamie's a little more laid back about the plans.

I know your desperate to hear about our latest adventures so I won't keep them from you any longer.

Soccer and Baseball!

We went to a soccer game a few weeks back and a baseball game a few months before that. The soccer game was in World Cup Stadium which was pretty cool in and of itself (Korea co-hosted the World Cup with Japan back in 2002). The soccer/baseball games were fun, like all live sports games are but there are some things that are a little different from other arena games I had been too. If I don't specify, the points apply to both the soccer and baseball games.

First off, Cheerleaders.

Both the soccer game and the baseball game had Cheerleaders!

The had a little stage about 1 quarter of the way up in the seats and they led the crowd in cheering. Not only did they Cheer but they also danced! They had routines for some popular songs that they would dance to. Very interesting.

Leading the Crowd.

I think cheerleaders do this regardless (I'm not real savy on cheerleaders and what they do back in the states), but they had signs that they would hold up with the players names so everyone could cheer and read their name. For example, they would hold up a sign with a players name and we'd all "clapclapclap Ji! sung! Park! ClapClapClap Jisung Park!" and they we'd do the next player and so on.

(BASEBALL) Individualized Cheers

The popular baseball players had their own cheer! There were about 5 different cheers for the various players. But they weren't like a regular chant, they were more like a song. and EVERYONE in the stadium new them. Not only did they have a song, but more often than not they also had some sort of motion that went along with them. Which brings me to the next point.

Crowd Participation

People do not cheer randomly here. Everyone is taught the cheer and we do it together. It's really remarkable to watch and participate in. For both games you could watch the crowd react together while cheering. What makes it even more interesting to watch is the cheering paraphernalia.

Cheering Paraphernalia

Everyone has some thing, specific to the team they are cheering for, to help them cheer and make noise. Popular right now is those big boom whackers. You whack them together and they make noise. Anyway, because almost everyone has them, that's what's included in the synchronized movements for the cheers. It looks so neat to see thousands of people waving those in unison! At the soccer game, the infamous "vuvuzella" was fairly ubiquitous, and the big screen showed a PSA on proper vuvuzella handling prior to the game. They would also periodically flash, "It's Vuvuzella time!", indicating that it was, at that particular moment, time to use the vuvuzella. Also at one of the baseball games, fans had taken orange grocery bags, inflated them and tied them off, and then attached them to their heads! They looked like pumpkins from a far!

Soccer, Fireworks

At the start of each half and each time there was a goal they set of fireworks! Wow! (maybe that's not so uncommon in the states either). It was unfortunate that the stadium was mostly enclosed though, as the smoke lingered for a good 10 minutes each time...

Food

Two things about food. First, bringing food in from outside it totally OK. This means that there's tons of ladies selling Kimbab and Soju and corn and all that jazz right outside the stadium. That's great. But you know what, who cares!? Because the food inside the stadium is NOT OVERPRICED. Let me say that again in case you missed it. It's not overpriced! The food and beer inside the stadium is the same cheap price that you would pay on your own street 5 miles away from the stadium! Oh wow.