"Spring, Spring, Spring"

Me: Hey Spring, how's it going?
Spring: Not too bad. How about you?
Me: I'm good. Dude, where have you been?
Spring: Well, I was caught up in the States for a little while wreaking havoc with summer-like days, preceded by historic flooding.
Me: You jerk! Well it's good to have you here, it's been awfully cold here. We haven't been able to get out much and enjoy the weather.
Spring: Sorry bro, I made it as fast as I could.
Me: Ok, Ok...I'm just glad you're finally here. Let's have some fun!


Now that spring is here, I can finally get out of my apartment and start enjoying the outdoors! Last week's cherry blossom festival was nice, but still a bit cold. I've been wearing a winter jacket everywhere!

This weekend was pretty fun though, and we've made a lot of plans for most of the next few months.

On Friday I attended my friend Ashley's 23rd birthday at T.G.I.Friday's in Bucheon. She likes to make me feel old, as some of us in the older crowd were making fun that the Challenger explosion happened before she was born. To which she replied. "What's the Challenger?" (insert face-palm here)

Saturday, Hwayoung and I explored more of Boramae Park - the huge park near here apartment which we often go to. (see my October post here) We've picniced there, played badminton, and walked the track. This weekend we climbed nearby hills that were covered in cherry blossom petals which also closely resemble a light pink snowfall. I was also surprised at how large the park really was. There are multiple community centers; one for young children, one for teenagers, and one for seniors. They also have a small reading room building that was packed with people studying, and are building a new library next to it. A handful of gutted planes and helicopters are also propped up as a small aeronautical museum, as the property used to be an air force base from 1958 to 1985.

Sunday we caught an afternoon movie in Sindorim. We chose "Kick Ass" which I must say was disturbingly violent and only mediocre in it's comedy. It's definitely a 16-24 year old's kind of movie. But I couldn't help but laugh at how absurd it was at times.

After the movie we walked by a small outdoor theater which was rehearsing for a ComiCon style talent show. It was bizzare and corny, so we left.

 

Our plan for the day was to meet up with our friends Min-young and Song-un, as Song-un and I wanted to get together to see a baseball game. Song-un's favorite team is the Hanwha Eagles based out of Daejeon, and seeing as I have no affiliation or support towards any team besides by beloved Red Sox, I had to root for them as well! The Eagles were the away team, as they were playing in Jamsil (home to the LG Twins and Doosan Bears).

It was a fast game, as there was only about 10 hits in the entire game. The Twins scored 3 runs in the 7th or 8th inning, and the game was pretty much over. I must be bad luck.

 

 

Next weekend we're planning on going to The Jeonju International Film Festival. Hwayoung used to work as a film director and producer after college, and still has connections with some people in the business. We also plan on visiting a folk village. Stay tuned for more next week!

"Take Me Out To The Ballgame..."

Finally, I had a chance to get to see a baseball game! It was the last Saturday game of the season too! I suppose it was a good thing to show up almost 2 hours early to get tickets, as they only had the upper-deck and behind the outfield left.

It was an interesting experience to say the least. I had a good time, and have many things to talk about. Let's begin:

1. If you ever are planning to go to a game at Jamsil Stadium in Seoul, and don't already have tickets purchased online. Get there early - especially for weekend games.

Click to Enlarge

2. Bring a newspaper. To read?? - NO - to put on your seat to reserve it. In all their wisdom, Jamsil stadium does not have assigned seats for the upper-deck (yellow) seats $8! You merely buy a ticket and sit wherever you find a spot. People were camped out hours earlier than I reserving 15 seats - of which they used 5. Some had printed signs and taped them to the seats. Others just left their belongings there with no one to guard them. Interesting, but not efficient. Also, my big complaint was that either they oversold tickets and didn't have enough seats, or people moved from the outfield seats. Where? To the aisles. People just sit in the aisles and make it a death trap in case something ever should happen. I didn't even leave my seat for an attempt on grabbing dinner or the bathroom as I didn't want to try and step through the minefield of little children and their parents picnicking on the stairs.

(or in this case - making pom-poms out of newspapers)

3. Bring whatever you want - food, beer, liquor, weapons. They don't check bags. Alcohol below a certain percentage is actually allowed, as well as food. (I saw people carrying pizza's in). That's definitely a plus, and saves money from being forced to buy $7 hamburgers and $8 beers (oh wait - that's back in the States - here it's cheaper).

4. If you're rooting for the home team, get a seat behind 1st base. I entered the stadium on the 3rd base side, and slowly moved my way to behind home plate where I actually found an unreserved seat. I had a great view, but was stuck between 2 sets of fans. You'll also get a better view of the cheerleaders, might learn the cheers, and are in foul ball territory.

Doosan's Cheer Captain - he's basically a drum major for the crowd (and on crack)

5. Don't expect the teams to be great. They're OK - fielding is their strong point. Strategy and skill is not. The teams don't have a lot of power hitters, the pitchers just seem to throw fastballs (and a lot of wild ones too) They steal bases like crazy at the weirdest times too, and then when you expect them to steal, they don't. (Like with runners at the corners and 1 out - might as well steal 2nd, as the catcher isn't apt to throw with a guy on 3rd and a big lead). However, the game was exciting and there were a lot of hits (due to the only throwing fastballs up the middle of the plate). Also, the fans are pretty polite to the visiting team. There isn't yelling, cursing, or even booing for players. In fact, when the opposing team hit a home run, I saw a lot of Doosan fans cheering for him as he did a good job. The umps are polite too - and are known to reverse calls - something that is hard to come by in MLB.

6. Don't go alone. I couldn't get anyone to accompany me on short notice - it was rather boring because of that.

7. Leave early if it's not a close game and they're in the 9th. (well, if you're taking the subway - as it gets really crowded, really quickly). I was lucky enough to leave while everyone was focusing on a raffle at the end of the game.

8. Buy the "thunder sticks". They're cheap and they look like fun. I would have bought them if I had better seats and was sitting with the Doosan fans. Unfortunately, I had a lot more Lotte Giant fans around me.

9. Bring a camera, you'll get some good pics!

10. Try not to notice that there is no announcer, just a Jumbo-Tron. And pray that you don't get shown on it when they're doing the "Kiss Competition". Don't worry - I wasn't chosen for that -- somehow, I don't think the old man sitting next to me would have puckered up...

THE REST OF MY PHOTO'S CAN BE FOUND HERE, 

INCLUDING A PANORAMIC OF THE STADIUM 

(thank you Canon Photostitch!)

Also, here are some videos I took during the game:

"Summon the Heroes"

Since my first week in Korea I was yearning to see a baseball game. I've read and heard that the games are enjoyable and extremely cheap. At first I was surprised, as you can get bleacher seats for $3, behind the plate and baselines for about $10, and VIP box seats for $30. (As a Red Sox fan, I could only dream Fenway's tickets were that cheap!) However, after seeing a couple of games on TV, I'm not as surprised to the low cost of the aforementioned tickets. The Korean teams skill levels are the equivalent to our minor leagues - and maybe that is being too nice. The pitchers seem to throw everything right down the middle of the plate, and the bats are swinging left and right. Most games I've seen are pretty high scoring. (Plus I can recall one game where there were 3 errors in one inning - maybe that's just a fluke, but I doubt it.) So maybe the ticket prices are acceptable, as the farm teams back at home are just as cheap.

Three months have past, and as a treat for myself, I decided I was going to venture out and watch a game. The stadium is about an hour away on the subway, and I gave myself extra time to get there early in order to buy a ticket. (You can order them online, but I don't know how). The subway was packed though, and I didn't get there much earlier than the rest of Seoul.

The game I went to see was the Doosan Bears vs. the Kia Tigers. The Doosan Bears share Jamsil Stadium with another home team the LG Twins. (Yes, Korean baseball teams name themselves after conglomerates and not cities). According to many sources, the Tigers are the equivalent of the Yankees - having won many championships, and therefore the Doosan Bears are closest to the Red Sox. Ergo, I'm going to despise the Tigers from now on and am adopting the Bears as my team. Unfortunately, just like the Red Sox/Yankee games - this one was completely sold out! I tried to get a ticket, but to no avail! I'm going to have to recruit my co-teacher to helping me buy a ticket online before the season ends in October.

Korean baseball follows the same rules as MLB baseball (except I'm not sure if they follow the AL or NL rules). The unique thing to baseball in Asia (as I've heard this is the same in Japan) is that the fans contribute to the game using chants and songs, and use 'thunder sticks' along in unison. The fans get really quiet and respectful when their team bats, and gets really loud against the opposing team. Every Korean has not only their favorite baseball player, but cheerleader as well. They lead the songs and dances for the crowd, and contribute to the environment.

I was really looking forward to this game, and even though I knew this was a possibility, I decided "Oh well, if I can't get in, at least I'll get to see the Olympic Stadium area". For those of you young people out there, the Olympic Stadium was built for the 1988 Summer Games. There actually wasn't much to see because you can't get into the stadiums, and everything was blocked off for concerts and events. I did, however, get to take some photos of the area. 

As usual, click the pics to enlarge

 

 

After picking myself up from this huge disappointment and taking a handful of snapshots, I went across the highway (via the subway terminal of course) and strolled through "Asia Park" located near the "Asian Player Village" It wasn't all that exciting, so I just decided to play with the camera and try and practice my photography. I believe I'm getting better.

 

  

The rest of the photo's from the day can be found here

When I got home not too long ago, I really wanted pizza. This is something that is everywhere in Korea, but I had still not tested it. After I fended off some Korean missionaries that really wanted me to join their church, I had the fortune to go to a small place called "Pizza Club" right across from my building.  They actually turn out a decent pizza, and you can get a medium for only $5! It comes with sweet pickles as well, which aren't half bad. I think this will be a regular thing before I go out on Friday or Saturday night as it's cheap, yet filling for all that mek-ju and soju!

This note is for my best friend Patrick - I saw an Volvo S80, so I had to take a photo for you of one with Korean plates). By the way - since Hyundai is a Korean made car, I see about 100 Santa Fe's a day, so it's nothing special!