Experiencing 고연전 (Ko-Yon Games)

As I had mentioned in my previous post, the Ko-Yon Games took place last weekend and it was the most amazing weekend ever! It was two days of non-stop cheering (literally) and the most intense school spirit I have ever witnessed! Even though I am only here at KU for a short time, I really feel an immense amount of pride for this school. I was so moved by all the love and pride that Korean students have for their school and I couldn't help but join in their cheers at 고연전.

Cheering at sports events here is nothing like I've ever seen or imagined. Instead of just sitting and paying attention to the match, we sing and dance along to our school's cheering songs as a form of support for our team. There are cheerleaders who lead the crowd and loud music is playing during the matches and everyone is so full of energy. It really makes me wonder if the athletes ever get distracted by all the commotion! Nevertheless, the stadium is just filled with a great atmosphere~

The first day of the Ko-Yon Games included baseball, basketball, and ice hockey. KU was off to a great start as we won the baseball match which was the first event.

Basketball and ice hockey were next and they were held at the same time. However, basketball required a ticket to get in and seats were very limited so I ended up going to watch ice hockey with my KUBA group. Although we ended up losing in the ice hockey match, we heard from others that KU won for basketball! We were a bit gloomy at the end of the day because of the loss in ice hockey, but we were all still confident that KU would win it all because we already had two victories on the first day and we just needed to win one more event the next day!

So on the second day, the last two events were rugby and soccer. After losing the rugby match, the tension definitely rose by a lot. It meant that we were tied with Yonsei 2-2. The last match which was soccer was definitely the most nerve-wracking match. The game seemed to drag on forever as both teams were not scoring any goals. In the end, luck was in our favor as KU scored the one and only goal near the end of the second half. It was definitely a close game but KU came out victorious in the end! :)

    After the games were over, everyone (including Yonsei students) headed back to Anam, which is the area where Korea University is located. Sadly, I wasn't able to join in the after-game celebrations but I did hear stories about it after.

Typically, you would expect the cheering to be over after the games ended but it was definitely far from being over. That night the streets of Anam were packed with KU and Yonsei students singing and dancing and cheering until the wee hours of the morning. Students were able to go around Anam and get free food and drinks from restaurants in celebration of KU's victory. (My roommate later told me that the free food and drinks were "sponsored" by KU alumni.) When they weren't busy cheering on the streets, some students went back to KU's campus to celebrate some more and enjoy drinks on the front lawn. Celebrations lasted all the way until 5am!

I am so glad I got to be a part of 고연전 and it will be an experience I will never forget.

Update + Life in Korea

Hey all~ It's been a while since I last blogged and it's about time I updated you guys on my life in Korea. Life as an exchange student is definitely exciting, crazy and fast-paced! The past two weeks have been pretty busy for me with classes, hanging out with friends, exploring different parts of Seoul, and group activities with my KUBA buddies. However, this week is by far the busiest for me. I went to the Incheon K-POP concert this past Sunday which was like a dream come true getting to see some of my favorite K-pop artists perform! :) And this week Saturday I will be attending the SISTAR concert!

Also, this coming Friday and Saturday is the highly anticipated Ko Yon Games (고연전). For those who don't know what this is, it is basically two days of sports matches between Korea University (고려대학교) and Yonsei University (연세대학교). These two schools are famous for their intense rivalry and the Ko Yon Games take place every year during the fall semester. The events that will take place are baseball, basketball, ice hockey, rugby and soccer. In preparation for the games, we had cheering practices so that all the students can learn the cheers and dances to support KU. I am truly impressed with the amount of passion, pride and dedication that students have for their university. It has really affected me deeply and now I am so proud to be a Korea University student. Even though I don't like sports I am super excited to see the games and to wear my school color (crimson/red) proudly with my fellow KU students!

So now that I've caught you up on what's been happening lately, I'm just going to talk about life in Korea in general and how some things differ from Hawaii (based on my personal experiences so they may not be 100% accurate).

First of all, Korea is a very tourist-friendly place. There are many foreigners here and you won't have to worry too much about knowing Korean since most places have signs in both Korean and English (especially the subway system). Also, a lot of Korean people do have basic knowledge of English which is really helpful when buying something or asking for help. So don't be afraid to use English when you can't say it in Korean :) chances are they will understand at least a little of what you are saying. My buddy from the KUBA program even told me that Koreans are crazy about learning English! However, in certain circumstances you should have a native Korean friend to help you (if possible) e.g., buying a prepaid SIM card, opening a bank account, purchasing concert tickets, etc.

Second, the food in Korea is generally much cheaper (and healthier) than in Hawaii. I personally think the food in Korea is a lot better, too! A few of my favorites include 밭빙수 (red bean shaved ice), 삼겹살 (sam gyeop sal or pork belly), 김밥 (kimbap or korean sushi), 떡볶이 (ddukbokki or spicy rice cake), and 부대찌개 (stew with variety of foods inside like rice cake, pork, vegetables, ramen, etc.). Of course there are many others but it would take forever to name them all!

That brings me to the next thing: dining out in Korea. Whether it's in a restaurant or just having coffee and dessert at a cafe, there are a few things that are useful to know:

1.  No tax and tip! This is by far my favorite part of eating out in Korea. Nobody tips in Korea and the prices are usually set by even amounts like 7,000 won or 9,500 won. It is very convenient because you don't need to go through the trouble or calculating tax and tip :)
2.  In restaurants, you usually pay at the cash register near the door after you are finished eating. Unlike America, servers here don't pick up your check and payment and return your change to your table. (Probably because there's no such thing as tipping here.)
3. When you need something just yell out "저기요" (cheogiyo) or "여기요" (yeogiyo) or just get their attention somehow. Servers don't usually come to your table every so often to check up on you like in the U.S. (This too is probably because of no tipping in Korea.)
4. I'm not too sure about this one but from my own experience, sometimes when you order just one item to share with a friend they won't let you get just one order. They will ask you to get 2 or however many people are in your party. This is probably because the menu items are set for one person serving size. However, some menus will indicate how many persons each item can feed. Keep in mind that this doesn't happen everywhere; I just had this happen to me and my friends a few times. 
5. For cafes, you will usually order your food and/or drink at the counter and they will give you your order on a tray (if you are going to sit in the cafe). When you are finished, you either bring the tray with your rubbish back to the workers or leave it on top of the designated trash area. In certain places, you can just leave it on the table and someone will clean it up later. The reason is because Korea is very big on recycling and everyone separates their trash into plastics, papers, and other waste. They don't want you to just dump everything into one trashcan. (Many places have slightly different ways of disposing of your trash so just keep that in mind.)
•  In my personal experience, the first time I went to a cafe here in Korea with my friends, we were unsure of what to do with our trash once we were done enjoying our coffee and pastries. There were not many other people in there at the time so we couldn't just follow what other people were doing. And the people who were there did not look like they were going to be done anytime soon. We were checking out the area where you get your straws, napkins, and sugars because that's where the trash is usually located but there was no slot to dispose of our rubbish. We were confused for the longest time and after trying to read the sign taped to the 'trash can' that said something that included "...after drinking..." in Korean, we decided to leave the whole tray on top of that 'trash can'. It seemed to be correct because the worker there just said their goodbye greetings as we left.

I guess I will end it here for now (before this post gets way too long)! I will probably blog more about Korean customs and etiquette in later posts. :)

Until next time~