Day 17: Korean Baseball Match!

In the morning, I reached class that day to know that we have breakfast provided for us by the school! To celebrate the end of our first week, the school prepared for us rather traditional food. Ddeok (떡) and Sikhye (식혜). Ddeok is made of flour I guess, and then Sikhye is a traditional rice drink. I think it was a pretty interesting breakfast, and something very local. I love Sikhye though, but some ddeok isn't very nice.

On the way to school, Jenny told me that her dorm mates asked her to go for a baseball match that evening. I have heard briefly about Korea's baseball, and how much Koreans love baseball, but I personally do not have much knowledge about the game. Was pondering whether I should go and decided I should not miss this once-in-a-lifetime chance. Sorry I do not have any information on how to get the tickets, but I heard that you need some Korean ID if you want to purchase them online, so if you are a foreigner, it is best to purchase them right before the show outside the stadium.

The match for that day was Doosan Bears V.S. Samsung Lions. Of course, I didn't know which group to support, and neither have I heard their names. I also didn't buy any baseball jerseys/shirts which I totally regret. By the way, the ticket is 15,000KRW, which is a little pricey I think, but totally worth it. I had doubts on whether I will fall asleep halfway, because afterall I am not a sports fan, much less a baseball fan. But I totally became one after watching the games.

The game was held at Jamsil Baseball Stadium, but the subway stop to stop at was Sports Complex Subway Station instead. If I remember correctly, leave from exit 5 or 6 and you will see a stadium in front of you.

I totally became a fan of Doosan Bears after the show. In Korean baseball matches, every baseball players have their respective cheers. They usually incorporate the names of the players and are sung in this light-hearted tune. I caught some of the tunes and sang along with them halfway through the games. It was really catchy and if you could understand some basic Korean, I think it is pretty easy to understand the meaning etc.

Oh, and not forgetting that in between, there are a lot of entertainments. Like when the teams are changing sides or something (sorry I really know nuts about baseball). They have performances and dances and cheerleaders singing and dancing in front. They was also one screen time and the theme was "Kiss Time". So the camera man will go around shooting anyone that they felt look like couple. You can see a lot of couples waving their hands madly to be filmed. Hahah so if you happen to be the one caught on screen, you are supposed to be spontaneous and kiss the other party. There was a daddy and his toddler son kissing, hahah so cute and heartwarming. The camera man also shot this old couple probably in their 70s, and the ahjossi (uncle) kissed the ahjumma (auntie) so hard on her cheeks. So cute!!!!

Look at the crowd behind me. 3.5 hours of matches passed way too fast!!! This is one of my fondest memories because for that 3.5 hours, I really felt like I was truly able to experience the life of a Korean.

Thoughts: Alternating between the life of a tourist and a local.

I am going to add in these 'random thoughts' post, which are things that suddenly dawned on me during my trip. It was something worth exploring I think so somewhere in between, you will see these posts coming up. Also because if the next day's post is a really long one, and I'm really tired to write it up, this short one comes in to substitute and keeps this blog going. :P

Anyway, I'm talking about a rather meaningful event (to me at least) that happened to me on Day 16, which relates to this post. After the dinner at the chinese restaurant, Jenny and I then went to a mart to replenish some fruits and biscuits. T.T Btw there are only few fruits which you can buy in Korea, and I eat banana most often. Because fruits are so expensive in Korea, a whole watermelon can cost nearly S$30.

Anyway, main point wasn't this. After I bid Jenny goodbye, I strolled back to the guesthouse in the rain. It wasn't raining so heavily now, but it was still raining. I stopped at the traffic light and waited for the signal for me to cross. While waiting, a man came over to me and talked to me in Korean. I don't know if I've said this already, but even though I took Korean level 2 back in Singapore, my standard wasn't that good at all. I was good with grammar and tenses and writing, but I was always weaker when it comes to speaking and listening (conversational) foreign languages. So guess my horror when the man spoke to me in Korean. Thankfully, I understood what he said. He asked me for the directions to Hyehwa Subway Station Exit 1. 

HE ASKED ME FOR DIRECTIONS!!! Hahah why is he asking a foreigner for direction?! Guess what I told him. I replied him in Korean (I'm amazed I complete the sentence without any stuttering, or wrong pronunciation.) and I said, "죄송합니다. 저는 의국사람입니다." which translates to "Sorry I'm a foreigner." Come to think of it, the content I said contradicts with the language I said it in. Anyway, I roughly knew where he wanted to go, but I wasn't too sure, and giving directions was too hard for me, I think I would stutter all the way, so I took the easy way out opps. But anyway, I was beaming with pride because I must have looked like a Korean for him to ask me that, or it shows that I am already assimilating quite well hahah. It was honestly pretty meaningful to me, because it was around that time that I got confused with my identity - am I trying to be a foreigner, or a local.

Which brings me to my point - how do you feel like alternating between the life of a tourist and a local. Some people apparently don't care, some people do. Well, I am the kind that will care, because I think if you get the right mindset and attitude, then you will be able to fully experience what you want to experience. Like if you wanna be a tourist, feel free to take out your pictures and snap photos and speaking in your own language among yourselves. I started the trip off being a tourist, and by day 17, I am starting to doubt my identity of a tourist, partly because I also live in a guesthouse which is in a very Korean housing estate. And I would really love to be able to experience the life of a local there. I get tired of pulling out my camera to take a picture, because that shows the Koreans around me that I'm a tourist and not a local. I hate to speak loudly in Mandarin or English, because once again people will know I am not local. I want to be treated like a local, do the things a local does, eat the food a local eats.

And that is the reason why I yearn to go back so much, because I haven't seemed to be able to complete that task I wanted to do. I'm trying to plan a trip back next Spring, and if all goes well, there will be more posts to sustain this blog hahah! Though some things might be repeated, because again, I'm not going there with a purpose of travelling, so I'll probably cover places I've already gone before, to find back that kind of familiar feeling, to just meet with my friends there, to find back the feeling of my second home (or so I wish). Wish me luck!