By #24 – Korean Baseball
I highly recommend going out with some of your Korean friends and see a Korean baseball game. I found it funner than going to a US baseball game because the Korean baseball fans are quite passionate and animated in regards to cheering for their team. Not only are their team cheerleaders but the fans do highly scripted dance and cheer routines themselves. It almost seems like the fans attend the games more to cheer than to actually watch a baseball game. It is definitely an experience far different than what you would normally see at a baseball game back in the United States. One thing is for sure, it sure looks like Koreans have more fun at their baseball games than American fans have at theirs.
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Note: This is an ongoing series that is systematically counting down the Top 25 things I like about Korea. Let me know in the comments section if this is something you like about Korea?
12:02 am on January 26th, 2011 1
"What I Like About Korea: #24 – Korean Baseball"
Naw… they look more than a handfull. I'd say softballs at the least.
To quote Tom L…
"Rah rah rah, please remove your bra."
8:45 am on January 26th, 2011 2
I remember going to games back in the late 1980s. Tickets were 3,000 won, but there were specially priced 1,500 won tickets for policemen and soldiers. I didn't think they would sell me a soldier ticket, but when I asked for one, they ticket seller didn't hesitate to sell me one. So I always got in for half price.
One rule you absolutely have to know: the fans from the two teams DO NOT sit together. The dividing line is home plate (imagine a line drawn from the pitcher's mound to home plate that keeps going up into the stands to the back of the stadium behind home plate). Home team is on the first base line – visiting team is on the third base side. If you sit on the wrong side of the baseball park and cheer for the other team – at a minimum, you're going to get a lot of dirty looks and some snide comments. There's also a good chance some drunk punk or disgruntled ajushi will get in your face and try to start something.
9:47 am on January 26th, 2011 3
"Naw… they look more than a handfull. I’d say softballs at the least."
Now, subtract the padding and you're left with golf balls.
"Rah rah rah, we took the padding too far"
11:12 am on January 26th, 2011 4
I like this series of posts. Good topic.
A writer in Financial Times recently made a list of ten things that he likes about Korea, if you are interested:
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/ca8b7760-19e0-11e0-b921…
I, myself, prefer Korean basketball games to baseball, which I find too loud. Go Incheon ET-Land Elephants! Their arena is newer and much better than Jamshil.
10:55 pm on January 26th, 2011 5
I used to catch games back in 07 and while the games in Suwon weren't as packed as the Seoul ones, a good time was always to be had.
I'm sure I've still got pictures on my flickr of when we ran into a huge group of ROKAF troops on their day off cheering for the Suwon Unicorns with us. Even though they weren't able to drink, I think they were way more enthusiastic and excited than we were to be cheering and getting away from base for a while.
1:46 am on January 27th, 2011 6
http://www.thewaygookeffect.com/2010/10/stuff-way…
4:02 am on January 27th, 2011 7
Back in the 80s I was a fan of the OB Bears. Used to go up to Seoul to watch them. I even have a picture of me standing on a box leading a cheer in our section! I was awarded a can of OB beer for my efforts.
Good times.
5:39 am on January 27th, 2011 8
Gi Korea, can I recommend one to add onto the top 25? I recommend the compulsory military service of SK. You say WHAT?
I recommend it because it turns lazy teens into MEN, which in turn was one of the key ingredients that helped S Korea develop as it has.
I don't think it's been understood well by foreign observers how critical the compulsory military service has been to the amazing development of SK. And it's not because it just provided security against NK. It's the first time in Korea's history that every able bodied male go through a strict, organized, group oriented setting and given a (thoroughly rough, although softened bit now) treatment that will adjust anybody's attitude. Once they leave, they've learned a life lesson that no college will or can teach. They've learned that life is about hard work, take nothing for granted, and they've learned to do whatever it takes to get the job done.
I've heard so many times about a whining, complaing-about-untasty-food-from-mom, lazy SK kid go through the military service and they come back as a MAN. No more complaining about mom's food, they understand nothing is free or easy in life, and they've learned to do whatever it takes to get the job done. Not only that, boys from all kinds of families and backgrounds were put in a group to do the same job as everyone else.
Sure the boys and the parents themselves don't like it but I firmly believe the compulsory military service of SK was one of the key reasons of amazing development of SK.
So I vote to add compulsory military service as one of top 25. Weird choice I know.
8:32 am on January 27th, 2011 9
Great post, GI Korea. I concur with pretty much everything you said. I think people should head out to a ball game at least once this summer.
8:37 am on January 27th, 2011 10
John (#8), you make an interesting point about military service. I've cited compulsory military service when I hear folks grousing that South Korea doesn't pull its own weight in terms of national security, going to far as to say two years in the military at the prime of their lives represented an opportunity cost. But perhaps I should rethink that a little.
11:10 am on January 27th, 2011 11
#10
Compulsory military service is one big engine that pulled SK out of its misery. Someone can say what about NK's? And I say well NK doesn't have a market economy.
2:44 pm on January 27th, 2011 12
John, yes interesting comment. There are things I like and don't like about the mandatory service obligation. I plan on putting together a different list of "Things Unique About Korea" after I complete this current list. I think it would fit better on that list.
6:20 am on January 30th, 2011 13
#10 #12
Thanks!
#12
Yes i can already kinda guess what you don't like about mandatory military service obligation. You end up with less than ready/motivated troops in your midst. I'm sure you'd rather have a smaller but more motivated/trained army than a larger army that's not as well motivated/trained. But in light of NK's threat, having as many trigger fingers as possible is something SK must have.
On your "Things Unique About Korea" that-foreigners-don't-know-about list, how about the following recommendations
-You can experience hottest and coldest seasons all in a year.
-Post WW2, sent largest # of army troops abroad for war, i.e. Vietnam, other than US. Not %100 sure but I'm pretty sure that is true…
3:09 pm on February 9th, 2011 14
Back to about ten yrs, the Korean baseball was not very popular like todays. It was just for men thing, not for women. But the baseball team started to do marketing for women to collect more ticket sales and it worked. The girls started to gather and companied men accordingly, lol. So Korean baseball organization is highly inspired in recent a few yrs.
Recently, a Korean game companyn (NC SOFT) announced it would launch 9th team.
5:07 pm on July 1st, 2011 15
Korea internet reservations are terrible. Have to have a foreign ID number, which I don’t have because I am military and the site is all in korean (not a problem for me but sure it is for others). In other nations around the world if you have a credit card you can make reservations….not Korea. Another reason why this place sucks.
5:15 pm on July 1st, 2011 16
Cheer Leaders are the best. I always tried to get seats right in front of the dancing stage.