As I mentioned in my previous post, this year the city of Gwangju had the opportunity to host Universiade. It was absolutely amazing to have an additional 20,000 foreigners running around and made the last 12 days really exciting. There were concerts happening everyday and the World Youth Festival was held all week downtown.
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| Walking downtown I came upon a parade of cosplayers and strange floats. |
Without further ado, here's how enjoyed Universiade~
July 5th- Basketball
A few friends and I decided that we wanted to see the USA compete in a basketball game and we weren't disappointed. We ended up going to one of the preliminary games where we watched the Kansas Jayhawks represent as Team USA. They played against Brazil and both teams seemed to be playing fairly evenly. In the end, Team USA pulled ahead and won 81-72. Although it was two foreign teams, the gym was packed with Koreans cheering. All of the games I went to had a really great crowd atmosphere. Additionally, Gwangju made sure that all teams felt supported. Supposedly, volunteers were asked to go to games that weren't expecting large crowds and cheer.
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| Both teams warming up before the game. |
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| At the basketball game with friends. |
Right after work I met David and Megan for a showdown. Or at least, it was supposed to be a showdown. We had bought tickets to see the Korea vs. Japan baseball game and we were expecting a good game. Alas, it was not so. Japan, with some amazing pitchers and just overall great playing, crushed Korea 8-0. They went on to defeat Team USA the next day with the same score. I think they would have won gold but we had terrible weather and the gold medal match was cancelled. The game was still really fun to watch because of friends, fried chicken, beer and nice weather. It was also fun to see so many little league teams (in uniform) there to watch the game.
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| Kind of hazy but good weather for a baseball game. Can you see the two youth teams in uniforms in front of us? |
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| David, Megan and I enjoying beer, chicken and baseball (you can't go to a baseball game in Korea without those two things) |
I decided to make myself feel slightly uncomfortable and went to the USA vs Korea men's volleyball game with Megan. Volleyball is really popular with elementary school teachers in Korea and we play it every other Wednesday at school. I already find it exciting to watch my coteachers play and I was looking forward to watching semi-professionals show off their moves. The game was really fun to watch. All of Team USA was taller than the Korean team but Team Korea just played prettier (in my opinion). The first two games were played fairly evenly (with one game going into the 30s) but Team USA ended up winning 3-2. Although I felt uncomfortable at first, I really liked cheering at this game. I cheered for both Korea and the USA and a nice couple gave us flags to wave around.
After the game we ended up meeting a nice couple who had a daughter on the USA Archery team and invited them to join us for dinner. We went out for some Korean BBQ and they seemed to really enjoy the food. It was nice to introduce them to something different and talk about cultural differences.
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| USA vs. Korea |
July 14th- Closing Ceremony
THIS WAS AWESOME. My friend Tessa and I had been freaking out the day of because we hadn't bought tickets and they had closed online purchases. Little did we know that we had nothing to worry about. I booked it to the Gwangju World Cup Stadium right after school and immediately picked up tickets. The World Cup Stadium was used to host matches during the 2002 FIFA world cup and is currently home to the FC Gwangju soccer team. It's humongous. After being handed a fan (for the heat), a pack of vitamins (for Mers) and a brochure, I met up with Tessa and another teacher named Brittney. After eating a quick dinner, we entered the stadium. The funny thing is, we never actually sat in our seats. We ended up leaning against the railing below our section so we would have a better view. That's right- we stood at the railing for the entire 3 hours and I have no regrets (ok, maybe my shoe choice. Really wish I hadn't been in sandals). Since we bought the cheapest seats, we were positioned right behind the stage. So while we could see everything, we were pretty much staring at backs the entire time. Atmosphere made up for that little hitch.
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| You can see the flame in the background. Staff standing by Gwangju Universiade mascot outside the stadium |
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| Our view from behind the stage (after the athletes have entered) |
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| Lights shows galore |
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| Dancers with fire |
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| Brittney, Tessa and I hamming it up with our section behind us |
The theme of Universiade is Light Up Tomorrow (Gwangju is known as the city of lights) and they had an impressive light show. The ceremony started with a band called the Dick Punks (I laughed, I cried, I laughed again) and then the athletes entered. Unlike the opening ceremony (which I heard was very formal), the closing ceremony was just a ton of fun. Athletes were dancing and crowded around the main stage. After a bunch of speeches by the mayor, Universiade president, and other important people, it was time for the show.
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| A picture of the Dick Punks because I couldn't resist. |
The musical acts truly began when DJ KOO started playing music and getting the athletes and audience excited. This is also when my cell phone died so I have no videos or pictures. Next, a rap duo named Jinusean performed two songs before handing over the mic to my favorite act of the night, an older Korean rock star named Kim Kyung-ho. He was absolutely amazing. He sang a Queen Medley and a few other songs. He was so good that I found the following two acts to be kind of boring. Two famous Kpop groups, EXID and Shinee, performed a few of their hit songs. I had just seen them the previous week at the a Kpop concert and this time it just wasn't very exciting. It was also disappointing that they were so clearly lip-singing- especially because Kim Kyung-ho was such a fantastic singer.
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| Jinusean rapping and being tiny, blurry people. |
Peace!
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