The 20th Entry Commemorative Entry
Yongojeon! What’s that you say, some inane gibberish in romanized Korean?? Well, yes and no. It’s short for Yonsei University-Korean University Festival. The series of events -- including: ice hockey, soccer, rugby, baseball and basketball -- which were held this past Friday and Saturday. Typically, I’m not one who relishes sporting events. But, I decided that I might as well go, since I’m probably going to be in Korea to attend future Yongojeon, oh, say, NEVER. Plus, I figured attending would give me a healthy dose of Korean culture. And my hunch proved correct.
The biggest, and ultimately the most enjoyable, dose of culture came in the form of cheer, or chant. Students from both Yonsei and Korea dressed up in their university’s colors -- blue and red respectively -- stood in the stands and cheered/sang/danced/enacted hand motions throughout the entire game. Needless to say, that vast majority of European and American exchange students either hated it or quickly tired of it. I would have felt rather silly doing it all by myself; however, I was accompanied by thousands of regular Yonsei students. Thus, I had a ball.
In the end Yonsei lost. We carried ice hockey and basketball. We also had rugby up until the last 30 seconds or so. Yet, when the final game had ended they -- they being the student spectators and handful of highly trained cheerleaders representing both schools -- threw a huge dance/cheer party on the field. I’ve never experienced so many people getting so excited over a sporting event all the while remaining so convivial and peaceful. Later on that evening a fellow exchange student, who incidentally happens to be from France, asked me if we had similar competitions in the US. My reply: Yes. Except all of that dancing and cheering after the game would have been drunken rioting and senseless vandalism. (Hey! You know it's true.)
Even later Saturday evening, we, a large portion of the Yonsei students, went back to Shinchon and were given free food and alcohol. Well, it was free for the price of an elaborate, drawn out cheer or two -- another time honored Yonsei tradition.
(Yo Han, Arne and Jud) (Olympic Stadium) (Cheering under banner) (Parade of Colors) (Portent of Party)
