The Games

고연전 (Go Yun Jun). The most epic event I have ever witnessed. 

Every year, Korea University competes in five sports against their rival university: Yonsei University. They compete for two long, exhausting, but exhilarating days in baseball, basketball, ice hockey, rugby, and soccer (or proper football, as I like to call it). However, if you win one match, you don't actually win win; you have to win three of the five matches to win the whole games. And if you do...a most epic party follows.


Because the games are held near Anam  (안암), near the Seoul campus of Korea University and Yonsei University, my friends and I went early and stayed at this hostel in Itaewon (이태원) for the weekend. The hostel was amazing. The staff spoke perfect English and the whole place felt clean and safe. There is an area inside the first door for you to take off your shoes and don slippers. Inside the next door is the little office, common area, and access to the bathrooms and kitchen/laundry, as well as the rooms. Each guest is provided a towel, pillow, clean bedsheets and pillow case, and wifi access. Each room is a bit different: ours had six beds, lockable cupboards for your luggage, and A/C. The hostel can be a bit of a challenge to find, if you're not used to looking up on the buildings to see what's on other floors. But it is a piece of cake to get to: from Itaewon Station (이태원역) just walk five, maybe ten minutes and look up. It's on the fourth floor of a building across from a Woori Bank and in the same building as a PC 방 and some sort of seafood restaurant. Walk up four flights of stairs and you're there! (Life pro tip: don't bring a super heavy suitcase)

The ever-lovely Susannah.

To get from here to the games is fairly easy, too. You'll need a T-Money card and the ability to read a subway map. If you don't already know, a T-Money card is a card the size of a regular credit card but it's used to pay for transportation: subways, buses, and taxis. You can buy them almost anywhere and there are several stations around the subways stations to reload your T-Money card (with directions in English for those not confident in Korean!). If by this point in your study abroad you are lucky enough to have a smartphone of any sort, I highly recommend you get one of these apps: LG Metro (this one is in Korean, so if you can read/type, you'll be fine) and/or Seoul Subway (this one is in English). Both have maps of the subway lines and a nifty feature that allows you to search for both the destination and arrival stations. They then proceed to tell you exactly how to get from point A to point B. 

The opening ceremony and baseball game took place in the Sports Complex, near the Olympic Stadium. We arrived early and there was still a massive line of people waiting to get into the complex, but there was music blasting and people entertaining, so the wait didn't feel as long. 

                           

In addition to entertainment, we were given breakfast: some milk and some sort of bread. Delicious, but not exactly the kind of nutritious meal you would think would last you all day through the games, but strangely, you forget your hunger as you watch the games. Well, maybe "watch" is the wrong word. "Experience" fits a bit better. 

Part of the opening ceremony. Each school shows off their mad marching and flag skills. 

See those people all the way down on the baseball field? Those are cheerleaders. And not like American football cheerleaders. These students LEAD the CHEERS you do ALL DAY LONG. Each game is accompanied by cheers in place of any sort of commentary. It is almost impossible to sit still (or sit at all) during these games. You are constantly up and jumping, or bowing, or singing, or screaming; you do as your cheerleaders do and it is an intense several hours, but totally worth every second of it. The next Monday, you could tell who had been to the games just by noticing who had bruises on the backs of their calves or the front of their shins. Those were well-won bruises from all the hardcore cheering. All the Korea University students wear the iconic red/crimson color and all the Yonsei University students wear their candid blue.

Not my video. Borrowed from youtube user schmoo666: (warning loud cheering)

Before the baseball game was over, I left to go experience the hockey match. And of course, spent the whole game cheering. This time, however, we were much closer to the cheerleaders and could see them announce each cheer. The cheering was pretty intense but the game a little less so. By the end of day one, Korea University had won baseball and basketball but lost hockey. 

The next day, I got geared up for some rugby and soccer. The two biggest matches of the game are basketball and soccer. As you can see, the teams went all out for the games. You could feel every firework.

At the end of the rugby match, Korea University had lost again. So now the schools were tied 2-2. Whoever won the football match would win the games and the winning school would be plied with free(ish) food and liquor. The soccer game was not as intense as an EPL match but it was still fun to watch. It was a bit of a challenge to focus on the game while cheering but I did manage to catch the goals from Korea University. After the 90 minutes and added time were up, students from both teams flooded onto the pitch. It was a winning day for Korea University and the party started immediately.  

Warning: extremely loud volume. Also not my video, borrowed from youtube user wonderrrgirl0606

Back to my group!

After the on-pitch celebrations, everyone realized they were starving, so we walked to another part of the city for some samgyeopsal (삼겹살). A couple hours later, the partying was in full swing back in Anam. This was the main street for the free food and booze. It was absolutely packed. Food was super cheap for the Korea University students and free soju was to be had if you asked the senior students super nicely, cheering for your drink. 

Overall, it was a fantastic time, a complete blast and I'm sad it was only a once-a-year event. The cheers were loud, energetic, and catchy. I've gotten to know a few of them quite well and it would impress my Korean friends that I had quickly mastered the dances for the songs. It was such a wonderful event and, despite the exhaustion and near deafness, I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.