yonkojeong + maki + such + such

Hmmmmmm....
So I've gotten into this blogging mode where I delay writing until I do a massive update where it's just a chain of "and then," "and then," and "and then."s.... which doesn't really make for the most interesting of reads. But, it's honestly the best way for me to reference this shiz-nits later.... Oh-ho-ho-kay now. Moving on to yet another seeeeeeeeequence of events! Wuhoooo! Chain-gang.. gang-bang.. chyeh.

So, it's been a crazy few.. days.. weeks... how long has it been since I've written in here? Forever and a half ago, I'm guessing. So what's been happening.. let's see. My memory's not the greatest.. but so far, this trip has been. It's going to sound incredibly cheesy but I really am having the time of my life! It's funny because before coming here, I heard stories from people who "had the time of their life." Sunshine, sparkles, jazz hands, and all that ish. But.. I guess I'm joining that group of sunshine super stars because I'm sharing that exact sentiment. I really adore all of my friends here.. I was genuinely concerned before coming here because I feel that I don't truly get along with most people in life.. so I thought that I'd pick up a bunch of default friends that I could put up with rather than have a grand master ball with.. but wow, I'm surprised at how well I've gelled with some people here.. borderline obsessed, for sure. Life is good.

On October 3rd, I went to the Korean War Memorial with my Korean War class. Our professor is a Lieutenant Colonel... or something something, so he has a shit ton of money and is incredibly generous. He paid for our admissions and then afterwards he bought us all lunch and booze! How amazing is that? We actually took shots with him... Cheers Professor Tharp! A little awkward, yes.. but totally awesome.



Elly + I in a tank... as usual.........


Maki came to visit me this weekend... all the way from Japan! What a sweetheart, that Mak Mak. Speaking of Mak Maki, we've known each other for about 9 years now! And we're still going strong =) Haha, how's that? Anyway, this weekend was one of the funnest weekends I've had in Korea thus far! Maybe in LIFE thus far. It was Yonkojeong.. which is this big event where Yonsei University(Yon-de for short) and Korea University(Ko-de for short) battle in some sporting events: baseball, basketball, ice hockey, rugy, soccer... and everyone does these intense cheers, songs, and dances. It was nothing like I've ever seen before! The first day, I went to go watch baseball with my language exchange buddy. It was crazy because there were just seas of blue(Yonsei) and red(Korea)... it was insane and really quite a sight to see. We were lead in song + dance by AKARAKA which is a cheer-squad-on-crack team consisting of people dressed up as Chairman Kaga(iron chef) wannabes / super flamboyant power rangers. In short, I fucking love them. It was insane because in the states, cheering normally occurs before and after the game, during half time, and maybe when something cool happens like a goal is scored or whatevers.. but Akaraka was banging it out throughout the ENTIRE game. It was exhausting but soooo much fun because the dances were so silly and everyone looked stupid doing it but no one cared. GO YONSEI ! I had so much Yonsei pride even though I don't really go here.. well, I kind of do.. okay wait, what the hell.. I love Yonsei. Wait, the highlight of the game was... if anyone knows me AT ALL, they know that I'm hardcore obsessed with baseball fights.. you know, I have no idea why.. and that's actually really strange if you thnk about it(and I have).... But some shoving between players occured, some trash talking was exchanged... and shit! benches cleared! FUCK YES! Nothing really serious happened and no one was ejected from the game... anyways, we lost.. although there were actually some great plays made.. after the game, I headed over to the airport to pick up the Mak-ster.

crazy crowd of blue(yonsei) and red(korea university)

AKARAKA!

The next day was the last day of Yonkojeong... sadness!
Ryo, James, Amy, Gelly, Maki, and I went to go eat before the game.. at this place that Gelly and I ate at before MT. Wow, I ate some galbi stew and it was one of the best things I've eaten here so far. So much yums that it kind of hurt. We headed over to watch soccer at the Olympic Stadium.. super neato. More cheering, more dancing, more blah blah. It was super fun because we just got as crazy as we could with the dances.. it was on the brink of being just plain dangerous.... So the Yon-de kids and the Ko-de kids created all these really awesome film clips where they were trash talking each other... for example, they took this commercial for frosted flakes where Tony the Tiger takes a bite of cereal and gets all electrically strong... and then they were like "WAIT! REWIND!" and then they zoomed in on the jug of milk and it was Yonsei milk! Yes, Yonsei has their own carton for milk.. that's fucking legit. It was really cool.. and there were even Korean celebrities that were cheering for certain schools.. perhaps they were alums? Shrug. Some of the clips were actually pretty clever.. well, the ones that I could kiiind of understand.

Anyhow. After the game, that's when even more craziness ensued. Sinchon(our neighborhood) was hosting the after-party for Yonkojeong this year... whew, it was amazing. We created trains of people and ran our school spirit all throughout the city. Also, apparently if you are with a large group of people and do the school chants and cheers, they give you free stuff! We got soju, bibimbap, hot dogs, ice cream, bread... sooooo cool. It was funny b/c we'd yell for the owner to come out, and then say either "Very good looking mister!" or "Very beautiful mrs!"... er, it sounds weird when translated to English... and there was a school song that goes, "Sarang ha neun yonsei" which means "yonsei that I love"... so when we were at the hot dog stand, we sang "sarang ha neun hot dog." ohhhhhhhhhh my god. I wanted to shoot myself in the face b/c it was so good! I was giddy with joy. All in all, we attached ourselves to perhaps 5 groups of random Korean kids.. not only were they okay with letting us hang out with them, they wanted us to! Man, when we were getting tired of the whole running around thing, we stuck with these Ko-de kids who were just going to sit down in formed circles and drink/chill in the park. But they were like, "Oh.. we're going to clean up the garbage up a little bit first."... and it's not even their neighborhood! That was so sweet. All of the students were so generous and kind... and patient with my shitty Korean.. it was really overwhelming how sweet they were and how welcome they made us feel! One of the greatest nights in Korea, for sure. Super warm and fuzzies!

Ahhhh O.k. now that this entry is sufficiently verbose....... off I go ! Class tomorrow at 9 am and it's 3 am now. Yikes! Until next time! Hey Yonsei--Ah!

soccer field

joseph + maki

all aboard the crazy train!

Maki + Ryo with some ko-de tigers...

gelly, james, and katharina


These guys were way into Peter.. one of them exclaimed, "I love Peter!".. and the other one was like "What?? Nooo I love Peter" and then they proceeded to play fight... this picture actually isn't posed.... and then I glance over at Peter who just smiles and shrugs..

peter + his fans

Maki, me, and Hongmo(random Ko-de guy we met who was super nice)

yonkojeong in a nutshell...


dvd room where we spend most of our time...... i'm sreeeeepy

P.S. Happy birthday to Maki! I look forward to another great year of friendship =) Friends since 8th grade at Kennedy! Wuhoo!