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Since the demise of the Yanks (collapse? catastrophe? end of the world?–nah, it’s only a game), I’ve been following the Korean championship series. I took in a game in {{link http://www.samsunglions.com/english/stadium.html Daegu}} this past Sunday, and it was quite a spectacle, more like an American college football game atmosphere. The game was played between the defending champion {{link http://www.hd-unicorns.co.kr/main.asp Hyundai Unicorns}} (from Suwon, just outside of Seoul) and perennial favorite {{link http://www.samsunglions.com/english/ Samsung Lions}} (from Daegu). There was flag-waving, chanting, thundersticks, scantily-clad cheer squads, fog horns, whistles and general game-long bedlam from the capacity crowd of 14,000 fans. It sounded more like 40,000. American corporations would love this league, since all of the teams are sponsored by Korean companies. Can you imagine the unbridled joy of corporate executives in the U.S. if they were to hear 50,000 fans chanting “Let’s go Westinghouse” or “Let’s go Lockheed”? It was quite a lot of fun, and, though the caliber of play is somewhat below Major League standards, it is competent, perhaps AA or AAA level. Click {{link http://baseballguru.com/andrewwong/koreanbaseballprimer.html here}} for a Korean baseball primer.
I was watching the {{link http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/sports/200410/kt2004102522295611620.htm next game}} on TV last night (Monday), and the one very bad thing about baseball here came into play. There is a rule that games cannot go longer than 4 hours or past the 12th inning, so ties are somewhat frequent. Last night, the pitcher for Samsung threw 10 INNINGS of NO-HIT ball, walking only one and striking out 11. Unfortunately, the opposing staff did well also, and the game ended in a 0-0 tie after the 12th inning. The news story above reports that hundreds of fans posted protests at the {{link http://www.koreabaseball.or.kr/ Korean Baseball Organization}} web site. Can’t say that I blame them–that particular rule needs to be changed.
The heading says it all. What a debacle! Heads will roll, I’m sure. There are enough free agents available this winter that I’m sure Steinbrenner can get the payroll above $200 million. For me, baseball’s over for the season, though I’ll watch the World Series when I get the chance. Still, emotionally, I won’t have a whole lot invested in it. A couple of friends and I may venture down to Daegu on Sunday to take in the Korean Championship Series. I don’t even know who’s playing, but if I go, it will be my first Korean ball game. It’ll be interesting to compare it with American baseball. The game is the same, but what will the stadium be like, the vendors, the fans, all the trappings?
Typhoon Tokage just raked Japan, the tenth one this season to do so, setting a new record. {{link http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/ Typhoon Nock-Ten}} is churning toward Taiwan, but it is very possible that it will turn northeast and come our way in the next week, threatening Japan once more. If the pattern holds, it will bear down on Korea, but then get swept northeast by the prevailing winds. I love the names that are given these storms. According to {{link http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=24133&archive=true Stars and Stripes}}, Tokage is the Japanese word for the constellation Lacerta, the lizard, and Nock-Ten is a Laotian word for bird. How about changing the naming system for Atlantic hurricanes? Thus, we could have Hurricane Crocodile or Hurricane Heron instead of the more pedestrian Camille or Charley.
A couple of friends and I drove up to Yeongju (young-ju), about 40 miles north of Andong and spent a pleasant afternoon at {{link http://www.orientalarchitecture.com/kyongsangdo/buseoksaindex.htm Buseoksa}} (boo-suck-sah), a beautiful Buddhist temple in a quiet mountain setting. Well, quiet sometimes, perhaps, but it was very crowded today. That’s normal this time of the year, fall–mild temperatures, clear skies, and colorful foliage. The leaves haven’t started changing over completely, yet, but their are some patches of color on the mountainsides around Andong. In another week we should have some beautiful fall hues mixing with the evergreens. Pictures of Buseongsa are on the main site, if you’re interested.
I’ve also posted some new photos of the Mask Dance Festival {{link http://montanaron.com/Copper/Copper/thumbnails.php?album=22 (Taiwan)}}. It’s a slow process, but eventually I’ll get all the good ones up.
Can’t tell you the euphoria I felt while watching the Yanks slaughter Boston 19-8 yesterday. Wow, what an epic blowout. That feeling is somewhat tempered today as Boston came back to win 6-4. I don’t expect them to roll over and die, so I’ll only feel good when we’ve won 4, and the World Series, of course.
Andong just concluded, yesterday, its annual Mask Dance Festival, and it was superb! Featuring performances by dancers from 14 countries over the 10-day run of the festival, the event offered a bit of something for everyone. In addition to the dancers, there were tents to build your own kite, paint masks, create pottery and other do-it-yourself projects. Stages other than the main ampitheater highlighted local and Korean national dance and drum groups, and other areas were venues for traditional shaman rituals, Buddhist ceremonies and assorted productions.
But the best part of the festival, for me anyway, was the dance groups. I saw 10 of the 14 countries that performed, most of them more than once and a couple of them I saw for 4 performances. The best of the lot, in my very subjective opinion, were the Malaysian dancers and percussionists, whose movements were very sensuous and whose closing was a remarkable stick dance, so to speak, wherein the dancers stepped through bamboo poles being opened and closed by other members of the troupe to an ever-increasing intensity of the musical rhythm by the drummers. A great performance! Running a close second was the Taiwan contingent, more acrobatic and energetic than the Malaysians, featuring one fellow who did it all–tumbled, juggled and twirled a pole. That doesn’t sound like much, but you would have to see it to appreciate his multiple talents. The other members of the team were also very good! Other highlights were the energy of the Turkish dancers, the professionalism of the Latvians, the gorgeous costumes of the Thais, the bizarre outfits of the Bhutanese, and the beautiful music and energy of the Russians. I also watched performances by the Japanese, Kenyans, Poles, and Australian aborigines.
Of course, I shot many photographs, probably close to a thousand, with my new digital Canon Rebel. Now for the hard part–going through and discarding the bad ones and putting some of the good ones up on the Photo Gallery section of the website. That’s going to take some time, but keep checking the Gallery over the next few weeks and I’m sure you’ll see something new every day.
I made some new friends, but probably none more amazing or interesting than Joann, a lady around my age or a little older who has traveled throughout the world, including Antarctica. She retired from the bar she owned in Saratoga, New York, to see the world. It seems she’s been everywhere–the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, India, Bhutan, Nepal, Europe, etc., etc. She has a great talent for making friends, and the South Koreans loved her, even the ones who couldn’t speak a lick of English. She also made friends with most of the foreign dancers. Truly a rare person who is comfortable no matter where she goes. Good luck, Joann, and “keep on truckin.’”
So, be sure to check out the photos (click on Photo Gallery at the {{link http://www.montanaron.com main site}}).
The students had a sports festival last week, so there were no classes last Wed., Thurs., and Fri. That “down time” from the university allowed me to spend so much time at the festival. Alas, between now and the end of the semester in mid-December there are no more days off for holidays or festivals. The days are getting shorter and colder, the leaves on the trees are beginning to turn color, and winter is just around the corner. I’ll keep my thoughts on winter vacation in January when I’ll be traveling to Thailand and other areas in Southeast Asia–warm weather, sunny beaches, swaying palms.
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