Last Saturday was my work’s official ‘sports day’ and it was held at a secluded beach just outside of Busan (about 50 minutes away). I must admit that I was slightly skeptical about the whole event mainly because I don’t consider myself particularly sporty and the idea of spending an entire day playing didn’t exactly blow my mind. HOWEVER, I was pleasantly surprised by the amount of fun I had. We played quite a few of games including soccer baseball, a Korean version of capture the flag (which included a ‘no rules’ version where you could weggify, ‘chew’ as my boss refered to biting, and use any other means necessary to obtain the other team’s flag. 
About half way through we had a barbeque on the beach which was absolutely delicious! I think there’s something about being outside and eating food right off the grill that really enhances the flavor. This wasn’t the typical north American barbeque though, we started off with thick slices of pork (sort of like thick bacon) which were grilled and then we would wrap them in a large lettuce leaf with hot sauce, kimchi and marinated garlic. I liked everything except the kimchi (I’m still trying to develop a taste for it).
We also had chicken, sausages and fresh jumbo shrimp which still had their heads on. I wasn’t fussy on the shrimp mainly because they were so much work to peel but also because they could look at me with their heads and eyes still intact. Apparently they were good as well.
After the feast we played more crazy games. It really was a great way to get to know the other teachers in the school, especially the Korean teachers because there is a slight divide due to language and cultural differences so it was the perfect opportunity to mingle.
While we were playing there was a huge group of boys who were also on the beach playing what looked to be a very violent game. A Korean co-worker explained to me that games in Korea are extremely competitive and the looser usually gets beaten on. Well this became quite apparent when about six or seven boys all grabbed hold of another boy and dumped him into the water (I would assume that he lost). Later that day they all went into the water (clothes and all) for a dip… it was incredibly cold to be swimming… I don’t know how they did it.
To further on the competitiveness of Korean culture, my boss began putting bets on which team would win various games. There was always tons of cash being handed back and forth between him and his colleague… I guess gambling is the best form of amusement.
After a few more hours of running about, we got back into the school’s bus and went out for a traditional dinner. We were all seated on the floor of the restaurant and in the middle of each table was a pot that had a divider dividing two types of broth. Eventually the broth came to a boil and the servers added in fresh vegetables and seafood in one side and then veggies and thinly shaved beef in the other. Throughout the meal you were able to add in more meat and seafood and it was cooked right in front of you.
I’m not the biggest fan of seeing my food raw before I eat it, but this was a really neat experience and the soup tasted great. It was a wonderful evening with lots of conversation, food and drinks (a Korean meal is not complete without ample amounts of beer and soju).
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