Firefighter Games begin in Daegu

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City Daegu
Language Korean
Currency Korean Won - 850 = NZ$1
Climate Low 26c - high 36c Fine and sunny

When we woke we went down to the hotel restaurant for breakfast and ran into Tomas from Germany. We also saw Shane and Kala from NZ along with Steve McSweeney, Joachim, Andrea and Alex from Germany, among others. Breakfast was a big spread of all sorts of foods including Korean fare as well - e.g. dumplings, fish, unusually shaped mushrooms and other unrecognisable items.
After breakfast we met up with the group to head off to EXCO - the main registration and meeting point for the Firefighter Games. We got there by local bus - about half an hour away for 1100W approx NZ$1.50.
After registration we went through the Fire and Rescue Expo where many things were being exhibited such as rescue equipment and trucks etc. This was set over two levels with hundreds of exhibitors showcasing their wares. Shaun and Shane were fascinated by much of the modern technology available for Emergency Services. There were a couple of stands offering competitions or draws and when Shaun entered a darts competition he won a fire extinguisher! Shaun also had a turn on an escape platform. There were some spacey looking fire engines that had the boys drooling as well.
After leaving the centre we headed back on another local bus. By this time we had received our registration packs including a small smart-card token for public transportation. We needed to get ready for the “Muster” which was to be held on a park across town. We all met and caught the underground train to a stop nearby. We then walked a couple of kms in the heat to the meeting point. Muster was attended by about 6,000 competitors from all around the world. We marched in our countries across Druyu Park ending up at an Outdoor Concert park - Kolon Park. On the way many locals we waving at us and cheering. A highlight was when 4 rescue helicopters went above us. On arrival at the concert stage, each country was introduced and walked onto the stage waving their flag to the cheers of the many thousands who had come to witness the formal opening ceremony. When NZ was called up to the stage the guys decided it wouldn’t be right not to do the Haka - so Shaun led the group - stumbling for a brief moment at the start of one of the verses! The crowd loved it!
The opening ceremony started at 7pm and included some wonderful performances. Firstly a religious drumming group came on, followed by a fantastic University Tae Kwon Do performance group. This was incredible as they demonstrated their amazing "super" Black Belt talents. They put on a musical play about fire fighters as well that included some pyrotechnics and fireworks - very professionally done. A formal opening incorporated some officials addressing the audience - including the Mayor of Daegu, the chief of NEMA (National Emergency Management Association) and the Director of the WFG (World Firefighter’s Games). This was followed by another fantastic show of a group performing with kitchen utensils and knives - a great energetic show. When we thought the show was almost over they brought out three famous bands which made the crowd behind us scream in delight! It was like a full-on concert and we had front section seats - very lucky! When the next act came on (the final one) we decided to leave - as he was like a Korean Tom Jones and we thought it best to beat the rush for the shuttles and make a dash for it. The shuttle took us back to a main junction on the metro and we walked back to the hotel. A wonderful experience although very exhausting. In bed around midnight after stopping at a food stall in the street to eat some interesting looking Korean hotdogs.

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