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Them White Folk
But we still fit in!So, in the fall Yonsei has a huge sports day. It is so big that they have a fairly large sort of pep rally to celebrate several months before the big day.
This event it called Akaraka.
Over 20,000 students pour into an arena dressed in all blue and white (Yonsei colors). They let out their school spirit through songs and cheers. Since Yonsei is one of the most prominent schools in Korea, school spirit is something they definitely have, unlike Maryville. It is so big in fact that some of Korea’s most famous and popular singers come as the entertainment.
People brought blue towels to swing in the air; they wore red, light-up devil horns; they set off sparklers and when all of the sparklers went out, turned on their cell phones and waved them in the air (in the states we use lighters) which was a rather interesting and awkwardly appropriate.
Araraka took place on campus in the huge arena. When it is empty, it reminds of one of the large Greek style arenas where they throw people to the lions, like in the movie Gladiator. I suppose full it doesn’t look much different.
Akaraka Arena
Now that is a lot of Koreans! I sat with the Mentors club. I arrived around 5, which was considered to be a little late, so I had someone point me in the right direction of the group. Then it took me almost 20 minutes to push my way through to the area where they were sitting.
Walking to the festival was also interesting. Going back down the same road I had previously come from class 4 hours ago, I was met with a whole new world…I felt as though I was walking down a new found street in Sinchon (the popular bar district next to Yonsei). There were people selling all kinds of street food. You could buy water, soda, juice…beer and soju! I mean we are talking about a real party here.
By the end of the night the entire campus was lined with trash. It was shocking and for a moment I had forgotten how “free spirited” us college students can be. There were beer cans, posters, paper cups, plastic wrappers, and broken glass littering the ground.
What surprised me even more was when I went to class the next morning. If I didn’t still have on my blue shirt
from the night before, I would have walked to class thinking I had awoken from an oddly real feeling dream. It was perfectly normal, like nothing happened. No trash, no tents, no nothing. I didn’t leave the party till about 1:30am and my class had started at 9:00am. I was in disbelief. Some one worked hard.
We had a great time though, so enjoy…
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Kahshan lau
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Akaraka rocks!!!
I really miss Yonsei and Akaraka. 2 days is just TOOO short. I wish I could do the whole thing over again -_- *listening to akaraka songs right now*