White Day Contest

Date: 3/12/2011

Sarah and I went up to Seoul for a weekend.  Our first stop was Yangsan Electronic Market, but it wasn't as exciting as we thought it would be.  So we had 2 hours to kill before we had to figure our way to our next destination: a Booze Cruise.  We were wondering around the train station, in a giant mall plaza place, and we came across a play area set up with a bunch of activities.

The play area comes equipped with it's own castle and cherry blossom orchard. 

This was actually my favorite part of the weekend.  It was unexpected, a surprise and some good memories.  It might seem like a stupid thing to look fondly back upon, but to me, it is what exploring another country is all about.

So, we drink a coffee and watch some kids play with the games.

This dad actually attempted to hula hoop with a 3 year old and a baby strapped to his chest.  If he had been able to do it--without hurting his daughter-- I would have handed him the Dad of the Year award on the spot.  

 But we couldn't contain ourselves for long.  Or, at least, I couldn't. I made Sarah go hula hoop.  I have never been able to...but that didn't stop Sarah from retaliation.

There was a giant panda from the Disney Movie on one side of the park.  We (well, I) skipped over to it and posed with Mr Panda. 

My mad Kung-fu skills

This was suppose to be another Kung-fu skill shot--it turned out to be a "lets see how bad Maggie is at balance!"  pose

Sarah has better coordination than I do.  She looks like she's actually doing a Kung-fu pose.

But I am master at camera and with my sudden sneak attack was able to catch the unsuspecting waegook by surprise! 

 We just finishing up with the Panda when a new activity started to happen at the stage.  I was feeling very impish and went up to a nice looking Korean male with a name tag and asked him what was going on.  It was a White Day Contest.  Only couples.  So I innocently asked, "You have girlfriend?" Shucks, struck out.  But then he said that Sarah and I could be a couple! I was game, so I grabbed Sarah wrist and dragged her up to the front of the stage.  I stared up at the man/announcer who was explaining the rules and watched him like I totally understood what he was saying (I didn't have a clue.)  The helpful, "I have a girlfriend" Korean man who told us we could be in the contest bounds up to the side and says that the waegooks want to be in!  The announcer gets this panic-ed "oh crap!  I have to speak English" fear flashing across his face, but I pipe up and say, "No, it's okay!  We understand!"  Which, of course, we don't.  But we've been in Korea long enough to know that if we watch and mimic for the most part we'll get it right.

They tell us we're be in the 2nd group--which is perfect.  We can watch Round 1 contests and then just do the exact same thing.  No problem....

And then we see Contest No. 1.  Problem.

They bring out a tray of peppero sticks (a 6 inch cookie stick).  The object of this challenge?  Bite the pepero stick into the smallest piece possible without your lips touching.   So, the woman holds the stick in her mouth and the man chomps down until they have the smallest stick remaining.  Sarah and I look at each other and burst out laughing!  Mr. Helpful, "I have a girlfriend but you two can be a couple" Man knew this was a challenge!  Yes, there is a much closer relationship between the sexes and many things (like holding hands) is not seen as weird over here, but I draw the line at putting my lips that close to a female friends.

I mean:

Mr Announcer is measuring the sticks.  I don't understand a lot of Korean, but I know my  numbers.  "Sa cent-ee-mee-tas!"  is not very hard to figure out.  Four CENTIMETERS!  

But Sarah and I gamely continue to sit in our seats and watch the competition--which was very entertaining!!!

Challenge No.4 was a workout for the men.  They would have to do squats while carrying their woman.  The ladies were all nicely dressed and a few of them were wearing Korean-Length skirts (translation: very short!). Some were obviously a little nervous about mooning the audience...

 But have no fear because they provided blankets so the ladies could be covered!  Only in Korea would they think of this small detail!

 There were several methods of carrying your girlfriend.  Piggback was most popular.  But the tallest couple decided on her sitting on his shoulders. My favorite though was the fireman carry.

 Alright, all ready?  Yes?  SQUAT!

 The Announcer was ruthless!  Up and down.  The first couple dropped because he lost balance.  The second couple out was the youngest pair in the group and I think the Announcer made a comment about how he hasn't done military yet--he's still a baby.  (I know the word for baby which I why I think this...)

The last 3 couples were a riot to watch squat and stand up again and again.  It basically turned into a speed contest.  Who could keep up the pace the longest?

The winners!

 Challenge No. 3 was to stand on a ever-decreasing-in-size piece of paper.  You stand on the paper, then fold it in half and stand.  Then get off, fold the paper, and somehow manage to stand on the paper again.  This resulted in some funny carrying techniques.

 Challenge No. 4 was a Ball Catching Challenge.  One person threw the ball in the air, you both spin around, and then try to catch the ball with your bodies.  A lot harder than it sounds!

This was the only couple that was able to catch the ball. 

This round had take 45 minutes and unfortunately, Sarah and I had to leave in order to make our Booze Cruise. As they were getting ready for the next round, Sarah and I tried to sneak out, but the Announcer caught us.  We pointed to our wrists (our imaginary watches) and said sorry with an extra deep bow.  They seemed actually sad that we couldn't join in with their fun.  And I was sad that we couldn't either!  We would have been a laughing stock, but it would have been a blast.

Oh well...next White Day I'll drag a boyfriend up to Seoul....