Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Time Is Winding Down

So we're coming to the end of our time here in Korea. In three weeks, we'll be leaving what has quickly become our Eastern home for an extended vacation before permanently settling down back in the cornfields of the Midwest. Since we've been so busy preparing for our final adventure, I haven't had nearly as much time to write up our adventures and for that, I apologize. Seeing how we're leaving soon, we've been trying to soak up as much of Korea as we can and do the smaller things we've been putting off. What came of this situation last week was a dork day for me. Savannah and I spent the morning playing games on the new iPhone (Scramble and trivial pursuit are musts for couples) on our way to the most well known comic store in Seoul. The name of the place is Comic Cozzle. For what was hyped up as the mecca of comics in Korea, it was a little bit of a letdown, but I'm glad we checked it out.

From Dork Date


What I wanted to do next was head to the Digital Stadium to watch a taping of Starleague, Korea's premier professional gaming venue. We had some time to kill, so we watched some basketball and hung out in one of Seoul's many parks playing games. There are several wide open areas for children to ride their bikes and just run around. It's a really great feature of Seoul which can feel sort of cramped at times.

From Dork Date


From Dork Date


From Dork Date


Finally came the main event. I've mentioned it before, but Korea is obsessed with a game that is over a decade old called Starcraft. It's a game where you implement your own strategy to gather resources, develop your society, and eventually conquer another player's society. It's a huge sport here (yes pro gaming is a sport) eclipsed only by major soccer matches in ratings. You're given a card to write messages on to encourage your favorite player or insult another gamer. I didn't really know what to write, so I just plugged a friend's website (Aaron's) and it actually went on TV. Here are some pictures and videos from that event.

Here's the studio before production:

From Starcraft Date


and after:

From Dork Date


Here a fan holds up a sign comparing the nerdier player to a cockroach playing on a computer:

From Dork Date



Here's a quick video I put up on twitter....mostly just to test out the new phone.

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