First Difference: The teams aren't named after the cities of their origin (ex: Boston Red Sox), but after the companies that sponsor them. So the two teams I saw play were the LG Twins and the Samsung Lions! Very interesting.
Second Difference: The food they serve is very different than the states! They did have KFC, Burger King, and Dominoes food stands, but they were far outnumbered by traditional Korean foods. There were stands selling Bulgogi (a thick, spicy noodle), Kimbop (rice, veggies, and meat wrapped in seaweed; similar to sushi), soju (a popular Korean alcoholic drink), squid, onion pancakes, and a myriad of other foods I didn't even recognize. The Korean food was much more prolific as well as significantly less expensive.
Third Difference: Crowd participation. This was probably the most significant difference of all! Being a spectator at a game is more about having fun than actually watching the game. There were times when I didn't even realize the next inning had started because I was so distracted by the crowd! The main way spectators participated was through cheers. The crowd does cheers through pretty much the entire game, regardless of if their team is winning or losing. And it isn't like American cheers where there is just one that the crowd sings like once every 15 minutes. Not only did each team have a cheer, but each player had their own specific cheer as well! The crowd was doing cheers pretty much back-to-back. It was horridly fun! I was also pleasantly surprised to find that 'the wave' is popular in Korean baseball games as well! And they're way better at it. Each wave made it around the entire stadium at least once and got nearly 100% of people to participate. They also varied the speeds! The first wave was normal speed, but it was followed by a slow-motion wave and then a double-speed wave. There were also games to get the crowd involved, too! They had a Kiss Cam like in the states, but with a unique spin. First, they would play a kiss scene from a popular TV drama. Then, they would show a couple on the screen and they would have to kiss but they would have to recreate the scene from the drama as best they could! It was really cute. There were also games like a race and a drinking contest where contestants could win prizes like a new phone or a camping set. It was so fun to watch!
Even though I'm not a huge sports fan, the game was thoroughly enjoyable. The energy within the crowd felt tangible! Especially since our team, the Twins, beat the Lions 12-3, even though the Lions are ranked #1 and the Twins are ranked #4! Yet another wonderful experience in the beautiful country of South Korea.
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